Essay on Westward Expansion

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

Boston, and New York. The increase in land, natural resources, and industry gave the United

The Westward Expansion started prior to The Revolutionary War, settlers were migrating westward to what states are now modern day Kentucky and Tennessee in hopes for a fruitful life and larger job opportunity. This Westward Expansion was aided through the Louisiana purchase in 1803, in which the United States purchased territory from France, resulting in doubling in size of the country. This Louisiana purchase was stretched from the Mississippi River to the eastern Rocky Mountains in the west and from the Gulf of Mexico all the way to the south of the Canadian border in the north. In result of the Westward Expansion , families would pick up and walk as far west as

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.

First, the building of railroads out west played a huge part in the successful expansion of our country and the fulfillment of American dreams. Priot to the development of a more efficient railroad system, the movement of people and freight were

Migration was also an important fact that heled the expansion. The migration to the west improved transportation means since people needed to move in and out of the new territories. By 1848, the demand rose after America acquired California after the Mexican War ended. Discovery of gold in that state also led to need for increased transportation. With the increased railroads expansion, migration was made easier, which in turn, gave way to acquiring of more laborers to work in the mines (Williams 1964, 102-106).

The United States immigration and emigration is directly linked with the railroads construction history of the 19th century. The construction of the railroads that facilitated western expansion Immigrants were not only integral to part of the expansion, but they also used the railroad to migrate west and form new immigrant States in the territory. In the early 19 century, United States expanded westward, across the Mississippi River and later to the Pacific Ocean. These western lands, either was purchased, won in battles, or seized outright from Indian tribes and other nations.

In the second half of the 1800 's, the railroad, which was invented in England,

No other single factor contributed more the commercial and social development of the Pacific Northwest than the arrival of the railroad. For the first time in history, people could get to the west coast in a matter of

the miles and miles of rich farmland all came with the Louisiana Purchase. All in all

The movement of people that has resulted in the settlement of America is one of the most fascinating and significant topics in the history of the United States. Nowhere else has an area of equal size been settled as a result of the initiative of small groups and individuals. Westward expansion helped stimulate the American economy.

When the treaty of Paris was signed in 1783, the Americans had thought that they had enough land between the Atlantic coast and the Mississippi river. Yet in 1803, by the Louisiana Purchase, the area of the United States doubled and not long after, it was augmented by the half-purchase-half-conquest of Florida. By the end of 1820, as many as 6 states were created, east of Mississippi-Indiana (1816), Mississippi (1817), Alabama (1819), Maine (1820) and Missouri (1821). By the 1830s, the frontier line had been carried to Iowa, Missouri and Arkansas-about one-third of the way across the continent. By the 1840s, the expansionist policy, typified by the Manifest Destiny doctrine, became very strong with many sections willing to go to war to acquire more land. Slavery became a bone of contention between the Northern and southern states with the control of the senate in question. The South wanted expansion to increase slave states, the North to keep the balance with free states and the West wanting expansion to increase their land. The antagonism between the North and the South sees the beginnings of sectionalism leading to the civil war later. The spirit of equality becomes a banner with which the expansionist policy was proclaimed. Phases Of Development Before the 1830s, most sections of the west passed through the same phases of development in a regular order. The first white men to usually enter a new area were the

By 1820, Americans started to head west seeking riches, getting away from religion and find social freedom. This movement led to removal of Native Americans, expansion of the Market Revolution, the opening of the frontier, and the end of slavery. The west, between 1820 and 1844, Americans developed four territories; Texas, Oregon, Utah, and California. Each of these territories were created for different reasons (Schultz, 2013).

United States inhabitants along with foreign immigrants moved west to pursue a healthier life consisting of more available, individual land and an assortment of economic opportunities. Land acquisitions from both Mexico and the Native American population by the government, increased availability of capital, and favorable land policies such as the Homestead Act of 1862 and Morill Land Grant College Act made this drive probable for both men and women (Berkin 434). With the construction of the transcontinental railroad

In the mid to late 1800s the United States were beginning to develop towards the west on the Great Plains. A major contributing reason was the train. The rail road tracks connected and stretched all over the country connecting people like never before. This changed life for many people on the great plains, some of those people being ranchers, settlers, and Native Americans. These three groups of people were connected positively and negatively.