1. After the war of Independence from 1775 to 1883 and the formation of the United States of America, the white Americans began to move westward.

2. By the time Thomas Jefferson became president of USA in 1800, over 700000 white settlers had moved on to the Appalachian plateau through the passes.

3. Seen from the east coast, America seemed to be a land of promise. Its wilderness could be turned into cultivated fields. Forest timber could be cut for export, animals hunted for skin, mountains mined for gold and minerals.

4. In the decade after 1800 the US Government committed itself to a policy of driving the American Indians westward, first beyond the river Mississippi, and then further west.

5. It was however only after the 1860s that settlers swept into the Great Plains across the river Mississippi. In subsequent decades this region became major wheat- producing areas of America