Gkt- Task One

GKE- Themes in US History

Task One

A.) Over the last few centuries, the United States has transformed from a thirteen colony country to a fifty state country due to many large geographical and environmental factors. Many of these factors have influenced the development of the United States by causing both manmade and natural historical events. Out of all of the factors that have played a huge role in the expansion of the United States, there are two factors that stand out as the most influential. The drought of the 1930’s and California’s rich fertile ground are the two most influential factors of the expansion of the United States.

The drought of the 1930’s lead to a huge movement in America. The 1930’s drought was one of the main factor of The Dust Bowl of the Midwest. “This intensive farming destroyed the protective cover of vegetation and the hot dry summers began to turn the soil into dust. High winds in 1934 turned an area of some 50 million acres into a giant dust bowl.” (Simkin, 2013) People of the Midwest states relied on their crops for a living, leaving them devastated and desperate for anything with some kind of profit. All of the damage forced people to start heading west to get away from the drought. This helped the expansion of the western states.

In 1848, California became more than just the first western state of the United States. It became known for its rich fertile soil. Only one small piece of gold, which was found in the Sacramento valley brought the attention to California like never before. People began heading West in hopes to find large amounts of gold and silver. The gold rush lead to the industry of railroads and mining which expanded all over the Western side of the United States.

B.) When the societies of the Indus River Valley, known as the Harappan culture, began to form, they quickly grew. There were many different factors that attracted people. The main factor was the ability of easy trade. The Indus River Valley,...