Western Migration Essay

America’s Westward Expansion was published on suite101, an American History website, in February 2007 and was written by K.C. Morgan. K.C. Morgan is a professional freelance writer who has written various articles and blog posts that appear on a range of websites. After several years of writing fantasy fiction, she decided to write about the real world she faces everyday. During her years of writing professionally, however, she has covered a wide range of topics. The purpose of America’s Westward Expansion is to provide a very ‘native American friendly’ view of the manifest destiny ideal. This article, though very one-sided, had great value to me. In it the author stated that the famous phrase “manifest destiny” was coined by a journalist in 1844. This information enlightened me about the fact that the idea of manifest destiny existed and was being executed for many years before it was actually given a name. This was not something I had ever given thought to, however, I had the misconceived notion that the word came before the definition, which is a false statement when pertaining to any topic. Though it presented some very interesting information, this website was limiting in the fact that it only presented information that was very

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

land of the United States of America. Western expansion was a great part of the growth of the

The progression of people into and within the United States has had an essential impact on the nation, both intentionally and unintentionally. Progressions such as The Great Migration and the Second Great Migration are examples of movements that impacted the United States greatly. During these movements, African Americans migrated to flee racism and prejudice in the South, as well as to inquire jobs in industrial cities. They were unable to escape racism, but they were able to infuse their culture into American society. During the twentieth century, economic and political problems led to movements such as The Great Migration and The Second Great Migration which impacted the United States significantly.

As the United States progressed, it grew in size, reaching to its full continental area by 1850. At first, only a few people came through, trappers, and missionaries. Later came white settlers to see what else the United States had to offer. As this happened, territories began to form. There

In the late 1800s , America became the land of new opportunities and new beginnings and New York City became the first landmark for immigrants. New York City was home to Ellis Island, the area in which migrants were to be handed for freedom to enter the nation. Living in New York City gave work and availability to ports. In time the city gave the chance to outsider's to construct groups with individuals from their nation , they were classified as new and old settlers. Old outsiders included Germans, Irish and, English. The new outsiders incorporated those from Italy, Russia, Poland and Austria-Hungary. In 1875, the New York City populace was a little 1 million individuals contrasted with the 3,5 million it held when the new century

While some were driven on what they believe was God’s will others saw Manifest Destiny as the historical inevitability domination of North America from sea to sea. Before, manifest destiny, many Americans had small families not by choice, but for the mere fact that many of the people would die before they would reach forty. By the mid 1800’s technology began to rise, and the life span for many Americans increased. The U.S. population grew from more than 5 million in 1800 to more than 23 million by the mid century. By the increasing of families in town many of the towns became overcrowded. At this point many Americans looked to the west for possible permanent homes.

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.

Manifest destiny and territorial expansion greatly united the United States from 1830 to 1860. During this time period, America was still developing and growing in many ways. America’s geographical growth, formerly known as Manifest Destiny, or westward expansion, was the beginning of many changes for the nation. Manifest destiny and territorial expansion united the United States socially, politically, and economically.

The United States became further united due to the continuous desire and procurement of new territories. In President James Polk’s 1845 Inaugural Address, he shared his opinion of the “danger to [the nation’s] safety and future peace” if Texas remained an independent state. Polk’s point of view was that the annexation of Texas in 1845 was necessary in order to avoid a conflict with Mexico. However, the United States went to war with Mexico anyway over the California territory. Economic opportunities were created in California due to the gold rush, which brought many people from many different ethnicities. California became a “seat of wealth and power,” due to the California Gold Rush (1848-1855) and its acquisition from Mexico after the Mexican-American War, as foreshadowed by an anonymous writer of the 1846 article “California and the National I

Western expansion was the main topic in the Manifest Destiny, but the Manifest Destiny was not the only thing involved with western expansion. One of the other main factors in Western expansion was the louisiana purchase. In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson purchased the territory of Louisiana from the French government for $15 million. The land that the bought stretched from the Mississippi river to the Rocky mountains, and from Canada to New Orleans, it was also double the size of the United States.

Manifest destiny is a justification for Americans going around seeking territorial growth to "spread civilization". They felt it was their obligation or god given right. Is probably responsible for the United states being so large. All of the Southwestern United States came from fighting with mexico, buying their land, or treaties. At the end of the Revolutionary War, the United States owed huge debts. It also owned vast assets, the largest of which were the lands between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River. For these lands to have value, however, the Confederation Congress needed to find a way to survey and sell them. To do so, Congress divided the western lands into townships six miles square. Each township was in turn divided into 36 sections. Each section contained 640 acres. Land was to be sold by section at one dollar per acre.

Westward expansion was a new thing and time in our country and had many impacts on the American people and ways of life. The government made it available to buy a lot more of land in the West. Our government gave opportunities for people to move west for a better life or more land in the west. The government gave opportunities like the homestead act where the government would give families 160 acres of land if they moved west at the time this deal was going on. This act was signed into law by President Lincoln in 1862. People moved west for any opportunity they could. People moved for a new life, more land, and more opportunities in

Rapid population growth and overuse of the land east of the Mississippi River, coupled with the knowledge that there was an abundance of land for new settlement west of the river, led to the ideology of expansionism; the ideology became simply known as Manifest Destiny. Manifest Destiny and American Territorial Expansion, written by Amy S. Greenburg, deeply explains the motivation of the individuals looking to expand their settlements westward. Since the time of publication, we have realized that we could have handled the situation, in which we removed the inhabitants of the west from their homeland, in a better way. Americans believed that it was their God-given right to expand westward by destroying anything in their path. “…courageous pioneers believed that America had a divine obligation to stretch the boundaries of their noble republic to the Pacific Ocean.” (“29. Manifest Destiny.”)

During the mid-nineteenth century, the rise of new territories increased the desire of Americans to expand into new territories in the western region. The term “Manifest Destiny” was first introduced by a magazine editor, John O’Sullivan, written in the United States Magazine and Democratic Review in 1845 to express the idea that the United States had a unique role in expanding the nation (OpenStax College 316,483). Manifest Destiny is widely defined as a justification of continental expansion as a calling to the American citizens to unify the land into the Union. I view Manifest Destiny as white males expressing their ideals of white supremacy unavoidably expanding new territories not yet defined by others (). With the new western land came the revival of the issue of slavery, should new territories become free or slave states? In several cases, the white settlers inflicted their morals about their policies and views of slavery in new territories acquired and bypassed all other principles of different races. They saw that their morals were above all and that they received a message from God to colonize the new land for themselves. Although Manifest Destiny posed conflict against Native Americans and slaves, new land and trade routes steered the United States to enter a realm of economic prosperity.