History West

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History Coursework

Law and Order

Q1.

Source A shows that the Mormons were very organized – due to the fact that they didn’t want to go to the West for money, they wanted to build a community, far from the eastern states. Because of this, they concentrated on making their city successful, including law and order. Evidence to show this is grid roads with neatly laid out districts, farms and crops. These show that the Mormons were industrious, and the roads show they were efficient. Overall, the picture of Salt Lake City shows that the Mormons were civilized as well as organized. Although there is no evidence of proper law and order, we can assume from the picture that it wasn’t a problem.

Q2.

Source B shows the difficulties of the mining town of Bannack. The main reason for this was the fact that it was set up in the Gold Rush, and at the time the miners only wanted money, regardless of the town’s problems. As a result, people took the law into their own hands. Law and order was set up, but was led by a corrupt sheriff, Henry Plummer. Even though he was elected by the town, he led a gang that terrorized locals. As a result of this, people took the law into their own hands and from Vigilance Committees. Plummer was then caught and executed in 1884. Due to lack of law and order, life became dangerous, so they began to protect themselves with guns. From this, we can assume the town was violent. In conclusion, the gold rush attracted everyone, including criminals, and as a result no laws were set up, and present law and order wasn’t very efficient.

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Q3.

From the source, it shows that western towns had other problems apart from law and order. It says that illness struck, which implies that towns weren’t looked after and had poor sanitation. The cabins are stated as poorly kept, which shows that people were in poverty. This happened because the land was taken up quickly from the gold rush, and only a few people got rich. Being poorly built, they were also built quickly during the gold rush. Overall, law and order wasn’t the only problem in mining towns, but all the effects are from the same cause ...

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