Thomas Swann Woodcock

During the 19th Century, the United States was downright obsessed with expanding westward. They believed it was their God-given right to span the entire continent. With more and more territories being added to the ever-growing roster, they needed a way to get from point A to point B quickly. The solution: The Erie Canal and the Transcontinental Railroad. The result: A huge growth in the U.S.’s economy.

The purchase of Louisiana doubled the United States in size and was the key to the beginning of westward expansion. This expansion of the U.S. served as one of the defining topics of American history but contrarily, it nearly demolished the entire democracy. Because of Louisiana’s high birth rate and rapid immigration, the United States’ population increased from about five million to more than twenty-three million people. Such expeditious growth as well as economic depressions drove millions of Americans to the west in search of fresh territory and opportunities also known as manifest destiny. At the start of the 1830’s almost one hundred twenty-five thousand Native Americans lived on southeast acres that their ancestors had inhabited for generations. But then President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian removal act which gave the government the authority to trade native held land for land to the west that the United States had obtained with the purchase of Louisiana. By the closing of the decade, only a few Natives were left because the Federal government mandated that they abandon their homeland and go to designated Indian territory. This expedition was better known as the Trail of Tears. The purpose of these reservations was to bring the Native Americans under United States government control, eliminate conflict between the Indians and settlers, and finally to further encourage Native Americans to take on the habits of settlers. In exchange tribes usually received money but it was never a lot and the majority were spent on purchasing food and supplies from traders. But the daily living conditions of the reservations primarily had the most catastrophic results with devastating and long lasting effects. Overall, the rapid territorial expansionism resulted in relocation and brutal mistreatment of Native American occupants of territories now occupied by the United

Have you ever needed easier access to the essential items to stay alive? This is specifically what the residents of the North-East thought around the year 1817. Carol Sheriff argues in her book, “The Artificial River” that the residents of the canal corridor actively sought after long-distance trade and therefore consumer goods that markets brought to their homes. The fact that people supported the Erie Canal at all "suggests that at least some aspired to engage in broader market exchange" (p. 11). The transformation of this region because of the Erie Canal is organized around six topics, each of which is covered by a chapter. They include the; Visions of Progress, the Triumph of Art over Nature, Reducing Distance and Time, the Politics of Land and Water, the Politics of Business, and the Perils of Progress.

The Indian Nations lost nearly half their land due to the Reconstruction treaties of 1866, which required the land lost to be used for resettlement of more Indian tribes. Indian populations within Indian Territory did not change much from 1865 to 1900, but the non- Indian populations soon outnumbered the Indian populations six to one (Baird and Goble, p 126). Lane – Pomeroy Plan pushed by the Kansas representatives, James Lane and Samuel Pomeroy, to pressure the Federal government to remove more Indians to Indian Territory (Baird and Goble, p 131). The Homesteading movement increased pressure to relocate Indians to Indian Territory to open up more lands in surrounding states for settlement. Upwards to 15,000 Indians were relocated to Indian Territory during the Second Trail of Tears (Baird and Goble, p 131). The increased diversity between Indian tribes and the growing non-Indian population created a tension for Indians to maintain control of Indian Territory, which grew worse as the territory edged closer to statehood.

In his annual message delivered in 1830 to the Congress, Andrew Jackson says that the government is willing to give the Indians new home far away from the „settled, civilized, christian people” just because he thinks they are savages and cannot live next to normal people, and even further, he wants them to be grateful about it. He says they should be happy that he removes them from places where their ancestors lived and died. Jackson names it a kind, generous gesture and persuades people that this is the only solution, that Indians cannot live among other people because they are too wild, too little civilized and have to live away from civilization.

