Chapter 6, Section 1

1. When America was first becoming a nation, the population was distributed in a way that people would stay where they could make a living. This way, they would stay near fertile land, areas where fish were abundant, places where they could easily take timber, and other areas that could supply them with plentiful goods they could sell. As technology was increased and made superior, and the industrial revolution was in play, people were able to move out into areas with little water, like the Great Plains and farm cash crops by using the technique known as dry farming.

2. Four cultural elements influenced by immigrant roots that are still practiced today in America are language, religion, arts, and education.

Creative Writing: The Irishman, Peter Mckinly, immigrated to America in 1845 at the age of 20. Because he had arrived in the ages of the Industrial Revolution, he quickly found work building a railroad in northern America. He worked hard on this job; for seventeen years he plowed stakes into the ground with three swings of his hammer. One day, he read in a newspaper about the tragedies of the Civil War and decided to serve in the American Army. During his service in the army, he worked as an artillery man and was very good at it, being able to kill at least one man with each naturally inaccurate shot from his weapon. Miraculously, Peter survived in the war until the surrender at Appomattox Court House, where he was shot in the leg and nearly died of gangrene. After his service, he spent the rest of his life on a farm with his wife and kids in an area in the Great Plains until he was shot in the heart by a rouge Native American at the age of 70 in 1915.