The Impact Of The Great Westward Migration

During the American Revolution, the colonist revolted against the British and eventually gained independence. The American Revolution instigated the change of American policies and expanded the entire nation. Westward expansion of the American colonies was a developmental time period for the United States. From the American Revolution, Americans established their own laws instead of following British rule, and women pushed abolitionist movements and pushed against the expansion of slavery. Many of these new policies were purely made to expand westward and take over Indian land, which was necessary for the expansion of the growing colonial and slave populations. The era of westward expansion finally came to an end with the United States overcoming Mexico and justifying their actions by claiming they were superior to the Mexicans in every way.

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

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.

The Great Migration was a massive movement of African Americans from the South to the North from 1863 to 1960. The largest spike in this migration occurred from about 1910 to 1920.

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

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.

The Westward Expansion was the nation's future as depended on by Thomas Jefferson. In 1803 the Louisiana purchase took place, doubling the size of the country. The Westward Expansion allowed the emigrants of the Oregon trail to expand out west, making the people a new start to a better future. The emigrant’s on the Oregon trail faced the most difficulty trying to survive and thrive in the west due to life threatening diseases, harsh weather patterns, and supply deprivation.

America into an "empire for liberty". He made that happen by expanding westward, to create "room enough for our descendants to the thousandth and thousandth generation”. This westward expansion is also known as the "manifests destiny", where many Americans was our God-given right to expand to the Pacific Ocean and into Mexican Territory.

The Great Migration was a significant movement in history for the United States. The Great Migration was brought about for several reasons, many of them being factors that pushed African Americans out of the South, and pulled them up to the North. The harmless act of moving North was more than complicated and generated a lot of conflict in multiple aspects for both African Americans and White Americans. Despite the trouble and worry, a substantial number of African Americans migrated North to some of the most industrial areas looking for a better life and more opportunities.

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.

The instances of social, political, and economic antagonism between cultural and ethnic groups that arose from Westward Expansion were racism and the assimilation forced against marginalized groups of people. According to the Document B, “...China—the greatest and oldest despotism in the world—for a cheap working slave...the meanest slave on earth—the Chinese coolie—and imports him here to degrade white Labor.” One can infer that many were not happy with the fact that Chinese immigrants were doing jobs that white settlers did for cheaper and thought of them as stealing their jobs which added to the conflicts between the two groups, Whites and Chinese. According to Document D, “Many of the Indian dogs were still found in the vicinity lately occupied by the lodges of their owners; they probably subsisting on the bodies of the ponies that had been killed and then covered several acres of ground nearby.” One can assume that Custer was very biased against the Native Americans and reported them as dogs and savages that would leave their kind behind, which further adds to the antagonism between Native Americans and White Settlers.

Upon the end of the Civil war, the United States found itself picking up the pieces of a devastated nation. Many viewed Westward expansion as a unifying mechanism for the North and the South, establishing a new hope for prosperity. In a post war semi unstable democracy, new political conflicts arose, including the future of the Native American people, the cultivation of new lands, how to assimilate those who stood in the way of the impending construction of railroads. Despite the war over the abolition of slavery ending, new racial politics and different ideas in regards to the Native American communities initiated two clashing agendas. A nation who sought unification could not have been more divided than it was during the civil war in regards to what to do with newly freed slaves. A combination of the Homestead Act and various Indian Policies, created a lose-lose situations amongst the Natives. In a heartfelt plea of understanding

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.

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.

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