Greatest Development Of West

The day was February second 1848. The United States had just signed the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, granting them more than five hundred thousand square miles of land. What was America going to do with the new land? The land they had just received was undeveloped and arrant. Some way or another, the united state needed to develop this land quickly. Ultimately, I believe government policy has had the biggest impact on developing the west. There were several policies that the government put in place to develop the west. First, trans pacific railroad act helped create transportation to the west. Second, Homestead Act gave people a reason to move to the west. Lastly, the Dawes Act and the reservation policy is what ultimately diminished the old …show more content…
On the other hand, many would argue that the rapid growth of the gold rush is what had the greatest development of the west. During the gold rush, thousands of people moved out west searching for gold, with led to the development of towns. In the end, we will look at all of these factors and determine which one had the greatest impact.
In 1862, the trans-pacific railroad act was passed by congress. The reason congress passed this act was to create a pathway for many on the eastern side of the United States to reach the west. During this time, there were two major companies that built the transit system. The first company was the Central Pacific Railroad Company. This company would start in building in Sacramento and make its way across the Sierra Nevada. The second company, Union Pacific Railroad Company would start building from Missouri and make its way west. In time, these two companies meet up in the center of the west. Eventually, this policy would change …show more content…
In addition, I would argue that the big businesses that hire the basic blue collard workers are the ones who have had the greatest impact on the west. One example is the companies that controlled the mining industry. During this time period, big corporations banded together and headed west to find pure metals. Along with these corporations came workers. Many people left there homes and sought westward to play a role in these companies. Another example would be the gold rush of 1848. During the gold rush, big companies were frantically searching for workers. Thousands of people headed west to follow this gold trail. Even though a majority of these people worked for big companies, these people literally had the most impact on the development of the west. They were the ones who did the hard jobs and stuck with it for years. Ultimately, I believe you could make the argument that big companies, and individual people made the most impact on the