Westward Movement

By the mid-nineteenth century, the American economy that had been based on local commerce and small-scale farming was maturing into a dynamic, wide-reaching capitalist marketplace. It used to be that over half of the people in the U.S. lived on the western half of the united states, but the pioneer families had it very hard and it was a very grim life to have to lead. But their efforts have helped to make America grow into the great nation that it is today.