The Great Wagon Road & the 1st Major American Migration

Beginning as a series of Indian trails running north and south, the Great Wagon Road became a major travel route during the colonial period of the English colonies. Due to the lack of affordable land in Pennsylvania, many Scots-Irish and German colonists made the trek southward along the Great Wagon Road into the sparsely populated colonies of Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. This migration lasted for many years and was the first major migration of settlers in the American colonies. The manner in which the colonists travelled this route and the dangers they encountered are covered along with the impact of this migration on American history.