One thing that it looks at is land allotments that the Indians would receive for moving west. Many of the Indians would receive “320 acres if it was a single family selling or 640 acres to ninety chiefs in the Creek nation” . Many Native Americans took the agreement for these lands that were west of the Mississippi. But soon trouble started. Some of the land companies forced Indians to sell their land even if the Indians didn’t want to move west. Other companies would pay Indians to pretend they were someone else so the companies could claim the land of an Indian who didn’t want to move. Sometimes white settlers would come onto the land they had bought before the actually time they were allotted. During this process many people were cheated out of their land and received very little compensation for their moving west

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

The Erie canal helped shape America. The Northwest was expanding and needed to get their products to the east coast. However, they seemed to be lacking a water source. Since the Erie canal was connected from the Hudson river to the Great lakes this made it possible for farmers to transport goods to the east coast without a problem. The Erie canal paved the pathway to a more stable America and an economic growth by allowing transportation, trade, exporting and importing goods to be more accessible through the United States. “This great work will immortalize the present authorities of N.Y. will bless their descendants with wealth and prosperity, and prove to mankind the superiority wisdom of employing the resources of industry in works of improvement rather than destruction.” The canal combined trade and transportation allowing for commerce to help speed up the Industrialization in the United States after the Erie canal was

The Erie Canal provided an extremely fast source of transportation compared to other ones of that time. A lot of the land that the Canal went through was uninhabited and therefore people weren’t able to move through these areas. Once the Canal was built it served as that pathway through these areas. The Canal also was a much cheaper source of transportation that was used by residents, tourists, emigrants, and workers during this time. Evangelical preachers used the artificial

In his article “Andrew Jackson and His Indian Wars”, the author Robert V. Remini believed that Andrew Jackson’s Removal Policy benefited Native Americans. However, in his article he contradicts himself. While speaking of Andrew Jackson’s inaugural address Robert V. Remini points out “Anyone who

Another major way the Erie Canal was a paradox was that it the New York state government started taking on new responsibilities. This resulted in many people depending on the state government of New York and Canal Board in helping them reach financial success. While the canal was being built, there were constant complaints of how the canal made a person lose business. The New York state government was building the canal to spur economic activity, and now they were being blamed for the canal decreasing so many people’s profit. Obviously the canal would not have helped everybody in New York in a positive way, but it would not affect such a

    Hamlet is many things: scholar, speaker, actor, and prince. His greatness shows in all of activities, save one: his inability to act. Hamlet is not able to avenge his father's death without considerable delay. There is a flaw in Hamlet's character that causes him to postpone the murder of Claudius - this flaw is Hamlet's idealism. While idealism is normally a good trait, in this case, because of the unusual circumstances, Hamlet's idealism causes great conflicts within him.

While some find us arrogant, condescending and imperialistic, those who have come to join us in America find that there is some truth in the notion that our country is unique. Nowhere else is the freedom to express and improve yourself so widespread, and no other country welcomes those seeking that freedom so openly. Assimilation to our culture is not forced, but it is the rare individual who does not welcome it once they are here. Many people consider themselves to be the best humans on the planet, or maybe the only ones chosen by their god to succeed, but nobody can claim to be as powerful and prosperous as Americans are. To us the idea of American Exceptionalism is not propaganda or a myth; it is the understanding that the only way to the make the most of oneself is to have the freedom to do so.

The Great Plains were home to many Native Americans and several animals, most importantly the buffalo. Life was peaceful for the Native Americans until the railroad started being built and Americans began to expand westward. The Great Plains at first were viewed at in a negative way by the Americans because they thought it was just a “useless wasteland.” Americans thought that this land was too dry for their farming and agriculture. As these railroads were built westward Americans realized how beneficial they actually were. For example, many settlers found no dry land, but millions of acres of fertile soil. Also, cattlemen saw an open range for cattle and the opportunities here started to open up. Although this land was already taken by both Native Americans and buffalo, that meant nothing to the new settlers as they planned to get rid of both of them (Doc 1). I thought that the expansion of the Great Plains was negative for the Indians, but also positive for the Americans. I believe that the expansion of the railroad was positive for the Americans because as I said earlier, it brought them new opportunities find better lives and better land. It was very negative for the Indian because Americans decided to invade their land and get rid of them and

Additionally, because of America’s “errand,” there was a cultural and physical transformation of the natural terrain. Land clearing, creation of railroads, cultivating of monocultures, and centralized capital all increased to promote the America’s economic prosperity. They did not want the land to go to waste.