...The purchase of the Louisiana Territory in 1803 opened the door to westward expansion. Thomas Jefferson purchased this extensive plot of land with the hopes of strengthening and expanding the Republic, unaware that it would have the opposite effect. Jefferson’s fateful decision to expand the United States nearly destroyed the Republic that Americans worked so hard to build. It triggered the rise of divisions amongst Americans. These small cracks continued to grow and tear at the seams of the nation. Although westward expansion between 1800 and 1848 granted many new opportunities to the American people, it also brought about tension that plagued the nation for years to come. Some historians may construe westward expansion as beneficial to the...
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...The Westward Expansion The westward expansion is one of the most fascinating and significant topics in the history of the United States. Nowhere else has an area of equal size been settled by small groups and individuals. Westward expansion helped stimulate the American economy. At the time, progress was beneficial for the United States, but those benefits came with a cost, such cost that instead of advancements and developments being advantageous for humanity, it also became a harmful process in which numerous people were affected in many facets of life. This all means that progress is remarkable to achieve, but when achieved, people have to realize the process they had to do to achieve it, which was stepping on other people to get there. To gain access to the western part of the country the white settlers had to pass through the Native Americans. While pushing westward the white culture clashed with the plain Indians and their culture. As a result of these bloody battles and the white settlers that were victorious, the Native Americans were restricted to small portions of their land. The government supported assimilation, which was the plan to unite the Native American culture with the white one. White settlers started moving westward to settle the land gained by the victory over the Native Americans. A major factor that caused this major movement, other than by the victory of the war, was the Homestead Act. This act provided and granted 160 acres of free land...
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...“The term Western Expansion encompasses the acquisition of territories by the United States across the whole area of the North American continent from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west.” (www.american-historama.org/1841-1850-westwardexpansion/westwardexpansion.htm). There were many factors that lead up to the Westward Expansion. For example, an overflowing population, the government opens new land (i.e. Louisiana Purchase), Pacific expansion, and finally seeking expansion beyond borders all lead up to the Westward expansion. Also, there is a vase amount of impacts that the Western Expansion had on America and its people. Overflowing Population Many people think major increase in population is good...
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...Part A: Highlight two options that best describe the central ideas of the text. A. History is not made up of just a few heroes and villains. B. Mexicans did not participate in westward expansion. C. Average citizens were responsible for westward expansion. D. Thomas Jefferson was responsible for westward expansion. Part B: Select two quotations from the text --one for each answer-- to support the answers to Part A. “It is natural and perhaps necessary for historians and story-tellers to view the dramatic shifts of history through the actions of a few famous figures, whether heroes or villains. Certainly the story of the westward expansion of the United States has many examples of each, and sometimes it seems the villains outnumber the heroes.” “A true story of the...
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...Would you rather move west and risk your health or prevent the Civil War? As you look deeper into the westward expansion, you will realize that it was not the best groundbreaking discovery for American settlers. At first, the westward expansion seemed like a good idea and a fruitful business plan but the westward expansion played a much deeper role in American history. Unfortunately, people did not realize the long term effects of moving elsewhere. The westward expansion was unnecessary because it created an unhealthy environment for new settlers and helped encourage the Civil War. Many people suffer from loneliness and that is exactly was the westward expansion promises. Moving west, there was nothing out there except for the fertile land...
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...Westward Expansion Cowboys ` Between 1870 and 1890, probably 10 million semiwild longhorn cattle traveled from Texas to Kansas and other northern markets. A group of cowboys rode with each herd of from 2,000 to 5,000 cattle to push them up the trail by day and to night-herd them after dark. Any unusual noise after the cattle were asleep might send them into a wild and destructive stampede. To drown those disturbing noises, the cowboys came to croon or yodel to the cattle. From these cattle calls grew some of the trail songs descriptive of cowboy life. So long as the cattle could hear a familiar voice crooning some cattle lullaby, they had no fear of the howl of a wolf, the scream of a panther, or any of the other sudden noises of the night....
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...Westward expansion developed America economically, and these improvements in turn allowed for easier settlement. The War of 1812 was a turning point for the economy. Due to the blockade by Britain, America’s domestic industries (food and materials) could develop- such as Cotton. Guillaume Vandenbroucke in 2006 explained the arguments that led to expansion when considering the economy. He argues that there’s “a standard view on this matter which goes as follows: the abundance of western land, and thus its low price attracted settlers”, and a couple of secondary views “emphasizing population growth” and “emphasizing the transportation revolution which took place during the nineteenth century.” He later states “The decrease in transportation costs...
