--part1_33.1f731c8.25f04448_boundary Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit --part1_33.1f731c8.25f04448_boundary Content-Type: message/rfc822 Content-Disposition: inline Return-Path: <[email protected]> Received: from rly-zc04.mx.aol.com (rly-zc04.mail.aol.com [172.31.33.4]) by air-zc01.mail.aol.com (v69.17) with ESMTP; Wed, 01 Mar 2000 16:56:36 -0500 Received: from bl-14.rootsweb.com (bl-14.rootsweb.com [204.212.38.30]) by rly-zc04.mx.aol.com (v69.17) with ESMTP; Wed, 01 Mar 2000 16:56:00 -0500 Received: (from [email protected]) by bl-14.rootsweb.com (8.9.3/8.9.3) id NAA09178; Wed, 1 Mar 2000 13:53:27 -0800 (PST) Resent-Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2000 13:53:27 -0800 (PST) Message-ID: <[email protected]> Date: Wed, 01 Mar 2000 13:50:35 -0800 From: Howard Ford <[email protected]> X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.5 [en] (Win98; I) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 Old-To: [email protected] Subject: US Migration Content-Type: text/plain; charset=x-user-defined Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Resent-Message-ID: <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Resent-From: [email protected] X-Mailing-List: <[email protected]> archive/latest/1142 X-Loop: [email protected] Precedence: list Resent-Sender: [email protected] If anyone knows the author of the following would you please notify the list. This came to me without author information. It may have value for you in your genealogical research. Howard Ford - ---------------------------------------------------- I. Motivations of original colonial ancestors A. THE ENGLISH 1. Social and economic dislocation, caused in part by pressure on feudal system by inflation resulting from vast amount of new gold and silver introduced through Spain. 2. Political rivalry between a recently strengthen England and Spain. 3. Richard Hakluyt's "Discourse of Western Planting" provides an intellectual rationale for colonizing both in Ireland and the New World. 4. Religious upheaval in England encourages various groups to leave. 5. The success of Francis Drake leads englishmen to perceive of the New World as a land of instant riches, thus serving as a catalyst for colonization. 6. Development of joint stock companies provides economic base for colonization (think the Jamestown-Virginia Stock Co, pocahontas timeframe). 7. Failure of the Spanish Armada gives English greater confidence. B. THE NON ENGLISH 1. Blacks introduced, first as indentured servants, then as slaves, after 1619. 2. Dutch and Swedes are incorporated as New York and New Jersey become english colonies. 3. Huguenots (French Protestants) permitted by English to settle after forced to leave France. 4. Lowland Scots settle in northern Ireland, then shortly after 1700 come in large numbers to the English colonies, settling on the frontier and becoming known as the "Scotch-Irish." 5. Germans, largely from the Panatinate, settle on the frontier at same time as the "Scotch-Irish" and become known as the "Pennsylvania Dutch." 6. After 1750, significant numbers of Highland Scots are permitted to leave Scotland to settle in the English colonies, with the promise they will never fight against the (english) Crown. II. MOVEMENT OF ANCESTORS AFTER MAJOR MIGRATION ACROSS THE ATLANTIC OCEAN A. Rather static habits of most settlers in the English colonies throughout the Colonial Era. 1. Most colonists rarely moved more than 20 miles in their lifetime, except for Scotch-Irish who moved often. 2. New England religious and social attitudes discouraged much movement, often required considerable preparation before moves were sanctioned. 3. Southern settlers who came from England found themselves oriented toward England economically, socially and politically, and by 1776 more than 85% were still within thirty miles of the Atlantic coast. 4. "Pennsylvania Dutch" though settling most of the frontier from NY South, rarely moved after selecting a permanent home. B. Surge of interest in the West leads to settlement in Tennessee, Kentucky, and the Ohio Valley after 1750. 1. Exploration shows great desirability of these areas. 2. Establishment of military roads such as Forbes Road and Braddocks Road opens the Ohio Valley during the French and Indian War, after 1754. 3. Development of Cumberland Gap and the Wilderness Road open Kentucky. 