Rapid Expansion Civil War

"The Colonization of North America." In Modern History Sourcebook. April 1999- [cited 17 September 2002] Available from http://www.fordham.edu/halsall.mod/modsbook.html., http://curry.eduschool.virginia.edu.

As a rule, the Native Americans are perhaps the most overlooked sector of the population of the colonies. This war completely varied their knowledge of their land and its value. “We know our lands have now become more valuable,” (Document B). No more would they be fooled by

Although the horrors of the American Civil War and Reconstruction within Indian Territory were fresh. Yet, the presence of Indian Territory changed drastically between 1865 and 1889, because of the “Second Trail of Tears”, the unrest of the Southern Plains tribes of western Indian Territory, and the impact of U.S. Polices on Indian Territory.

History is like a die. It can have a small or large number of sides, but it can never have just one. Regarding the United States Westward Expansion in the Post-Civil War era, there were many sides to be taken into account, including (but not limited to) the Apache Indians, the US Government workers and soldiers, the American Elite, journalists, and scholars. How historians and others perceive this era is dependent on the primary sources available. By looking at sources such as Apache Chief Geronimo’s Story of His Life, Harvard Educated Ranch Manager Richard Trimble’s Letters to his Mother, and Financial Editor H.D. Lloyd’s “Story of a Great Monopoly”, one can unearth little nuggets of information that help determine how the process of incorporation affected large and diverse groups of people.

The migration of European settlers and culture to North America is an often examined area. One aspect of this, however, is worthy of deeper analysis. The conquest of North America by Europeans and American settlers from the 16th to 19th centuries had a profound effect on the indigenous political landscape by defining a new relationship dynamic between natives and settlers, by upsetting existing native political, economic and military structures, and by establishing a paradigm where the indigenous peoples felt they had to resist the European and American incursions. The engaging and brilliant works of Andres Rensendez and Steve Inskeep, entitled respectively “A Land So Strange” and “Jacksonland”, provide excellent insights and aide to this analysis.

Prior to the 1800s, US expansion had been accepted by the government in the thirteen colonies. Despite the government's favor for territorial expansion, the controversy was spread throughout the 13 colonies on the idea of expansion. An American who influenced expansion in America, John O’ Sullivan, conjectured that territorial expansion was destined and it was god’s given right to expand America coast to coast, or in this case into westward territories. This thought was defined as Manifest Destiny and aided the fuel of western settlement, Native American Removal and war with Mexico. Many Americans did, however, oppose expansion and war causing, but their inputs didn’t change the idea of expansion. During the period of 1800-1855, America’s idea to expand territory succeeded in events such as the Louisiana Purchase (1803) and the Indian Removal Act. These events certainly satisfied proponents of expansion and influenced America's westward expansion. Despite these achievements, opponents of expansions opposed because of events like the War of 1812 and the Mexican-American war. America’s shape today is indeed based on these beliefs of expanding America.

In West of the Revolution, Saunt explores eight notable moments of interaction, and often first contact, between “old world” colonial powers and indigenous peoples in North America that were occurring simultaneously with the English colonists’ declarations of independence and armed revolt. By providing the reader with a broader perspective of what was happening throughout America in 1776, Saunt illustrates that our collective understanding of what constituted America at that time tends to be remarkably limited and that colonial struggles were multi-faceted, depicted here in a series of snapshots of our land’s history that challenge, complicate, and clarify our conception of what America was. What emerges from this mosaic is a pattern of European national, economic, and religious interests, arrogant and ignorant in equal measure, infiltrating into native lands with consequent uneasy alliances and outright hostilities

American history frequently centers on the issues of ethnic diversity and resource allocation. In the contemporary, we begin to see the experiences of the Native inhabitants of the Americas in contrast to European settlers and colonizers, is a prime example of this process in motion. When European settlers first arrived to the New World in the 15th century, firstly the Spanish, they brought with them a material cultural based upon an economic standard of resource exploitation, which in a sense was hostile to most of the Native peoples of the Americas. For instance, as Blackhawk notes that, Europeans built permanent settlements consisting of immovable structures, whereas many of the Great Basin peoples were semi-migratory in nature. Additionally, as Europeans claimed possession over the land, its resources, and began a process of territorial delimitation, Native peoples whose lives

In the early 1800’s, The United States and Spain had continuously argued with the Native people. The Louisiana Territory was purchased from France in the year 1803, Americans continued to push farther west for fertile land that could be used for farming. Due to overcrowding of eastern cities like New York City and Boston many settlers moved out west for a new start. It allowed for colonists to spread out and own untouched fertile land. When white settlers arrived they had realized that most of the land acquired from the territory was occupied by Native Americans for thousands of years. For decades Americans had thought that the land west of the Appalachian Mountains were unoccupied, but they were wrong. There were many tribes that had occupied this land. This included tribes like, The Choctaw, Cherokee, and The Chickasaw. In a sense, Americans had violent outbreaks with the Natives the minute the colonists’ had arrived in the United State. As the colonists’ tried to establish complete dominance and superiority over the Indians, ongoing heated debates over land ownership, and demanding requests to satisfy greed made forceful attacks between the groups unavoidable.

Prior to 1877, very many wars took place in America. Each individual war occurred for many different reasons, but most were related to settlements of certain tribes or ethnic groups. As for the War of 1812, this was a war between Britain and the United States; a war in which land and tribes were once more a main contributor. Many settlers and tribes were involved and affected greatly by the War of 1812, and many things occurred as a result of this war. The purpose of this essay is to address the many different aspects of the War of 1812 and the affects that it had on the United States overall.

Since Europeans came to the United States, the existing population of natives has always been an obstacle to expansion. American’s thirst for free and new land could not be quenched. For example, the British with the Proclamation of 1763

Inman, Natalie. “ ‘A Dark and Bloody Ground’: American Indian Responses to Expansion during the American Revolution.” Tennessee Historical Quarterly 70, no.4 (2011): 258-275. Natalie Inman writes concerning the Native American population’s response to not only the European Arrival and invasions but also the after-effects of the long-term settlement efforts on behalf of the new frontiersmen and women who attempted to locate beyond the mountains of Tennessee.

Matthew, as you referenced I truly believe that western expansion a major reason that caused the Civil War, especially with the Kansas and Nebraska entering as U.S. territories (M. Moore, personal communication, May 25, 2017 & Schultz, 2014). However, the threat to the Southern way of life was the fact that they were unwilling to advance technologically as the North had during the market revolution. However, I fail to fully understand how the new territories being fully anti-slave states really would affect the South as long as they were still able to own slaves. So, was the issue possibly that to justify their treatment of slaves that they wanted other states to join them to soothe their conscience?

While both men had very strong cases for their side of the secession debate they were unable to compromise resulting in the Civil War. The South felt they were being ignored in the Union and felt as though they could accomplish more and be happier under their own rule. While they put forth a large amount of effort in their attempt to be free and continue the expansion of slavery they ultimately failed and were defeated by the more efficient North.

One of the drawbacks of U.S. territorial expansion was the proliferation of slavery. Although the Americans made a promise that they will not be taking the land of other people, like the Native Americans, without their consent and other than through peaceful means, history showed that this did not really happen. Slavery of the Native Americans was at its peak during this time and many were killed and displaced during the so-called expansion. And although there were those who submitted themselves freely and perhaps from fear, there were also those who overtly showed defiance, which led to more bloodshed and