This website from the Fordham University provides information about the expansion of the rail system in European countries between 1840 and 1900. Presents graphs to present the information.

This site, presented by The Kansas Collection, provides insight into the westward expansion of orphan children from New York City. The page houses links to stories, newspaper articles, history, and graphics associated with the Orphan...

westward expansion

A map of the United States and territories showing the expansion from the formation of the original states to 1880, and the railroad network in 1880. The map is color-coded to show the original states, the states admitted between 1791...

A map from 1971 showing the railway network in China, indicating the post-1949 construction and expansion of the network, primarily to the west and north into the less developed and sparsely populated regions of the country.

This is a history of the construction and significance of a railway through the Crowsnest Pass that connected a part of British Columbia that was cut off from the rest of Canada. Included are maps, photographs and primary source documents.

This history of The Calgary and Edmonton Railway is an account of the necessity to build branch lines in order for the Canadian Pacific Railway to develop its vast land holdings on the prairies. Included are maps, photographs and primary...

This tutorial looks at the Second Industrial Revolution in the United States and the most famous and successful industrial entrepreneurs of that time. A PDF file of the tutorial is available.

This is an impressive history of the introduction of beef to the Great Plains region complete with videos, photos, and lesson plans.

An explanation of how the Kansa-Nebraska Act in effect voided the Missouri Compromise, which had been the law that dictated the territories that could allow slavery. Read about the act proposed by Stephen A. Douglas, and see how a...

Between 1820 and 1860, the visual map of the United States was transformed by unprecedented urbanization and rapid territorial expansion, facilitated by the railroad system. These changes mutually fueled the Second Industrial Revolution...

[Free Registration/Login Required] Online game where players become Little Fox, a Northern Cheyenne boy whose life is changed by the encroachment of white settlers, railroads, and U.S. military expeditions. As buffalo diminish and the...

This history of the Canadian National Railways (CNR) describes its formation in 1918 as the Government of Canada merged the assets of the Canadian Northern Railway with those of the Canadian Government Railway and later the Grand Trunk...

At this site take a look at maps of cattle drives from the ranches and ranges of Texas to the market places in Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado and Wyoming.

The critically acclaimed PBS series, "The West," depicts the coming of the railroad throughout the west and the consequences of the settling of the west.

A brief history of the development of mountain man James Beckwourth's trail during the westward expansion. Beckwourth Trail begins near Reno, Nevada and heads through Marysville towards Lake Oroville. The path was effective for traveling...

During World War l, 300 miles of rail and other track materials were taken in response by the British Government for rails to be used for military purposes in France. This brief account includes pictures and primary documents.

Discusses the conflict with Mexican American and Chinese groups as white settlers pushed westward in the nineteenth century. Explains what brought so many Chinese immigrants to America and the roadblocks and discrimination that they had...

A map of the United States showing the principal trade and westward migration routes between 1840 and 1850. The map shows state and territory boundaries at the time, major cities, ports, outposts, forts, and settlements, rivers, mountain...

A map of the western United States showing the rapid growth of the New West between 1885 and 1912 during the presidencies from Benjamin Harrison to Howard Taft. The map is color-coded to show the States admitted to the Union before the...

A map from 1911 of the United States showing the territorial acquisitions from the original States and Northwest Territory in 1783 to the Gadsden Purchase south of the Gila River in 1853. The map shows state capitals and major cities,...

Article reviews several conditions of American society that sowed the seeds of civil war, particularly slavery and sectional conflict.

This site presents a general picture of what life was like in the United States at the turn of the century. Content includes compelling images, information, and documents about American life.

This in-depth resource presents a history of the American West from pre-Columbian times until World War I with profiles, documents, and images. It encourages visitors to link these into patterns of historical meaning for themselves....