Westward Expansion

Upon the United States’ inception as an independent country, the concept of expansion began to slowly root itself as a desirable vision among government officials and common citizens alike. As early as the beginning of the nineteenth century, these initial thoughts and visions of expansion began to cultivate into an achievable reality. With boundless territory to conquer and a growing sense of nationalism, many citizens of the United States felt that it was their duty and obligation to expand from coast to coast. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the United States continued to expand westward across the continent while also shifting focus on expanding its international power and presence by conquering foreign countries

The U.S. government encouraged westward expansion through the Louisiana Purchase and the Homestead Act. President Thomas Jefferson acted on the Louisiana Purchase, after buying the land from France for millions of dollars, he also believed in the idea of moving west and thought of it as a

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.

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 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

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.

“In 1862 President Abraham Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Act into law. The act said that there were two main railroad lines. The Central Pacific Railroad would come from California and the Union Pacific Railroad would come from the Midwest. The two railroads would meet somewhere in the middle.”(Ducksters). Seven years later the Transcontinental Railroad is finished and you can now travel across the country with ease. The Transcontinental Railroad has impacted positive Westward expansion because The Transcontinental Railroad helped people move west and create jobs, The Transcontinental Railroad was the cheapest and fastest way to get westward, and The Transcontinental Railroad set the foundation for moving westward in the United States.

Lincoln's election meant the end of southern life, that was the perception in the South (Schultz,n.d.). If the west became free states, Southerners believed that the government would outlaw slavery. The election only ignited more tension than was already there. The south began to talk about succession from the Union. and the economical state played an intricate part in the beginning of the war. The south developed differently than the north because they were more dependent on crops and slavery.They believed that reliance on the river ways could sustain the economy in the region, it did to an extent. The north, on the other hand, developed as a result of the market revolution with communication and transportation.

The United States westward expansion is part of the reason the country has become what it is today, but was it morally right to do so? Expansion west at the time was called Manifest Destiny and many Americans believed it to be their god given right or even their duty to conquer the western expanse of mountains and grassland; however to do this many Native American tribes were pushed out of the land that they had occupied for many generations. Natives weren't the only ones to be mistreated. Land what was then Mexican controlled was settle by American pioneers and eventually conquered ignoring national treaties the two countries previously held. The United States westward expansion (Manifest Destiny) was unjust and not only ignored human rights but also made national treaties obsolete.

As the population of the West soared and the prospects of statehood for western territories appeared clearer and clearer, the nation battled over the future of slavery in the West. This battle was one reason for the Civil War, which slowed the acceleration of expansion. However, the last three decades of the nineteenth century saw the return of accelerating expansion due to the successful struggle to contain the Plains Indians in reservations, and the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869. By the

The gold rush played a major part in the westward expansion. The gold rush is where millions of people came from all over the world. The gold rush started in 1848 and ended in 1852.

Following the western expansion in the late nineteenth century, the American society and economy would experience significant growth and development amidst numerous challenges and benefits. From this, the United States would grow in geographical size and in power. This expansion started in 1860s and continued until the 1890s. Due to the discovery of gold in California, people wanted to continue and search for more riches in the West. The benefits of the expansion were mainly for the Americans because it helped the rise of industrialization and the United States economy.

During the settlement of the west the completion of the railroads after the Civil War within the West caused a wide variety of the region to settlement and economic development. White settlers had traveled from the north to reach the Mississippi area to farm, ranch and mine. Promoters from the all-western towns had convinced African Americans from the South and East that there were opportunities for blacks out West. Diversity was expanded in the West; there were Chinese railroad workers which brought some diversity to the town. One major lost to the American people was the bison it was destroyed and farmers had to use other resources to plant crops. The lost of bison took a toll on the Americans and the rise of white settlers was affecting

Once the railroads were completed to the West it opened up vast parts of the region to economic and settlement development. White settlers poured across the Mississippi from the East to farm, mine, and ranch (Rise of industrial America, n. d.). African-American settlers from the Deep South came west convinced by the promoters they could settle in all-black towns with prosperity waiting on them. The railroad workers who were Chinese added to the region’s population diversity.

The west had much to offer and was one of the most sought-after land after the discovery of gold in California resulting in an influx of people lured in by the hopes of striking it rich. With so many people traveling across the United States the trade and travel across suddenly became more important. With more traveling westward with high hopes, it became ever apparent the need of a railroad system. The Transcontinental railroad plan was now becoming important now more than ever.