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  3. America’s Western Migration 1. After America declared independence in 1776, its citizens began migrating from the original co

America’s Western Migration 1. After America declared independence in 1776, its citizens began migrating from the original co

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问题                    America’s Western Migration
   1. After America declared independence in 1776, its citizens began migrating from the original colonies along the Atlantic coast, crossing the Appalachian Mountains and heading west. By 1800, trading centers had been established from Ohio to Alabama and pioneers were already making their way towards the Mississippi River. With the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 and further land acquisitions, the frontier of the American nation was continually pushed westward, and groups of settlers were never far behind.
   2. This tremendous migration was carried out by individuals who chose to leave the relative safety of the East and venture into unknown territories. They followed common trails, the earliest of which led to places like Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska. After 1840, others into the Far West were opened and saw steadily increasing traffic.The people who undertook such journeys were motivated by a variety of factors. Early American cities, particularly those in the Northeast, had developed at a tremendous pace, leaving some longing for a return to simpler lifestyles. They were crowded, employment was often limited to the factories, and smoke from coal-burning industrial facilities polluted the air. For many Americans, the urban landscape did not match their image ’of the ideal life.
   3. Yet economic pressure was likely the primary catalyst for westward migration. For some families in the early 1800s, it was difficult to obtain enough resources to live on. This was true in the South as well as the North, where instead of factories the expansive plantations ruled the economy. A privileged few owned most of the farmland and dominated the agricultural market so that small farmers had trouble making money. Americans struggling under such conditions were very receptive to the reports constantly arriving from western settlers, which described vast regions of bountiful farmland waiting to be claimed. These accounts were often terribly misleading, emphasizing the positive aspects of migration while ignoring the negative, but they nonetheless convinced many that their fortunes lay on the western frontier.
   4. The U.S. government did everything it could to encourage the migration trend, seeing it as the best method for ensuring that America, rather than the Mexico, England, or the Native Americans, gained control of the western territories, Politicians passed a series of measures that made land available to farmers--or homesteaders--at drastically reduced rates or, in many cases, for free. For example, soldiers who served in the War of 1812 against Britain were promised tracts of western farmland, and six million acres were distributed under this arrangement. Congress’s Preemption Act of 1841 gave squatters, people who had begun living on a piece of land without ownership of it, the opportunity to purchase up to 160 acres for just $1.25 per acre. This concept was expanded under the 1862 Homestead Act, which allowed any citizen to claim a 160-acre plot for nothing more than the trivial $10 fee charged to file an application. Then, if that person established a farm on the land and improved it for five years, he or she would be granted ownership of it.
   5. While these government policies spurred migration, the advent of new transportation technologies ultimately enabled the large-scale settlement of western regions. In the early 1800s communities had to remain close to major rivers, for these provided the only sure means of transporting goods back to the eastern markets. Overland transportation by horse-drawn wagon was simply too slow and costly. Construction of canals was the first attempt to address this problem.A  The Erie Canal, running 363 miles from Lake Erie to the Hudson River at Albany, resulted in a significant drop in the cost of shipping merchandise from Buffalo to New York City, from 19 to 2 cents a ton. In addition, the introduction of the steamboat in the first half of the century led to greater utilization of water routes such as the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers.B The biggest change occurred in 1869 when overland transport became feasible. The transcontinental railroad was completed that year, solidifying the country’s claim to all land in between the coasts, and producing the most important changes for western settlers,C Western pioneers were no longer isolated, and their townships quickly grew to become some of America’s most important cities.D
According to Paragraph 5, why were most western settlements of the early 1800s located near rivers?
选项 A、Most of the homesteaders who went west traveled by steamboat.
B、This gave them access to the Erie Canal and the ability to ship merchandise to New York.
C、Water routes represented the only means by which goods could be transported reliably.
D、They required large amounts of water in order to grow healthy crops.
答案C
解析
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