Westward Expansion Analysis

Westward Expansion caused many problems, but without westward expansion we wouldn’t have a lot of the land or culture we have today. Westward Expansion may have almost destroyed America, but it did give the U.S more land and it lead to many other historical events. Without moving into other Nations territories we wouldn’t have the America we have today.

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

The Westward expansion began for the United States with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. For $15 million dollars, President Thomas Jefferson purchased from France 828,000 square miles, including most of 14 current states, thus doubling the size of America. Jefferson now had the land, but how to populate it was another story. On a three year expedition, Lewis and Clark were sent by Jefferson to explore the lands to get a better understanding of the geography and resources of the West. During the 1830s to 1840s, to promote further territory expansion, the “manifest destiny” came into play – which was the idea that America was destined to expand across the entire country westward. Quickly, the nation expanded.

Cronon makes a very noteworthy point when he mentions the weaknesses in the Fredrick Jackson Turner Frontier Thesis. Cronon believes that Jackson misunderstood the expansion of the west. Turner’s Frontier Thesis is commonly embraced by numerous educational programs, declared that it was the countryside settlers that initially grew into triumphant in creating the west and concluding the frontier, or because the expansion of the west was a natural occurrence and divides the city’s importance as finished products. Cronon implies that they advanced together and they prospered with the help of each other. Cronon uses Chicago as a

The Westward Expansion was a result of the idea called "Manifest Destiny," which was the belief that the expansion of the US throughout the American continents was both justified and inevitable. In short, it was the American's "God given right to go west". Louise Erdrich in her poem ("Dear John Wayne”) puts the blame on those same settlers for all the violence that occurred because of Manifest Destiny, as they forced Native Americans off "their" land to make room for their homes and farms (the greed in the poem). The injustice, history has given to the Native Americans, being portrayed as nothing but killers and savages. John Wayne's cancerous death demonstrates the irony in the poem. The poet conveys her message of the injustices and the greed the settlers had towards the Native American using metaphor, simile, imagery, irony, and alliteration.

Westward expansion was a time of successes and failures, a time celebrations and grief, a time full of life and death but in the end it shaped how America is the way is today. Westward expansion was put in action because of the belief of Manifest Destiny, the belief that it is America fate to expand from the Atlantic to Pacific ocean. The economical, political and humanitarians impacts were necessary to achieve the goal of manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion.

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.

There were acts passed during the Gilded Age that promoted Westward expansion, and, as a result, allowed for businesses to rise to prominence. The Morrill Grants, notably in 1890, established many agricultural and vocational colleges in the United States to promote more industry supplemented with an educated workforce to grow in the sparsely populated West. (Westward expansion.) The Homestead Act also was a source of motivation for many aspiring wealth-seekers to settle West. (Homestead Act.) The settlement of the West allowed for the rise of the railroad industry, both private and government-operated, which was one of the stepping stones in the steep quest for industry. Railroads allowed for easy access and shipment of raw materials from one edge of the country to another. Also in support of Westward Expansion was Frederick Jackson Turner, who promoted Westward settlement in his Frontier Thesis. In this thesis, he claims that the West is America’s ultimate frontier, and stressed the process of settling the frontier. (Turner Thesis.) Westward expansion and the settlement of the frontier saw the rise of the railroad industry and American business, and also allowed for certain entrepreneurs throughout the country to take advantage of their opportunity, despite causing harm to many small businesses that were practicing fair business methods. (Ida

Was James K. Polk A Bully? In the election of 1844, James K. Polk was known as the dark horse candidate who campaigned issues concerning the annexation of texas and the settlement of disputes over Oregon boundaries. Although there were some arguments against westward expansion, Polk zealously worked towards expanding America without minding that he was not supported by all. It can be seen that James K. Polk was justified engaging war with Mexico through his many actions prior to the war.

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.

Based on the evidence provided Morgan's central idea is supportive. There are reasons one should or shouldn't agree with Morgan. One reason to agree,the American land wouldn’t be the same today without Thomas Jefferson and the nine other Americans who were bold and passionated for land culminated in the Westward Expansion. A reason one’s shouldn't agree, is because the land was naturally owned by the Indians and taken over through a war.

Turner states in the first chapter that “The existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and the advance of American settlement westward explain American development. When America decided to colonize west its isolation led to the need of communication,legislation and transportation. As America developed it started to move away from the influence of Europe. He points out that west of America is one of the most important features of shaping America. The frontier lands also gave a way for the government to provide economic benefits without raising taxes.Fredrick Jackson Turner changed the way Historians were thinking about the United States by arguing that the Frontier had a major impact on the way America was shaped . He

The author wanted to emphasize the expansion of the westward movement of the United States and the substantial increase in population. Cowboys and range cattle companies started to multiply with the population. The U.S. needed more food and people wanted more meat. So, why not create a way around the law? When looking at the legal reservations that the U.S. government set up throughout the northern Great Plains it was hard for companies to accumulate money and cattle to stay in business because of the competition on each reservation. The author wanted to show more than just the reasoning of why George Lemmon and Dave Clark were the greatest cowboys. Lemmon and Clark were able to create a system in which other cowboys would not dare to try. Lemmon illegally trespassed on the Dakota reservations that belonged to the Sioux Indians. The reasoning was because other range cattle companies did not want to deal with legal problems, if they were caught with grazing cattle they were most likely going to be prosecuted and they were also taking the risk factor of encountering

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.”)

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