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...The Westward expansion was an event where the United States decided to move farther to the west and get more land to help them with other things. and to make them more money and to get more population in progress when they move to the west. And also how they also took away land from other countries and native people and also on document C it says how they went to war with Mexico for part of their land and how they got together with Texas when it was its own independent country. And this is what happened to the westward expansion. Impacts on the U.S. westward expansion The westward expansion had a negative impact on native people and Mexico; one of the reasons was that the U.S. stole part of their land and killed many native American people...
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...Critical Analysis of Westward Expansion “Go west, young man”. It was the phrase of the 19th Century advocating for Manifest Destiny. Manifest Destiny was the idea that settlers were destined to expand to the west. “Americans not only considered Westward expansion a desirable objective but an endowment from God through which they could take their democratic republicanism across North America (Dobson, 2013). There were many factors that urged westward expansion, but the most common reasons for settlers were for the social environment, the natural environment, and the economic opportunities. The social environment of the west included the idea of freedom and the idea of Native American interaction. The natural environment was thriving in the west as gold and other precious minerals were discovered throughout westward expansion. The economic opportunities in the west were almost endless. As settlers took adapted Manifest Destiny, opportunist and businessmen took it towards their advantage...
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...Westward expansion and the settlers' experience on the frontier played a crucial role in shaping the nation’s character, along with bringing up traits like individualism, democracy, and a distinctive American identity. The frontier was overall, at the time in the 1800’s, mainly a rough, very demanding environment where only the Native Americans knew how to navigate the land. Since the west was just acquired land, it basically had no laws and this resulted in disputes to be settled with violence. These challenges, in-turn, forced pioneers and settlers to be self-reliant, and to only rely on themselves and their own skills in this harsh environment. Frederick Jackson Turner essay, “The Significance of the Frontier in American History”, 1893, perfectly demonstrates how the frontier helped shape the...
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...Westward Expansion was a very important piece of America’s history that helps make it what it is today. Expansionists started to take interest in California, Texas, and New Mexico. They liked territorial growth and thought these provinces would bring many useful resources. Expansionists believed in Manifest Destiny which was the belief that that God wanted the U.S. to own all of North America. Many expansionists used the Oregon Trail and the Santa Fe Trail to travel west. The Oregon Trail started in Missouri and ended in Oregon and many people used this trail in hope of a better life. The Santa Fe Trail was a famous trail in New Mexico that was used for business and trade. Other traders traveled up the Missouri River into the Rocky Mountains in search of beaver skin. In this search of the Rockies,...
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...people included in the Westward expansion were Americans and the Native Americans that were being poorly treated by the Americans. Although the Americans didn’t treat the Native Americans well, they also unfairly treated Mexicans and Chinese. During the Westward expansion in around the 1800s, people moved west to conquer new land including the lands of the Native Americans, Chinese, and Mexicans. They did this because they believed that moving west was their duty. This belief is called Manifest Destiny. When the Americans went to conquer these lands, Native Americans, Chinese, and Mexicans faced racism, harsh and unjust treatment, and discrimination. The experience of Native Americans in America during the...
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...As a nation, when we began to expand out west, people from all over the United States began migrating out west. We learn that this trip was one of great difficultly, with dangers around every corner, the survival rate for the trip was always low. People in search of land and gold would make the cross, documenting what they see and find. Robert Robe and Mary Bailey documented their diiferent journies westward bound, but many of the same difficulties occured. Though both had different experiences, the same concerns, attitudes and prejudices arose from their dangerous quest out west. As the dangers of the unknown mounted on unsuspected travelers, westward expansioners had shared similar concerns throughtout their journey. As time went on, food supplies would often diminise. Some groups had difficulty finding a steady source of food. When game was abundant, the groups were resolved to take advantage of the plentiful game (Robe, Robert). The conditions on the road were very poor as a result of newly established trails and rural areas. For many travelers like Mary Bailey, it had been the first time they have slept...
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...seemed to be controversial among the new American nation, but during the 19th century westward expansion seemed to have a stirring effect, as it was seen as unconstitutional and a mistake to the half the people, particularly the federalists. Moreover, Americans believed that buying more land would entangle the U.S. in foreign affairs, a warning given by George Washington in his farewell address, and cause strain on the original 13 eastern states. However, government officials saw land as a power source and a way to expand the empire and economy. Both supporting and opposing sides influenced the ideas of territorial expansion and caused a changed in federal policy resulting in a new nation stretching from [present...
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...Westward expansion at the end of the American Revolution and through the end of the Civil War was driven by an increase in nationalism, the establishment of a single governmental entity, population growth, immigration, the development of infrastructure of roads, as well as an inherent belief in manifest destiny. Nationalism, by definition, is “a sense of national consciousness and loyalty that promotes the interests and attributes of that nation over all others.”1 Prior to the American Revolution, the colonies were completely separate. While people traveled around the colonies, there was no unity in the legal systems, monetary systems, or trade systems, nor was there any interest in what the other colonists were doing or how they were...
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