Which innovation had the GREATEST impact on westward migration immediately after the American Civil War? transcontinental railroad.

New technologies aided farmers and cattlemen in places where standard fencing materials were scarce. Technological advances increased the speed of correspondence from months to weeks and then to minutes. Each technological advance further opened the West and helped bind the growing country together.

The developments in land and water transportation, such as the construction of post roads, railroads, and canals, contributed greatly to westward expansion in the United States. The transport systems facilitated the migration of more people to the west.

• Dry Farming. o Type of farming that allowed farmers to farm without muchwater.
• Wheat Farming. o Wheat doesn’t need much water.
• Steel Plow. o Great Plain soil was hard and rocky.
• Windmills.
• Mechanical Reaper.
• Beef Cattle Raising.
• Barbed Wire.
• Sod Houses.

The steel plow was one of the most innovative inventions of the 19th century. This gadget helped many farmers cultivate their land in order to produce crops. Historians agree that the steel plow helped the American West develop at a fast rate. The steel plow changed the way Americans viewed the Great Plains.

Suggested Teaching Instructions

• Gold rush and mining opportunities (silver in Nevada)
• The opportunity to work in the cattle industry; to be a “cowboy”
• Faster travel to the West by railroad; availability of supplies due to the railroad.
• The opportunity to own land cheaply under the Homestead Act.

How did the railroads help open the West? It cut through the mountains and helped make travel shorter, easier, and more efficient. It also created many jobs and places for people to go and live.