Expansion Of The United States

The two main actions that the United States government issued towards the Plains Indians were the Homestead Act and the Dawes Act. The Homestead Act correlated with the trend of Manifest Destiny and encouraged settlers to migrate west. The Homestead Act encouraged western migration by providing 160 acres of public land. In exchange, homesteaders paid a small filing fee and were required to complete five years of continuous residence before receiving ownership of the land. After six months of residency, homesteaders also had the option of purchasing the land from the government for roughly $1.25 per acre. (Primary Documents in American History) The land that the government was distributing belonged to various tribes of the Plains Indians. By having the Homestead Act in effect and encouraging settlers to migrate west, Plains Indians were forced into reservations. The real impact of Manifest Destiny was that it sent many settlers west, without realizing that the settlers were taking land from the Indians. The Indians that lived in the reservations had just enough food to keep their population alive, as well as living in unsanitary conditions with bacteria and diseases everywhere. The two options that the Indians had was to either live in the reservations with little to no food or to face genocide. Some Indian tribes tried to make amends with American troops who ushered the natives to reservations, but some American troops turned on the Indians. One incident of the American troops killing Indians was the Nez Perce war. This war was over a conflict of land and how some US troops did not agree on the settlement of the land. The war resulted in over 100 casualties towards the Indians and was stated as a genocide of and Indian tribe. The second act that was passed by the United States government was the Dawes Act. The Dawes Act authorized the President to survey American

Upon the United States’ inception as an independent country, the concept of expansion began to slowly root itself as a desirable vision among government officials and common citizens alike. As early as the beginning of the nineteenth century, these initial thoughts and visions of expansion began to cultivate into an achievable reality. With boundless territory to conquer and a growing sense of nationalism, many citizens of the United States felt that it was their duty and obligation to expand from coast to coast. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the United States continued to expand westward across the continent while also shifting focus on expanding its international power and presence by conquering foreign countries

The Westward expansion began for the United States with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. For $15 million dollars, President Thomas Jefferson purchased from France 828,000 square miles, including most of 14 current states, thus doubling the size of America. Jefferson now had the land, but how to populate it was another story. On a three year expedition, Lewis and Clark were sent by Jefferson to explore the lands to get a better understanding of the geography and resources of the West. During the 1830s to 1840s, to promote further territory expansion, the “manifest destiny” came into play – which was the idea that America was destined to expand across the entire country westward. Quickly, the nation expanded.

Throughout the history of the United States, America had a desire to expand its boundaries. The United States acquired most of it's land during the nineteenth and early twentieth century with a brief break during the Civil War and Reconstruction. However, the way America went about graining new lands drastically changed from non-aggressive means in the beginning to extremely aggressive means towards the end. This essay will depict the extent to how late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century United States expansionism was a continuation

The most significant reason for American expansion between 1880 to 1929 was the economic benefits that came with the policy. The United States, during the nineteenth century, believed American expansion to overseas markets would provide them with the economic resources and labor the country needed. This form of expansionism eventually provided the United States with the Philippine Islands, as well as Hawaii towards the late nineteenth and asserted the U.S. as an imperial power. One of the main reasons the U.S. wanted to acquire Hawaii, besides the

Westward expansions of the united states molded and affected the nations advancement socially, politically and economically holding quick to its connections to agriculture, its relations with and through slavery with the westward expansion therefore there would not be an abolishment movement and the women would not have been there to find against it. Although the Indian removal has helped shape the westward expansion politically and economically because it has given America more land and cotton. The Mexican war shaped the western expansion culturally and politically because the Mexican were racially religiously superior.

In the late 19th century, a new idea of expansionism had interested the nation. During the spanish American war, many people were divided over the topic of Imperialism. Ultimately, many benefits came with US territory expanding. Not only did the US get bigger, but many aspects of our nation improved significantly. American expansion abroad was justified because it helped the government and economy advance greatly.

