Maybe Sioux uprisings in Minnesota are a lot more successful, drive the frontier back and lead to a much longer war.
Reconstruction isn't as harsh on southerners, so fewer head west after the war.
However, as long as the railroads spread west, settlers will follow in large numbers. Unless something happened to them, little can be done
Western states in general.Reconstruction wasn't harsh on (white) southerners. It being even less harsh than OTL would almost require the US apologizing to the ex-Confederates for winning.
The railroads have headed west by the end of the war, though construction is not complete.
Are you thinking of the so-called Great American Desert, or the western states in general, SPJ?
To white southerners it was portrayed as harsh, which matters more than the laws themselves. And maybe it would be that Sherman/other US generals don't lay waste to as much of the south, so fewer desperate families head west
Like what "Savage Indians","Deadly Outlaws", rough terrain, and deadly diseases wasn't enough for OTL it seems.SPJ: Something discouraging immigrants moving to places like Minnesota and the Dakotas would be good, though that would take some work.
Like what "Savage Indians","Deadly Outlaws", rough terrain, and deadly diseases wasn't enough for OTL it seems.
Any suggestions. The best I can think of is a greater industrial boom in the east which provides labor jobs.Preferably something encouraging them to settle the eastern half the US instead of the west, though. OTL they were definitely encouraged to move to those territories (as in, it was sold as a very good idea by interested groups such as by the Northern Pacific railroad).
Prevent/decrease the large influx of settlers to western territiores of the US after the American Civil War.
To add an suggestion is it possible for the Homestead Act of 1862 to have bee repealed?
Any suggestions. The best I can think of is a greater industrial boom in the east which provides labor jobs.
This may be grasping at straws but what about an outbreak of deadly disease in many western colonies like an extremely viral flu pandemic?That would probably make some impact.
I think the problem is that the idea of "west = opportunity" is well established in the American psyche by this point, so even if things like discovering gold in the Black Hills are delayed there's going to be an incentive for people to look West.
This may be grasping at straws but what about an outbreak of deadly disease in many western colonies like an extremely viral flu pandemic?
In which case more desperate Black families from the southern states probably head west, to escape the even-more-dominant-than-IOTL whites, instead.To white southerners it was portrayed as harsh, which matters more than the laws themselves. And maybe it would be that Sherman/other US generals don't lay waste to as much of the south, so fewer desperate families head west