4. Utilization of the Indian trails of the Great Valley of the Appalachians brings settlers from Virginia and Maryland to Tennessee, while North Carolinians use the river valleys of the Holston, Nolichucky and French Broad to the same part of eastern Tennessee. C. Revolutionary War encourages western settlement. 1. Removal of indians from desired land often justified as part of war effort. 2. British policy which often discouraged settlement west of Appalachians no longer operative. 3. Individual states, especially Virginia and North Carolina, encourage settlement to solidify their claims before 1778. 4. Land speculation rampant. 5. Western land utilized for land bounties given to Revolutionary War soldiers. 6. Treaty of Paris of 1783 ending the Revolutionary War almost doubles the area claimed by the U.S. when Britain agrees to a Mississippi River boundary. D. Western Movement escalates during the early national period. 1. Legislation such as the Northwest Ordinances of 1784 (deciding that the West will be admitted as states equal to the original 13 colonies), 1785 (providing for the surveying and orderly sale of western land) and 1787 (providing specific steps for establishment of territories, then states) encourages settlement. 2. Challenges to U.S. claims to land north and west of Ohio river by Britain, and in the far south by Spain leads to heightened American interest in Ohio and the "Yazoo Strip." 3. The clearing of Indian and British claims to the Ohio Country by the Treaty of Ft. Greenville and Jay's Treaty in 1795 and Pinckney's Treaty, in which Spain not only recognizes the American interpretation of the Yazoo controversy, but guarantees Americans the right to navigate the entire Mississippi River erased many of the impediments to settlement in these areas. 4. Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin 1793, making the growing of upland cotton commercially feasible at a time when European technological development has led to a major demand for a new source of fibers, greatly affects the nature and level of western settlement. A) Southerners with land find a ready sale for it, at unheard of prices, which gives them the funds to go elsewhere. B) Even though land suitable for growing of cotton will usually cost between $15 and $50 per acre, many settlers from the Old South cling to the traditional pattern of going almost due west, because of the great profits that can be made from raising cotton. C) Many southerners break the traditional pattern of settling almost straight west of where they had lived before and go instead clear up the Ohio River Valley, settling in southern Ohio, Indiana or Illinois. This is largely because: 1) Slavery which almost everyone thought was dead, was revitalized because of the need for dependable cotton cultivators, many left the south because of an aversion to slavery; 2) Some left because they didn't like blacks, and because the Northwest Ordinances forbade slavery, they chose to go there; 3) Most who left the south and went to the Ohio Valley probably did so because they were guaranteed that they could obtain what they considered to be exceptional fertile land at no more than $1.25 per acre. 5. Abrupt departure of many people from New England between 1800 and 1810. a) Appeal of rich land in upstate NY, now free of most Indian claims. b) Appeal of land in Ohio Valley, especially northern Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. c) People moving from New England to Ohio Valley begin raising sheep and agri products, making it difficult for New Englanders with their generally poor soil, to compete. d) Embargo Act of 1807 destroys the New England shipping industry and the New England economy sags considerably. e) Much of the traditional New England resistance to individual distant settlement is fading. f) The introduction of steamboats, whch make upriver navigation of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers practical, further enhances the economy of the area west of New England. 6. The LOUISIANA PURCHASE of 1803 almost doubles the land of the United States, establishes new opportunities for Americans in the far west, and entices many young men to settle, grow cotton, trade, trap and explore. E. ADDITIONAL FACTORS LEADING TO THE TREMENDOUS SETTLEMENT OF THE FIRST 50 YEARS OF THE 19th CENTURY. 1. Canal boom of the 1820s, especially the extremely successful Erie Canal which drastically lowers the cost of east-west shipping. 