3-2: How and why did people travel to California?

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3-2 How and why did people travel to California?

• 2/20/14

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The US started to expand in the early 1800s

• 1820-1920 34 million people immigrated to the US
• Europeans came in search of better lives
• After uncomfortable sea journeys lasting 3
  months, many new Americans traveled from Ellis
  Island in NY to St. Louis, Missouri
• St. Lewis was the gateway to the West
• People wanted to move West to find work and
  settlers could buy their own farms.

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US expansion continued

• Traveling by land Traveling West from the
  eastern states (like Missouri) to CA by foot
  2000 miles
• Traveling by sea Traveling West from NY to SF by
  sea through the Isthmus of Panama 3-5 months
• Men often traveled west while families stayed at
  home b/c it was a long and dangerous journey

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Pair share

• What do you think travelers encountered when
  coming to CA by land? By sea?
• There were no cars or airplanes
• People had nowhere to sleep, except in
  tents/wagons, or out in the open
• Panama Canal Route did not exist until early
  1800s
• Didnt open until early 1900s

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Settlers followed trails leading west John
Bidwell

• Led first group of American settlers from
  Missouri and traveled by land
• In CA
• Worked at Sutters Fort and as a politician
• Helped create/write the 1846 Bear Flag Revolution
  of Independence
• 1st person to find gold in Feather River
• With fortune became leading agriculturist

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James Beckwourth

• African American frontier scout
• Guided immigrants through the Sierra Nevada
  mountains
• A worker who took care of horses in fur trading
  expeditions
• Discovered Beckwourth Pass
• Many settlers looking for gold and land traveled
  through it to get to CA
• Lived in several American Indian settlements
• Became famous b/c was a book was written about him

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Pair Share

• What are the 3 ways that settlers traveled from
  the east coast of the United States to get to
  California?

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Group Activity Advertise the best way to get to
CA from the east coast (theres no right answer)

• In your table groups, your poster must answer
  these questions
• In your opinion, which route should travelers
  take? Why?
• What challenges might you encounter?
• Climate
• Other people
• Time to travel
• Distance
• Other???

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Before you begin

• What are different ways you can come to a
  consensus about which way your group should
  advertise?