Westward Expansion In The Late 1800s

When it came time to take action the Indians were forced to move westward leaving them far from the land they had come to know as well as having to adapt to new places. The Indians

The U.S. government decided to give other tribes' land like the Ponca, to the Sioux. This was becoming a policy of divide and conquer so that the tribes wouldn't work together. The U.S. government was basically trying to "play off" one another, by taking one’s land and giving it to another to cause conflict between the tribes. This conflict led to isolation. What led to even further isolation, was that white men could not enter Indian land.

A. Describe American Westward expansion during the nineteenth century and analyze two key features of this process in relation to questions of American national identity. Introduction The history of the United States is a history of westward expansion. In the early 19th century, the United States purchased the rights to landmasses west of the inhabited East coast of America. This is known as the Louisiana Purchase, and was arguably the event that set of the century of exploration, settlements and war, known as the Westward Expansion.

From the beginning the colonists were pushing the Indians away, and didn’t even see them as people. This is where the social side comes into play. In the beginning the Indians actually tried to help the new colonists, but they pushed the Indians away before they were even given a chance. Tensions began to rise, and the political factor arose. The Powhatan War began due to many years of fighting and arguing between the Powhatan Indians and Colonists.

After the Civil War, the United States began to expand Westward. Much of this expansion was due to the transportation revolution. Railroads were spreading; roads, canals, and steamboats were improving. Allowing for more ways to travel West. As the country entered the Industrial Revolution, not only were people migrating within the country but immigrants began to emigrate to America.

Traveling thousands of miles through dangerous paths American pioneers took on hardships as they sought westward in hopes of a better life. The journey westward began in the early 1800s when the US exploded with new territories nearly tripling the United States' size. It all started in 1803 when the US bought the Louisiana Territory from France. Quickly, many farmers picked up their belongings and headed out west to the rich, fertile land for a fresh start. Next, Andrew Jackson invaded Florida claiming it for the US which was also another opportunity for settlers to begin a new life.

During the 1800’s the United States were going through many changes following the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad and the California Gold rush. Due to these factors along with several others caused the Westward Expansion. Life in the west consisted of three major groups, miners, cowboys, and farmers. Moving west gave poor families opportunities the chance to better themselves and provide for their loved ones. Of course, these opportunities came with a high price, the possibility of losing your life.

Introduction The Westward Expansion is about moving west to find better land. almost seven million Americans moved west to find better land to farm and to build a house and raise a family. Two topics about the westward is The Oregon Trail and The Gold Rush.

Westward Expansion PEGS The decision to annex Texas produced problems within the government for example, whether or not adding a new slave state was equal according to the Missouri Compromise. They also feared that it would block the nation’s plan to accomplish Manifest Destiny. After President Polk annexed Texas, Mexico and Texas had to establish the border. Mexico believed that it was the Nueces River, however Texas and the rest of the U.S. believed it was the Rio Grande River, this caused a dispute between the two leading to the U.S. Mexican War. James K. Polk made it his mission during his campaign to annex Texas when John Tyler did not want to add the republic.

Westward Expansion Document-Based Question Essay During the mid-1800s there was a large movement for Americans who lived on the East coast to move westward. This caused hardships to the movers to the west, as well as the Native Americans and the Land. The settlers thrived from Westward Expansion, but they unfairly took everything away from the people and the animals who were there before. The movement was mainly started by large deposits of gold found in western areas which made many people want to try and find gold for themselves.

In the years following the Revolutionary War the United States would begin to expand, although not popular among all citizens, it helped shape the country into what we know today. The first acquisition of territory would be as a result of the Treaty of Paris with Great Britain ending the Revolutionary War. This treaty marked the boundaries between the British colonies still located in North America and ceded the thirteen American colonies to a newly recognized country known as the United States of America. This would not be the only acquisition of territory that the United States would complete between the years of 1789 and 1815 but it would be the initial acquisition of territory that would develop this newly formed nation.

During the pre-civil war time period— also known as the antebellum years— America experienced a widespread transformation for the sake of its economy. With the booming belief of the Manifest Destiny, America’s constant desire for westward expansion caused disputes between the North and the South regarding the establishment of free states and slave states, which led to certain compromises such as the Missouri Compromise. After the Market Revolution, the North and South used its new gained land to create different means of economic gains; the North became industrialized through manufacturing, while the South became an agricultural industry dependent on cotton. However, as America’s boundaries expanded, tensions between the North and South grew, often leading to compromises in bloodshed. The drastic differences between the two groups eventually transformed America into a divided nation of sectionalism economically, politically, and socially.

America was proliferating with the expansion of people “modernizing” to the new America with the growth of the West, urbanization, and building of industries across America being the development of the practice of freedom. Beginning with the expansion of the West, it played a vital role in the urbanization of the expanding American land. Americans chose to migrate West because people could start again(249 TAE). The Westward expansion is what caused urbanization in the short term.

The treaty the US government signed with the Indians in 1851 granted the Indians to have an extensive territory, which means the Indians can get more land, but eventually that did not last(doc 3,4). One of the most important and well-known wars was the Sand Creek Massacre. On November 29, 1864, John Chivington led 700 troops in an unprovoked attack on the Arapaho and Cheyenne villagers. There they killed over 200 women, children, and older men. US Indian Commissioner admitted that :We have substantially taken possession of the country and deprived the Indians of their accustomed means of support.”

For some, it was destiny to move west. Although there were many conflicts and disagreements between ourselves and others, it was destiny to move west because of overpopulation, new inventions of transportation methods, and new opportunities. In the 19th Century, overpopulation was one of the major reasons for Westward Expansion. Immigrants were flooding into America for new opportunities and new ways of life and there was just not enough land to suffice the needs for all of the people. These immigrants were arriving in America in the port cities on the East Coast.