Manifest Destiny, the idea of expanding westward and bringing on new technologies to the people that inhabit the unforgiving lands, began to spread across the United States in the 19th century. People in the eastern United States had varying ideas of how to generate profit, how to govern themselves or how the federal government should govern them, and how to provide a safe and healthy environment for their families. The citizens of the North primarily functioned on factory work and manufacturing profits, whereas the citizens of South was primarily based on farming and slave labor. The two often fought when it came to internal improvements, tariffs, and slave versus non-slave statehood. Expanding westward would present the two divided areas …show more content…
The United States government was comprised of the people of the nation who made decisions they felt were best for society. For example, President Thomas Jefferson wanted to seek a new passage leading to the Pacific ocean for commercial purposes to help the people, such as the yeomen, trade, and in turn, gain profits. As Jefferson states in his letter to Meriwether Lewis, "The object of your mission is to explore the Missouri River...and communication with the waters of the Pacific...may offer the most direct and practical water-communication across the continent, for the purposes of commerce" (Document A). Jefferson, being a part of the executive branch of government at the time, was determined to find the quickest route that would provide access to trade with countries near the Pacific. He also intended to explore the science and nature of the west, as well as its people and their ways of living. Thomas Jefferson wanted what was best for the states and their people, so he took executive action and formerly proposed an idea that was new to the young nation. In addition, the government wanted to build a trail linking Maryland and states near it to the Ohio River, which would provide a path into the west. As stated in the act that enabled this action, the purpose of the road is "to lay out a road from Cumberland, on the northern bank of the river