Pioneer Journey Across The Appalachians (Rev)

foreign [Music] Jamestown Virginia established in 1607 this was the first successful English colony in the new world and the beginning of a colonial Frontier further north by 1630 two more English colonies had been founded the pilgrims and Puritans of New England had come to America to establish communities where they could freely practice their religious beliefs but disagreements over religion continued and some settlers began to move away to establish their own colonies the colonial Frontier was already beginning to expand [Music] and as the years passed ships continued to bring settlers and more new colonies were established most of the people who settled in the English colonies were farmers by the year 1700 most of the Eastern lands were already occupied and new immigrants were moving farther west to establish their own Farms in the Middle Colonies especially people had come from many different parts of Europe because of cultural differences many of these people felt unwelcome in the English communities in the East and they preferred to establish their own settlements on the frontier meanwhile in the older settlements especially in the southern colonies farmers were facing a serious problem much of the land had been cultivated for nearly a hundred years and because of the farming methods of the time the land was no longer producing good crops thank you in the hope of finding new fertile Farmland more and more people were being drawn to the Western frontier [Music] but by 1750 the expansion of the frontier was meeting several obstacles the new settlers were taking over more and more of the land that had been the hunting grounds of Indian tribes for many generations some of these tribes especially the six tribes that formed the Iroquois Federation were powerful enough to resist the expansion of colonial settlements [Music] and there was another serious obstacle by 1750 the tide of Westward Movement had reached the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains stretching from New York to Georgia these mountain ranges stood like a wall resisting further expansion of the English colonies for the most part the lands west of the mountains formed an Uncharted wilderness but a few hunters and fur Trappers had begun to make the difficult and dangerous Journey across the Appalachians as they Blaze Trails through the Wilderness these explorers found rivers that had cut through the mountains forming passageways to the lowlands farther west foreign there was still a part of the Southern Appalachians where no passage could be found for hundreds of miles then in 1750 Thomas Walker discovered a natural Passage through the mountains that became known as the Cumberland Gap as Hunters moved west of the Appalachians they found abundant Wildlife that could provide food for many future settlers and they found large Open Spaces in the forests with fertile soil that could become farmland when Hunters returned to the English colonies their reports stirred new hopes of establishing settlements west of the Appalachians but these hopes face still another obstacle the lands west of the mountains were claimed not only by England but also by France by 1753 the French had begun to build a series of forts in the Valley of the Ohio River France would use military force if necessary to keep the English from establishing settlements here these conflicting claims soon led to war between England and France the French and Indian War beginning in 1754 foreign twice during this war armies of English and Colonial soldiers marched to the Ohio Valley building roads as they Advanced through the wilderness [Music] eventually the French were defeated and in 1763 England took possession of the lands once claimed by France along the roads built by the English and Colonial troops settlers from Pennsylvania and Virginia began to move into the Ohio Valley by 1775 many families in Maryland Virginia and North Carolina were preparing for a journey across the Appalachians to establish new homes in Tennessee and Kentucky [Music] to understand what this journey must have been like imagine a typical family in North Carolina preparing to leave a farm that had not produced good crops for many years they could not take many possessions with them only what could be loaded on a pack horse and what they could carry themselves in order to plant the first crop on their new fertile Farmland they needed to take Seed corn with them foreign [Music] so it could be slung across the back of the horse [Music] in the other half of the sack they packed seed potatoes they'd need a spinning wheel to make yarn for new clothes and fermenting old clothes an ax for chopping down trees to provide logs for their cabin [Music] ties to clear away the long grasses from their fields rifles and gunpowder for hunting and perhaps for defense against the Indians and they would also need cooking utensils sometimes there was room for a few personal possessions if they were small and very special but for the most part they could take only the things they couldn't do without like the iron plowshare that would be used to plow the rich soil on their new Farm the family was looking forward to a better life beyond the mountains but they were also leaving behind many things that had been important to them they were giving up several of their treasured family possessions [Music] some things had been brought from England others had been made with great care by the settlers themselves all of these things would be left behind with relatives and friends who remained east of the mountains and so the time came for the family to leave their old home with a few head of livestock and the pack horse loaded with all it could carry they began the journey [Music] a few miles from their old home they would join several other Pioneer families it was safer for several families to travel together on the difficult and dangerous journey across the mountains and Into the Wilderness where they would make their new homes [Music] as their guide this group of pioneer families had hired a hunter who had crossed the mountain several times he led them along Indian trails along Trails made by animals or Trails blazed by hunters and explorers traveling away from the towns and settlements east of the mountains and farther Into the Wilderness they were in Greater danger of attack by wild animals or by Indians for protection they could depend only on themselves each evening before Darkness came they would set up camp for food they depended partly on what they had brought with them but also on what they could gather in the woods or get by hunting the first night was a time for the Pioneers to become better acquainted with each other many of them were making the journey to find fertile land where they could grow better crops others came because they couldn't afford to pay the increasingly high prices for Farmland in the east on the west side of the mountains land was abundant and cheap a few like the guide we're looking for adventure and the freedom of living in the wilderness some Pioneers were looking for another kind of Freedom they had not found in the East the freedom to worship as they saw fit and there were some who would come to America as indentured servants once they are in their freedom they wanted to move west to begin a new life [Music] so for several reasons the Pioneers were willing to face the hardships and dangers of the journey always but especially at night they were on guard against wild animals or against the Indians who lived in these Frontier lands [Music] day after day for several weeks the journey continued across the mountains and through the wilderness [Music] [Music] at last the day came when the members of this family separated from the others and claimed the land that would become their new home the long dangerous Journey was over and so by 1775 many families had made the journey across the Appalachians to settle in Tennessee Kentucky and the Ohio River Valley but these Frontier settlements grew very slowly at first in 1775 the American colonies faced a crisis that would help shape the future of the Western frontier the Revolutionary War had begun [Music] [Applause] several Indian tribes including the six Iroquois Nations became allies of the British in defeating Great Britain the United States also broke the power of the Iroquois Confederacy which had held back the expansion of the northern Frontier a few years after the revolution an American Army crushed the resistance of another Indian Confederacy at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794 General Anthony Wayne defeated the Shawnee Indians and other tribes of the Ohio country the Indians were forced to sign a treaty surrendering almost all of their lands to the United States no longer were the Indians powerful enough to hold back the expanding Frontier to provide for the government of the region Northwest of the Ohio River Congress had already passed the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. the people who settled here would eventually form their own state governments on an equal footing with the original 13 states by 1795 the way was open for thousands of people to join The Westward Movement in the South many pioneers followed a route around the southern end of the Appalachian Mountains and others travel along a system of New Roads that led through the Cumberland Gap [Music] from the middle States thousands of settlers journeyed to the Northwest Territory traveling on the Ohio River by flat boat foreign and in the north a new system of Roads was built through the mountains to the Great Lakes Regional so by 1795 there were several routes across the mountains and it was possible for many people from all of the eastern states to join in a great Westward Movement [Music] leaving behind the crowded conditions of the East they looked forward to a new way of life in the vast region west of the mountains the expanding Frontier had at last conquered the barrier of the Appalachian Mountains