What caused westward expansion in the United States?

University of Southern California ^ | February 28, 2008 | Unknown

[decimon]

Study reveals that the price of land was less important than technological innovation

Western Expansion during the nineteenth century was an important determinant of geographic distribution and economic activity in the United States today. However, while explanations abound for why the migration occurred– from the low price of land to a pioneering spirit – little empirical work has been done to determine which specific market forces were the most important drivers.

Applying quantitative analysis to historical explanations, a new study by economist Guillaume Vandenbroucke of the University of Southern California finds that the price of land was significantly less important to Westward Expansion than population growth and technological innovation leading to a decrease in transportation costs.

From 1800 to 1900, the United States tripled in size, from less than one million square miles to more than three million square miles. The geographic distribution of population also shifted, from about seven percent living in the West to roughly 60 percent. To examine what forces were most directly responsible for the magnitude of this movement and land accumulation, Vandenbroucke takes into account such factors as the amount of land available in the Eastern United States, wage and productivity growth in the East, and improvements in technologies and transportation infrastructures.

To account for the range of variables and possible factors, Vandenbroucke determined a model in which each factor was held at a constant level while the others shifted at historical rates.

“The most important forces are population growth and the decrease in transportation costs,” Vandenbroucke said. “Population growth is mostly responsible for the investment in productive land – without it less than half of the land accumulated in 1900 would have been accumulated.”

Surprisingly, Vandenbroucke found that changes in productivity in the East had little effect on the Westward Expansion, relative to population growth and a decrease in transportation costs – as he explains, rising wages and productivity makes it easier to move, but it also makes it less pressing to move.

Instead, he finds that population growth and technological innovation worked in concert as the main driving factors of Western Expansion. Specifically, the decrease in transportation costs induced Western migration and the redistribution of the American population – without it only 30 percent of the population would have been in the West in 1900, compared to an actual historical figure of 60 percent. Land improvement technology, such as the use of barbed wire to cut down on the time needed to build a fence, had a small effect on the accumulation of land in the West.

Vandenbroucke’s findings, appearing in the current issue of International Economic Review, have important implications for how to understand current population patterns and international immigration to the United States.

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About the University of Southern California: Established in 1880, the University of Southern California is one of the world’s leading private research universities and the oldest private research university in the western United States. USC enrolls more international students than any other U.S. university and offers extensive opportunities for internships and study abroad. With a strong tradition of integrating liberal and professional education, USC fosters a vibrant culture of public service and encourages students to cross academic as well as geographic boundaries in their pursuit of knowledge.

[wardaddy]

Population Growth from Europe and Cities in the Northeast?

Second and Third Sons from both Europe and the American South’s plantocracy and yeoman class.

Railroads?

man....that was a tough one....(wiping sweat)

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

The post-Civil War demographic changes are pretty startling. For example, most of the adult males in Arkansas were about wiped out. But dramatic demographic changes happened for other reasons as well.

1) Just before the turn of the century, the boll weevil wiped out the cotton crop, and forced adaptation to a different form of agriculture. Perfect timing, as well, as it would have soon been wiped out by foreign competition.

2) The Dust Bowl caused its reversal of the frontier by forcing large numbers of farmers to the coasts. This was heightened by the Great Depression.

3) The Green Revolution after WWII continued where they had left off, and stripped most of the remaining private farmers out of rural America, to move to the cities.

[Bender2]

Re: Atomic Annie’ll give you as much fire power as you need...

Yeah, "280mm" is about 11 inches... and that was once my nickname! Now it is "300 Plus mm!" after my last refit.

[redgolum]

For my family, it was the UP railroad.

Left Germany and ended up in Nebraska. Why they didn’t go somewhere warmer we will never know.

[gorush]

Any individual thirsting for more freedom would have instinctively headed west.

[decimon]

Left Germany and ended up in Nebraska. Why they didn’t go somewhere warmer we will never know.

Some Europeans paid to get here with the "streets paved with gold" sort of bs. There were probably many who went west on the same sort of false promises.