Impact Of Westward Expansion

The United States was changing in the 1800’s. Many settlers moved to the west, populating the plains. For many Americans, the movement westward brought new economic opportunities, but for others it meant conflict and a way of life.

In 1890 to 1920 imperialism and progressivism rose in the United States, affecting the country and its people. Progressivism and the political, social, and environmental reforms benefited unions, women, and the environment. However, due to the growing concerns with urban social problems a major weakness was the overshadowing of other problems like nonunionized workers, farmers, and the growing racism specifically directed to African Americans.

The native population declined and their well being was not a priority. The US settlers became obsessed with this notion of westward expansion even if it meant that natives were going to be mistreated and oppressed. The creation of the railroad was the final nail in the coffin to the natives’ fate. The railroad allowed easy access and transportation to the new land. As stated in the text, “… Between 1790-1840, some 4.5 million people crossed the Appalachian Mountains – more than the entire U.S population at the time of Washington’s first inauguration.” (Pg. 336) This shows the dramatic increase in population and demand for westward expansion. Since natives occupied the land that was needed for building such infrastructure, the European settlers

Westward expansion was a time of successes and failures, a time celebrations and grief, a time full of life and death but in the end it shaped how America is the way is today. Westward expansion was put in action because of the belief of Manifest Destiny, the belief that it is America fate to expand from the Atlantic to Pacific ocean. The economical, political and humanitarians impacts were necessary to achieve the goal of manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion.

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.

Can you imagine a world in which the USA was not the multicultural nation that it is today? It would have been like this if it were not for the the Columbian Exchange. The Columbian Exchange was a major event that took place in the late 1400's and the 1500's. It brought about an exchange in ideas and raw materials between the New World and the Old World. There were pros and cons to the Columbian Exchange, the benefits being that it gave both groups new crops and animals, in addition to making the Americas the diverse nation it is today. The downsides were that many diseases were transmitted between them and and the Native Americans were mistreated.

Territorial expansion played a major part in national unity socially, economically and politically. As more settlers and immigrants came to America, the need for more land grew, forcing people westward. People of many different backgrounds migrated and settled among each other, creating new and diverse communities. As new land was discovered, the government would decide which states would become slave states and which states would become free state, thus creating political differences between the citizens. Economically, it made sense to move westward to where there was more land for farming and helped create the cotton industry towards the 1850’s.

The result of Western settlement was devastating. The outcome of the war strongly impacted and profoundly conformed Western Expansion to a new war filled with greed and frantic need for better transportation. Gold rush, the whites antagonized a war on the Indians, knowing their chances of defeat were strong, not because they were incapable, but because they were willing to believe the false promises and would’ve rather sacrificed their land instead of causing bloodshed. Native Americans were held accountable by the law, yet they were left unprotected from the law with no legal rights. The native Americans were considered peaceful and useful towards the American White Settlers and U.S. Army until they got in the way of expansion of the Railroad system during the Homestead act, giving away land that did not belong to them in the first

During the nineteenth century, beginning in the early 1800s, there was a series of events that occurred in the United States which we refer to today as the Westward Expansion. The Westward Expansion of the United States is a defining theme in the nineteenth century. It had a large impact on both the American people and the native Indians and Mexicans that had already lived there. The westward expansion effected four major things: the size of the United States, the native Indians and Mexicans that already lived among the land, and today’s transportation. The process of expanding the land westward took several years and had both negative and positive outcomes, but it was a huge factor in shaping the United States into the country it is today.

Westward expansion from 1860 to 1890 represented a time for significant change within America. During this time period the U.S would experience rapid growth within cities, agricultural land, and the railroad network. With everything beginning to fall into place and technology booming, America would soon become one of the world’s greatest superpowers. Without Westward expansion, America would not have developed as fast as it did.

Westward Expansion in the United States created controversy about the admission of new states into the union. The first provision of the Westward Expansion was the Compromise of 1850. This compromise was designed to settle disputes among the North and South states about slavery expansion. Senator Henry Clay proposed that California be admitted as a free slave in a trade-off for tougher fugitive slave laws for runaways.

Before becoming the Unite States of America, one of a massive country in the world. There were many stories behind its successful. Controversies, violences, tragedies, rebellions, and wars were the combination of expansion of the United States. In U.S. history, a story began from the east coast where the game players from. The competition between the north and the south was intense, and to occupy a piece of land was a prize that worth to fight for.

The Westward Expansion started in the 1800s ever since then up until now Americans still have difficulty treating Native Americans the same as everyone else. The middle 1800s, Americans tortured and took everything that the Indians owned and loved, taking away their land, homes, religion, and lifestyle. Americans have forced Indians to be what they are not, they wanted them to act and be "normal" or what Americans at the time thought was normal. In the current day, Americans aren't trying to take their land away now the United States is attempting to build an oil pipeline through reservations in Dakota. There were a lot of short and long-term effects of the Westward Expansion, which were land being taken, poverty and life challenges that Indians had to face, and the government taking over.

The 1800s the United states was eager for new land. With population booming westward expansion seemed to be the only option. The term manifest destiny start from john l O'sullivan in the mid 1800s. O'sullivan said that the United states was destined to expand from coast to coast. At the time the land belongs to others and the U.S tried to be civilized with treaties and other but when this didn't worked turned to violence and war to get what they wanted. However the U.S started making its way westward long before manifest destiny was a thing.

Some historians may construe westward expansion as beneficial to the United States, arguing that it reduced tensions within the nascent nation. Westward migration was glorified in the early 19th century as the way in which to achieve true freedom. The West was associated with economic opportunity and basic Republican ideals. Streams of individuals seeking prosperity and liberty flooded into the west after the Louisiana Purchase. With the rapid peopling of the west, new transportation systems arose in an effort to connect the new western territories to the southern and northern regions. Roads, steamboats, and canals such as the Cumberland Road and Erie canal were created to transport people and goods from one end of the United States to the other. The railroad was another invention that promoted unity.