Chapter 13: The West and Beyond

            What initially shocked me while reading chapter 13 was the number of immigrants between 1815 and1860. The textbook gave an incredible amount of 5 million European immigrants. I’ve always known that immigration played a huge role in the history of the United States, but to put a number to that topic really painted a picture of exactly how many people actually took part in this. What I also found was surprising was the large number of Germans and Irish. I thought that the Irish being one of the largest groups to come to America was not surprising because of the well-known Great Famine of Ireland, during which multiple harvests of potatoes were destroyed and resulted in the death of a million people due to starvation. What I did not know, however, was that Germans made up the second largest group of immigrants.

These Germans constructed the idea of residing in small groups or clans of their own ethnicity in America. Although many people thought of these clans as a negative, I was able to look at it from a more positive perspective. Being an immigrant traveling to a new country was difficult and intimidating because of the language barrier, new environment, and strange culture. But having a small community made up of people from the same ethnicity or background probably made it easier to adjust to their new home. Germans were able to find neighbors that spoke their language, practiced the same customs, and did not need any outside help because everything that was necessary for daily life was supplied within that community. Thinking about all the immigrants and their rough history made me wonder how I would react and what I would do if I were in the same situation as them, one in which I am forced to leave the comfort of my own home and immigrate to another country as an “alien.”

I was also interested in reading about the expansion towards the west. The section about the overland trails spoke of the difficulties Americans had to face during their move. These trails were routes leading westward to Oregon and California, and were followed by thousands of people. Because the path consisted of walking on Indian killing grounds, these travelers had to be on the constant lookout with weapons by their side. However, I found it ridiculous that these stories were false and that “they were more likely to shoot one another than to be shot by the usually cooperative Indians, and much more likely to be scalped by the inflated prices…” (Boyer, 299). I recall hearing about the Donner Party from my U.S. History teacher in high-school, and how gruesome their situation was that led them to resort to cannibalism. I must admit that these individuals were so courageous in their decision to follow this trail, despite not knowing anything about the route and solely relying on guidebooks that contained false information.