Second Great Leaps Westward Case Study

In the mid-1800s, many Americans began to move westward, with a variety of motivations. Farmers were drawn west by all of the fertile, open land in the west, offered to them cheap by the Homestead Act. The California Gold Rush was another reason many moved west. Gold was discovered in California, and miners flocked there, hoping to strike it rich. Additionally, cattle ranchers were attracted to the west because their beef cattle thrived on the abundant grasses and open range of the Great Plains. Later on, newly built railroads, including the first transcontinental railroad, made transportation of people and goods west much more feasible, and opened the West to rapid settlement (History Alive). Although Westward Expansion was a time of full

Whenever good is done, harm can be cause in the process. For example, if someone wins the lottery, that means that they took someone else’s chance to. We can see this through Reconstruction, Westward Expansion, and the Industrial Revolution. They all had a big impact on the United States, however, the South, the Native Americans, and the lower class by this for the worse.

Ever since Jamestown, America has come a long way. In the middle of the nineteenth century American’s were eager to move west. They wanted to see the span of the United States from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. Jefferson was able to double the size of the United States by negotiating with France, which ended up being known as the Louisiana Purchase. Americans saw empty land waiting to be filled. They thought the open land meant opportunity and potential wealth. By moving west, they could share their unique way of government and the freedom it represented. They believed that America would be a great nation.

America’s westward expansion really affected the lives of the Native Americans in several ways. Since Americans were wanting land for farming, ranching, and mining, it took away the Native Americans land for hunting and gathering. In general, this dramatically changed the face of American history.

In the eyes of the government, the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 was 2,000 miles of opportunity ready to be seized. Westward expansion started with the idea of Manifest Destiny coined by John L. O’Sullivan in 1845. This was the encouragement of citizens to start a new life in the west, with the hope of acquiring land. Despite this encouragement by the government, the land was occupied by Native Americans who were not willing to give up their land without a fight. The government knew of their existence from the previous expedition of Lewis and Clark, but still encouraged western expansion. This decision resulted in conflicts between the United States and Indians which lasted decades. The difficulties included the environment, developing industries, and conflicts with Native Americans.The environment and the Native Americans had minimal effects on the west, but the industries such as mining and cattle had significant impacts on the settlement west of the Mississippi.

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.

The story of the United States has always been one of westward expansion, beginning along the East Coast and continuing, often by leaps and bounds, until it reached the Pacific, what Theodore Roosevelt described as "the great leap westward." The acquisition of Hawaii and Alaska, though not usually included in discussions of Americans expanding their nation westward, continued the practices established under the principle of Manifest Destiny. Even before the American colonies won their independence from Britain in the Revolutionary War, settlers were migrating westward into what are now the states of Kentucky and Tennessee, as well as parts of the Ohio Valley and the Deep South. Westward expansion was greatly aided in the early 19th century in the year of 1803 by the Louisiana Purchase , which was followed by the Corps of Discovery Expedition that is generally called the Lewis and Clark Expedition; the War of 1812, which secured existing U.S. boundaries and defeated native tribes of the Old Northwest, the region of the Ohio and Upper Mississippi valleys, and the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which forcibly moved virtually all Indians from the Southeast to the present states of Arkansas and Oklahoma, a journey known as the Trail of Tears. In 1845, a journalist by the name of John O’Sullivan created the term "Manifest Destiny," a belief that Americans and American institutions are morally superior and therefore Americans are morally obligated to spread those institutions in order to free people in the Western Hemisphere from European monarchies and to uplift "less civilized" societies, such as the Native American tribes and the people of Mexico. The Monroe Doctrine, adopted in 1823, was the closest America ever came to making Manifest Destiny official policy; it put European nations on notice that the U.S. would defend other nations of the Western Hemisphere from further colonization. The debate over whether the U.S. would continue slavery and expand the area in which it existed or abolish it altogether became increasingly contentious throughout the first half of the 19th century. When the Dred Scott case prevented Congress from passing laws prohibiting slavery and the Kansas-Nebraska act gave citizens of new

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 Early American Industrial Revolution and Westward Expansion, two interconnected yet independent occurrences, were significant events in the Antebellum Era. The Early Industrial Revolution utilized new inventions to improve the United State’s economy and change lifestyles (Hakim NN 105; Hakim NN 107). It had offered new opportunities and transformed America 's farm economy into a market economy, which is, arguably, more efficient (Hakim NN 109). While Westward Expansion extended America’s borders, fueled by a popular ideal known as “manifest destiny, it caused many disputes amongst the American citizens, creating complications in Congress (Hakim 62-63). As shown, the Industrial Revolution and Westward Expansion were both major changes for America 's economy, each with its own benefits and disadvantages (Hakim NN 103-109; Hakim 58-59). The Early Industrial Revolution and Westward Expansion promoted and enhanced the effects of each other; the increased production of textiles urged Southern farmers to expand their plantations, which in turn, produced more raw materials for the Northern industrial workers to process (Hakim NN 103-109; Hakim 58-59). While both, as shown above, had improved the economy and allowed some freedom for the workers in free states which would otherwise not have, they also promoted slavery, which, at the time, was an ongoing issue

(flattened) the land by as much as a hundred miles a stretch. Behind them came

A change in the economy can cause lots of problems and can really impact a country in a brutal way. Meaning an economy can affect a country and its people in a short amount of time and can plumet a country's wealth, progress, and economy from one wrong decision or move. Westward expansion was a factor in something that impacted our country. Switching from an agricultural economy to an industrial also had an impact on our economy and ways of living. Immigration too had an impact on Americans and American life. Immigrants came to America to be free and even for a better life. Sometimes this could have meant taking hundreds of American jobs. The Progressive era is also an affect on our country and economy. The Progressive Era was the era when Teddy Roosevelt was president and had his goal to progress America and its economy and country together.

The westward expansion of America involves many events that are important to history as a whole. It took place during the Age of Imperialism which began during the nineteenth and twentieth century. Westward expansion was a major event that took place throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In the early half of the nineteenth century, the westward movement arose numerous issues involving social class, gender roles, and slavery by both political and social means.

for it (Cooke 254). If it had been left to the government, it would have taken

How do you see progress, as a process that is beneficial or in contrast, that it´s a hurtful process that everyone at one point of their lives has to pass through it? 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 factors 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 awsome 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.

This text is a sampling of times, places, and people of the Westward Expansion. A teacher teaching the Westward Expansion will find historical images and stories behind the historical times and the sheet music that correlates to the topics. This cross-curricular resource allows for the stories to be read and the pictures to study, and ultimately the music to be incorporated into the classroom learning. Ultimately this book can be utilized to bring adventure, danger, dreams, and the realities of American life during the Westward Expansion to come alive for students. This will make history fun for all students, allowing students to build more of a connection to the past. This is another great resource but because I don’t teach Western Expansion