The
American Old West (often referred to as the
Old West or
Wild West) comprises the history, geography, peoples, lore, and cultural expression of life in the
Western United States, most often referring to the period of the latter half of the 19th century, between the
American Civil War and the end of the century. After the eighteenth century and the push beyond the
Appalachian Mountains, the term is generally applied to anywhere west of the
Mississippi River in earlier periods and westward from the
frontier strip toward the latter part of the 19th century. More broadly, the period stretches from the early
19th century to the end of the
Mexican Revolution in 1920.
[1]Through treaties with foreign nations and native peoples, political compromise, technological innovation, military conquest, establishment of law and order, and the great migrations of foreigners, the United States expanded from coast to coast (Atlantic Ocean-to-Pacific Ocean), fulfilling its belief in Manifest Destiny. In securing and managing the West, the U.S. federal government greatly expanded its powers, as the nation grew from an agrarian society to an industrialized nation. First promoting settlement and exploitation of the land, by the end of the 19th century the federal government became a steward of the remaining open spaces. As the American Old West passed into history, the myths of the West took firm hold in the imagination of Americans and foreigners alike.
The American frontier moved gradually westward decades after the settlement of the first white immigrants on the Eastern seaboard in the 1600s. The "West" was always the area beyond that boundary. Scholars, however, sometimes refer to the "Old West" as the region of the Ohio and Tennessee valleys during the 18th century, when the frontier was being contested by England, France, and the American colonies. Most often, however, the "American Old West", the "Old West" or "the Great West" is used to describe the area west of the Mississippi River during the 19th century.[1]
During European settlement of North America in the seventeenth century, the western frontier was the crest of the Appalachian Mountains, the initial geographical impediment to expansion. While the eastern seaboard was being tamed, the area west of these mountains received little concern and speculation. After the Revolutionary War, the conflict among European powers over the vast American continent and its riches gave way to the new nation of the United States. With peace came an impetus for westward expansion, as veterans returned to areas seen during the war, and land hungry settlers traveled to newly available lands in New York and across the Appalachians.
