Reflect on Your Knowledge

In this section, you will examine your current knowledge about the factors that contributed to the transformation of the American West, and reflect on the challenges of teaching the history of this era to students. Discuss the following questions with your colleagues or reflect on them in your journal.

1. What factors contributed to the settlement of the West?
2. Speculate on what the costs of migration and settlement might be. For example, what resources do you need to move to a new place or take on a new job? Frame this in terms of obtaining a new farm and getting it up to speed. How might people pay for these costs?
3. What role did the growth of the railroad play?
   1. Which groups were dependent upon the railroad? Upon which groups would the railroad itself have been dependent?
   2. What would investors need to know before they invested in railroads?
   3. How would the structure of the railroad (how it operated and its size) shape people's lives? (For example, consider Sears, Roebuck, and Co., or commercial agriculture -- the need for staple crop revenues.)
4. When you teach the settlement of the West, what are some of the critical pieces of information that you want to convey to your students?
5. What are the challenges in teaching students about the settlement of the West and the importance of the railroads?