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President Thomas Jefferson acquired the Louisiana Territory by purchasing it from France in 1803 for $15 million dollars. With this purchase, the geographical size of the United States doubled and opened the west for expansion. -
The railroad era begins with Peter Cooper's railroad steam engine, the Tom Thumb, running 13 miles in 1830. -
Cyrus McCormick invented the reaper that made Farming a lot easier and more efficient. -
The development of improved and more efficient farm technologies -
Production of work intensive cash crops like cotton and tobacco expanded and the Southern economy became increasingly dependent on slave labor to keep the price of its crops competitive.This encouraged slavery to continue. -
The average total U.S. population was 23,191,786.The farm population was estimated to be about 11,680,00 and farmers made up about 69% of the labor force -
Because the agriculture industry was growing and improving they need a more efficient way of transporting goods. -
James watt discovered the meaning of horsepower this would help make machines an also help identify how much power a machine had. -
Americans fought a chaotic Civil War because of the massive disagreement over slavery. -
The Homestead Act offered 160 acres of free land to settlers who would farm it for five years, making the Great Plains a land of opportunity. -
The Civil War destroyed much of the South and its plantations. More dramatically, four million slaves were suddenly freed with no land, no money and little opportunity. -
Westward expansion pushed the agricultural frontier onto the Great Plains. The Homestead Act offered 160 acres of free land to settlers who would farm it for five years, making the Great Plains a land of opportunity.