Migration paths after 1800 Jane Magill Feb. 21, 2018 1
after the Revolution -U.S. was predominantly agricultural country in 1790 and poor farming practices had depleted soils badly in the eastern states -by 1790 trade with England was vastly diminished and many merchants moved west to a new trade -the new Ohio territory in the north and Mississippi territory in the south had opened up for settlement -both these territories had vast fertile areas for farming 2
In addition to native born Americans, waves of Europeans came to the US and migrated west in 1800s The German-speaking peoples began immigrating in large numbers by1840. By 1860, 1,301,000 German-speaking immigrants had arrived (principally from the southwestern states of Württemberg, Baden, and Bavaria) Most entered the US at the ports of Newcastle, DE and Philadelphia, PA then traveled down the Great Wagon Rd. to North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia 3
The Irish began arriving in large numbers after the potato famine The potato famine started in 1848 and climaxed in 1852. By 1860, approximately 1.4 million foreign born Irish had arrived since 1840. These Irish immigrants, largely Catholic settled in the cities of the east such as New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Buffalo,N.Y., Baltimore 4
German immigrants came to the US beginning in 1820 About 1,200,000 German speaking immigrants came to the US during the 1800s. Some of these German speaking immigrants followed the Great Wagon Rd. south from Philadelphia into the western regions of Virginia and the Carolinas. The majority of the Germans moved west into western PA, Ohio, IN Illinois and Wisconsin. Several thousand came into Galveston, TX and moved west to Fredericksburg, New Braunfels. 5
Major impediments to moving directly west 1. Appalachian and Allegheny mountains 2. Native American tribes west of the Appalachians signed treaties that they would allow whites free passage but no whites could settle west of the Appalachians. 3. Swamps and wetland areas 6
The Royal Proclamation in 1763 The British ordered the Americans not to settle in the land over the mountains gained in the Treaty of Paris after the French/Indian war. land over the mountains 13 colonies 7
Trails west of Appalachians,1800 Mohawk Trail Zanes Trace PA Braddocks Road Ohio River KY TN VA Great Wagon Road MS AL Wilderness Trail 8 Fall line rd.
migration west after 1790 Most of the migrants who moved west after 1790 were native born Americans, looking for better land or merchants looking for better business prospects. Farmers who had depleted the fertility of their lands moved straight west through gaps in the mountains. Massachusetts farmers moved into north central N.Y. and west; Farmers in downstate N.Y. moved up the Hudson to Albany then west along the Mohawk river, some moving into English Canada. 9
After 1790 many from the middle states of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia moved south along the Great Wagon Road and turned west through the Holston and French Broad Valleys into Tennessee. Others from these middle states moved through the Cumberland gap into Kentucky and then onto the Ohio river or into Ohio Territory. 10
From the Carolinas and Georgia, the colonists abandoned farms where soils were worn out from poor farming practices and moved down the end of the Great Wagon Road and then down the extension of that road into the Mississippi territory after 1810. 11
Crossing the mountains, 1800 Major route though the Cumberland water gap, which was accessed from the Great Wagon Rd. and then along the Wilderness Rd. IN OH Great Wagon Rd. Wilderness Rd 12
How did they move west? two mules and a barrel traditional covered wagon 13
Native Americans Once colonists had crossed the Appalachians they had to contend with the Native Americans who had been guaranteed that white settlers would not settle in areas west of the mountains. The list of massacres is long and almost equally divided as to who were the aggressors, the Indians or the Army and the settlers. see list of massacres https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/list_of_indian_massacres 14
Tom Ross, my husband s 6th g.grandfather He was a post rider, delivering mail between the Holston and Cumberland rivers close to the Cumberland water gap. Tom was with a party guarded by militia in 1794 near the ford on the Laurel river when he was killed by the Indian Chief, DoubleHead and his warriors. Tom s son, Mose and wife, Deborah and infant had moved through the Cumberland water gap, up the Wilderness Rd. to Boonsborough, KY where they remained for 30 yrs. 15
National Road built in 1811 financed by US congress Iowa IL IN PA MD Maryland St. Louis TN KY VA NC Braddock s Rd. 1758 16
Southern US after Revolution NC GA SC 17
trails through Tennessee 18
Mississippi Territory 1798 MS GA AL LA FL 19
Natchez Trace, completed 1809 Nashville, TN Natchez, MS 20
Federal Rd. built in 1817 from Augusta, GA to Natchez, MS TN MS AL GA LA 21
Mississippi territory MS AL GA Great Wagon Rd. Federal Rd. hooked into the Three Chopped Way 22
Harrisonburg Rd. (US 84) crosses Louisiana from Natchez, MI to Sabine county, TX Gaines ferry Harrisonburg Rd. Mississippi Natchez, MS 23
Settlers entry points into Texas Jonesboro, TX Pecan Point, TX Gaines ferry Sabine county, TX Port of Galveston 24
eastern entry point into TX Trammel s Trace Nacogdoches TX San Augustine LA Gaines ferry connects to El Camino Real (Hwy.21) Gaines ferry 25
Southwestern Trail from St. Louis, MO to Texarkana,TX St. Louis MO KY Little Rock AR TN Southwest Trail Texarkana TX Mississippi River 26
Trammel s Trace in Texas Southwestern Trail Trammel s Trace 27
Culture of the southern tier of states reflects culture of N.C., S.C., and Georgia Our ancestors generally moved due west of where they lived on the east coast after the Revolution. They brought their cultures due west with them and you see many similarities between the cultures of N.C.,S.C. and Georgia. 28
Southern Tier of states 29
The Swamps Several thousand square miles of land in the country were covered in swamps or persistent wetlands. These swamps and wetlands had to be drained before the area could be travelled or farmed. Draining the swamps and persistent wetlands involved laying tiles in trenches dug by hand before 1875. 30
Great Black Swamp in N.W. Ohio Malaria was endemic in the area until the swamp was drained in 1876. The Great Black Swamp covered almost 1500 square miles of north west Ohio and western Indiana. 31
Draining the swamps -James B. Hill, a Mech.Eng., b.nov. 29, 1856, in Fremont co.,oh, developed an implement called the Buckeye Trencher, copies of which drained the Great Black swamp in N.W. Ohio and areas of Louisiana and N. Florida -laying tiles involves digging a trench and laying tiles (pipes) with holes in them, end to end, to collect and channel the ground water which then flows along the pipe into a stream or a ditch. -draining the swamps made travel and farming possible in the previously swampy areas 32
Buckeye Trencher invented by James B. Hill 33
Steamboats by 1820 By 1820 steamboats were carrying settlers on the Mississippi and some of the larger rivers. Steamboats were a costly means of travel and most settlers could not afford it. 34
Network of Railroads in 1861 35
Pioneer Trails into Texas Texas Research Ramblers March 28, 2018 Clint Williams 36