The United States began its life as a small nation consisting of only thirteen states. Over time the leaders of this county recognized that in order to prosper the nation would need to expand beyond the current set borders. Westward Expansion was the only solution, to adopt such a large endeavor meant that the population had to have a reason to migrate west. Expansion had appeal to the Southern land owners for the fact that the Missouri Compromise did not affect territories that were not part of the Louisiana Purchase, while those who did not have land moved west with the promises of land of their own to farm and own, yet congress continued to battle over “slave states” and “free states” to keep the balance. Westward expansion had many contributions to make to the Unites States.

The United States expanded its territory on the North American continent in the 1840s and then expanded its territory overseas between 1890 and 1917. These periods of expansion had positive and negative effects on the United States and on other peoples. During Andrew Jackson’s presidency, he purchased Louisiana territory from the French for $15 million. The Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of the United States allowing the space needed for expansion and settlement. The Manifest Destiny-a doctrine that stated the U.S had the divine right to own the entirety of North American territory-encouraged westward expansion along with the technological advances brought by the Industrial revolution(Document 1).

In the early to mid 1800s, Americans began to want to expand the country again. Some Americans did not agree with the idea of expansion, and wanted to remain complacent with the amount of territory that they currently owned. The nation was torn. There were supporters and opponents of the idea of expansion. Each side presented their points but we eventually ended up expanding.

Before World War 1, the US experienced significant changes. As a result of the Spanish American War, the US gained much territory and began expanding into the Pacific Islands in a small amount of time. American expansionism in the late 19th and early 18th centuries was a continuation of past American expansionism because of the idea of 'Manifest Destiny', spreading US ideas, and acquiring territory for economic gain but it fostered change in the way the land was acquired and the location of acquired lands. One was American expansionism fostered continuity was the extension belief in 'Manifest Destiny'. The US wanted to acquire territory because it was the 'fittest' of all nations as seen in Document 2.

In the later half of nineteenth century America, the new nation’s original ability to resolve conflict through means of peaceful compromise had vanished. Various spans of conflict such as Westward Expansion, the Market Revolution, Sectionalism, Mexican American War, the succession of the southern states and ultimately the failure of the Compromise of 1850 that made compromise between the North and the South unattainable. It was the uncompromising differences amongst the free and slave states over the power of the national government that created a divide that would result in divisional violence. From the industrialized North, the agricultural South, Jackson’s Presidency to Lincoln’s and the rise in America 's involvement in politics that followed, slavery was merely one pawn on the board during America’s transforming years that would later reveal itself to have been the vehicle for the Civil War.

Ever since the first English colonists arrived in Jamestown and Plymouth, the colonists and eventually Americans have always considered expanding west, whether the land was previously inhabited or not: And like most things, many people had different opinions if and how it should be done. Before the 1800s, this issue already had opinions on the best solution. One example of this can be observed by King George III in The Royal Proclamation of 1763, in which he forbade all English settlement past a line in the Appalachian Mountains. Contrarily, Daniel Boone carved out the Wilderness Road and built the settlement of Boonesborough in the late 1700s. These sharp contrasts in ideas led to future debates. From 1800-1855, territorial expansion ignited nationwide debates: The supporters of territorial expansion rallied behind the term “manifest destiny,” while the opposition argued the unconstitutionality of the acquisition of territory, and the future negative consequences expansion may cause.

     Throughout American History the U.S. has sought to expand its boundaries. This need increased greatly during the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century with the start of the industrial revolution. This Expansion was a big departure from earlier attempts to expand the boundaries of the U.S. The needed for Natural resources forced the U.S to look for places that could supply them with the natural resources they needed and markets where they could sell their goods in. The need to imperialize caused the U.S. to look to foreign places to gain resources to better the nations industries.

The development and expansion of the USA in the nineteenth century was quite dramatic with a great shift of the demographic, cultural as well as the ecology of the West under the invasion of the Euro-American population that was initially settled on the Eastern side of the country. This drive to invade the West was driven by the need to commercialize almost everything that was natural in the West. To that end, the geography or the environment of the West significantly contributed to the expansion of the USA especially towards the West.