2. Changing Indian policy which by 1816 encourages each Indian head of family to select 640 acres on which to live or move west of Mississippi River and by 1826 tells all Indians east of Mississippi they must remove, thus making much land available, especially for cotton production in the south. 3. The Adams-Onis Treaty in 1819 gives the U.S. Spain's claim to Florida, but also to the land north of the 42nd parallel (the northern border of California). 4. American settlement of Texas, beginning in 1823, which leads to Texas independence in 1836, admission to the Union in 1845. 5. Development of the railroad as a means of transportation and of encouraging westward movement. 6. American interest in Oregon soars after 1841, with rapid settlement of the Willamette River Valley. 7. Mormons, dispossessed from their homes in Missouri and Illinois, go first to Iowa, then make a major migration to the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, quickly expanding throughout the Great Basin. 8. The War with Mexico ends with the Treaty of Guadelupe Hidalgo giving the Southwest to the U.S. 9. The discovery of large amounts of placer gold in California leads to a major rush there in 1849 and statehood in 1850. 10. The Pacific Railway Act and Homestead Act in 1862 lead to a further, effective settlement of the west. 11. The CENSUS of 1890 OFFICIALLY declares that there is no longer a frontier in the U.S. III. IMPORTANT FACTS THAT MAY HELP YOU FIND WHERE YOUR FAMILY CAME FROM OR WENT. A. RULE OF THE HARVEST. Before the 1850s (and McCormick's reaper) families rarely planted more than they could harvest, which was between 15-25 acres per able bodied person who could help with the harvest. Finding out how many acres your family cultivated will help you know how many many people were in the household. B. IMPORTANCE OF HARDWOOD TREES. In both the North and the South, conventional wisdom (and you thought it was a '90s soundbite!) indicated that land covered with hardwood trees was the best, while grassland was to be avoided. Despite the great difficulty of clearing land covered with oaks and maples, that was the land most likely selected by your ancestors prior to the 1820s. C. FAMILIES WHO MADE THEIR LIVING PIONEER FARMING rarely moved unless they had enough means to live on for at least 2 years, or had someone who would provide for them this long. This is due to the fact that it took 2 years to go through the process of converting a hardwood forest into an economically viable farm. If your family moved, it usually meant they had enough money to survive for 2 years without much add'l income, or enough $ to buy an already improved farm. Few poverty stricken people (PSP)moved west, but a fair number of PSPs moved east. D. MOST SETTLERS BEFORE 1800 at least in the North, moved west during the winter, usually in January and early February. Expect your families to have moved then, not in the summer. E. With a new notable exceptions, your ancestors MOVED ALMOST DUE WEST, rarely deviating more than a few degrees up or down. F. IF YOUR ANCESTORS WERE IN NEW ENGLAND PRIOR TO 1700, expect them to stay very close to the same site until 1800. By 1810, they will most likely be in upstate New York, by 1820 in northern Ohio, Indiana or Illinois, and by 1850 perhaps in Iowa, Oregon, California or Utah. G. TOWNS SETTLED BY NEW ENGLANDERS usually had streets running north-south and east-west, while towns settled by Southerners often placed less emphasis on grid patterns. TRAVEL ROUTES. COLONIAL ROADS TO 1750. As one of the earliest east-west wagon roads, the Lancaster road linked Philadelphia to Harrisburg before 1730. A connection from Lancaster to Winchester, Virginia, in the early 1740s, created what was either called the Philadelphia Wagon Road or the Great Valley Road. The Fall Line Road crossed Virginia and the Carolinas, and eventually into Georgia. By 1746, the Pioneer's Road had connected Alexandria to Winchester, Virginia, joining with the Great Valley Road. By 1748, the Upper Road became an important wagon route for migrations into the Carolinas. THE WAY WEST, 1775-1795. Daniel Boone's Wilderness Road was the route for thousands of settlers into Kentucky. Meanwhile the western Pennsylvania routes provided an overland access to the Ohio River. After the Revolutionary War, western migrations on these routes continued to increase. _______ ============================== Search ALL of RootsWeb's mailing lists in real time. RootsWeb's Personalized Mailing Lists: http://pml.rootsweb.com/ --part1_33.1f731c8.25f04448_boundary--