Facts on the considered west (England, colonies, invaded, state)

[sunnyandcloudydays]

I was thinking the other day what it was like for people living on the East Coast

Does anyone know of any articles links etc on what life was like say in Indiana, Ohio , michigan , illinois , iowa , wisconsin before the land was settled.

Looking for articles or actual comments on what the area was like
espicially in the late 1700s and early 1800

I was also wondering what the main travel route might have been

always see that people came to the midwest from places like vermont, ny, mass, ct, pa , ky, va

just was wondering if there are any good comments
I guess my title should have been facts on the former west or old west

[Irishtom29]

I suggest you go to the library and get "Chicago and the Old Northwest 1673-1835" by Milo Quaife and "Frontier Illinois" by James Davis. I have both books and they are excellent.

Illinois had two main American settlement patterns: the lower more rugged part of the state was settled first and mainly by southerners who crossed the Ohio. The Grand Prairie north of the Shelbyville Moraine was settled by people from New England and New York after the opening of the Erie Canal.

[diogenes2]

One of the early routes west was the National Road (or Pike), known today as Rt 40. The following link gives a short description of what it must have been like traveling this historic road:

www.history-magazine.com/natroad.html

Some of the old taverns and coach stops along the National Road are still in existence. For instance, a restaurant still occupies a stone building that dates back to 1792 on Braddock Mountain on "old 40" outside Frederick, MD. Further west the same road on South Mounain outside Boonsboro, MD, is another well-known stage stop and tavern. Unfortunately, many of the mile-markers have been stolen or destroyed. Any thoughtful person traveling west on RT 40 today couldn't help being impressed with the courage and determination of these early pioneers.

According to author Bil Gilbert in his book Westering Man, the settlement line remained static for about hundred years after the first English settlers arrived in America. The landed English were content to remain in settlements not more than a hundred miles inland from the coast. It was only after the Scotch-Irish arrived that a people were restless and resolute enough to break through the barriers of the Appalachian Mountains.

[Irishtom29]

Originally Posted by diogenes2

It was only after the Scotch-Irish arrived that a people were restless and resolute enough to break through the barriers of the Appalachian Mountains.

I'd say it was more like desperate enough.

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by diogenes2

According to author Bil Gilbert in his book Westering Man, the settlement line remained static for about hundred years after the first English settlers arrived in America. The landed English were content to remain in settlements not more than a hundred miles inland from the coast. It was only after the Scotch-Irish arrived that a people were restless and resolute enough to break through the barriers of the Appalachian Mountains.

i don't think that's true. My English ancestors kept moving West through and beyond VA along with or ahead of the Scots-Irish.

[sunnyandcloudydays]

great stuff , thanks

[diogenes2]

Originally Posted by Irishtom29

I'd say it was more like desperate enough.

Irishtom,

Good point. "Desperate" is an apt term for the newly-arrived Scotch-Irish. Of all the emigrants to America, they may have been been among the poorest of the poor, bereft of usable skills and worldly goods to cope with life in America. A paragraph from Bil Gilbert's Westering Man that appeared in an early Pennsylvania Gazette describes their condition:
"Poverty, Wretchedness, and Want are become almost universal among them; that there is not Corn enough rais'd for their Subsistence one year after another, and at the same Time the Trade and Manufactures of the Nation being cramp'd and discourag'd, the labouring people have little to do, and consequently are not able to purchase Bread at it's present dear Rate....

It's said that Wiliam Penn's executive secretary, James Logan, himself an Ulsterman, had encouraged their emigration to America, but soon rued that decision, as the Scotch-Irish became very troublesome to him. The desperate arrivals often took the first unoccuppied land that they found, asked no one's permission, refused to leave and had no means or intention of paying for it. Probably it was a greatt relief to Logan and others, when many of the Scotch-Irish set out for the Great Valley, that is, the Cumberlaand in Pennsylvania and Shenandoah in Virginia.

[diogenes2]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

i don't think that's true. My English ancestors kept moving West through and beyond VA along with or ahead of the Scots-Irish.

I'm sure there were a few English who did move beyond the established settlements in the colonies, but for the most part it was the mostly Germans and Scotch-Irish who settled in the more easily traversed Cumberland and Shenandoah valley areas. However, it was Scotch-Irish who pushed the frontiers further into the mountainous areas of southwestern Virginia,Tennessee, and Kentucky via the Cumberland Gap. The presence of the powerful Iroquois nation to the north and west proved a deterrent to western expansion for sometime.

[mwruckman]

The bloody meadows of Culloden where my English ancestors ended the Jacobite Rebellion was a powerful reason why many Scots-Irish came to America and didn't want anything to do with the English colonies already here.

[Irishtom29]

Originally Posted by mwruckman

The bloody meadows of Culloden where my English ancestors ended the Jacobite Rebellion was a powerful reason why many Scots-Irish came to America and didn't want anything to do with the English colonies already here.

I don't think the suppression of Highland Scots has much to do with Lowland Scots who invaded Ireland and subsequently America.