p.
p1 {margin: 0. 0px 0. 0px 8. 0px 0. 0px; text-align: justify; font: 12. 0px ‘ Times New Roman’; color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000; background-color: #ffffff}p. p2 {margin: 0. 0px 0.
0px 8. 0px 0. 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36. 0px; font: 12. 0px ‘ Times New Roman’; color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000}p.
p3 {margin: 0. 0px 0. 0px 8.
0px 0. 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36. 0px; font: 12. 0px ‘ Times New Roman’; color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000; background-color: #ffffff}span. s1 {font-kerning: none}span. s2 {font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff}The Trans-Mississippi West was contrasting to earlier “ Wests” in the sense that it was the frontier of an urban and industrial society instead of rural and agrarian society.
Starting from 1860, by 1890 the Western frontier was settled, it was a culturally diverse frontier as well as urbanized. Having started in 1862 with funds largely contributed by the federal government, railroads were the key to the rapid settlement of the west. They were efficient as well as fast in transportation of heavy goods, also providing a faster mode of communication. The federal Government encouraged settlement by selling land at cheap prices along the rail lines which helped in the railroad building. Railroads also helped the national government to gain more control as they could now send army across places very quickly and efficiently. Technological developments and economic powers also helped in the fast expansion and modernization of the area beyond the Mississippi river.
The construction of east-west railroads and canals helped in a great way towards this expansion. The new and faster steam boats also added to the movement of the commercial traffic. In 1879, the Federal government established the Mississippi River Commission.
The key objective of this commission was to create means of maintaining and improving the river for developing as a commercial waterway. The commission introduced several new channels along the river to make it more navigable for larger boats. These changes further advanced and supported increased transport on the Mississippi, particularly of heavy and bulky freight.
One of the great historian, Frederick Jackson Turner concluded that the settlement of the West by the Americans has given the American society it’s unique standing and had further shaped and defined it’s ideals and values in a positive way some of which included optimism, freedom, equality and self-reliance.
