Western Movement Research Paper

In 1893 Frederic Jackson Turner a historian, introduces the “Frontier Thesis” in Columbian Exposition, he explains from this thesis about the importance of American history. Frontier thesis remarks the end of a great historic society. Because Frederic Jackson argues that continuous western settlement had an extraordinary impact on American social, political and economic development throughout 20th

History Final Essay Americans were convinced it was their man-made destiny to expand and conquer the land towards the Pacific Ocean. People believed that the westward land was rightly theirs because it was given to them by God though the idea of the Manifest Destiny. As time passed, the American population grew quickly, therefore the immediate need for more resources and land arose. However, America was not the only country to prosper in numbers; European nations also grew and needed new places to colonize to satisfy their growing population as well. With that being the case, the Monroe Doctrine was established as concrete warning towards European powers to not attempt any more colonization.

Westward Expansion and American Exceptionalism From the very first settlers in America, there has always been a keenness for land accumulation. In the 1800’s, America began an expansion. Whether it was for the salvation of the natives, Manifest Destiny or the hope for more opportunity, Americans developed a mindset that they had a unique role to pursue in spanning the new nation. Numerous documents of the time insisted Americans were superiors of the human race and had a special destiny designed by God in worldwide history.

In my opinion and based on readings I think that the western frontier fostered values of American democracy and individualism. Moving west allowed settlers and even immigrants the opportunity to make a new life for them and their families. The “Gold Rush” and mining for other precious metals such as silver, copper, lead and iron brought many people west to explore and find riches. Many cities such as Virginia City, Nevada were industrialized and colonized by those who wanted to find riches in those precious metals. Many of these settlers were immigrants, it is noted that the Utah Territory, that eventually became known as Nevada, had about 30 percent of people settling that were from outside the United States, compared to 25 percent in New

America’s Westward Expansion Mexican-American War is a war between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. Through this war United States invaded the land of 2 million 300 thousand square kilometers, which help it became a big country across the Atlantic and the Pacific. On the other side, Mexico lost most of the land. There were different voices during the war, various reasons Americans wanted to settle farther west, and also a huge effect that bring to America behind this war. There are two major contradictive images of America’s westward expansion.

Manifest Destiny is a unique, yet mysterious fundamental series of events in American history. No other country’s history contains such an eventful history as the United States. Amy Greenberg’s book, Manifest Destiny and American Territorial Expansion, provides documented evidence that settlers believed they were destined for expansion throughout the continent. In other words, many religious settlers believed that it was a call from God for the United States to expand west. On the other hand, people believed that Manifest Destiny vindicated the war against Mexico.

This started the migration west for the United States.

Miss Western Days is much more than a title, crown, and sash. During this past year, I have gained so many incredible experiences, memories, and friendships. Through representing our beautiful town of Elgin at various parades and events, I have found myself more involved in the community than ever before. One of my favorite memories during this time is many younger girls looking up to me and hoping to be like me one day.

People were drawn to the West because it was scene as the last resort to make a living when all else failed in the East. Communication with friends and family who had moved west led these pioneers to believe the journey would be easy and the reward for getting west would be best. And the greatly available land was the strongest pulling factor to people interested in adventuring west. Migration was a personal choice that depended on several key factors, “Age of the head of household; economic status; personal attitudes; and projected costs and benefits of the resettlement.” Most historians agree that the majority of the people who migrated west were middle class and mostly immigrants to the US.

“Once we became an independent people it was as much a law of nature that this [control of all of North America] should become our pretension as that the Mississippi should flow to the sea” –John Quincy Adams (Henretta, p. 384). In the 1840s, Americans had a belief that God destined for them to expand their territory all the way westward to the Pacific Ocean. This idea was called Manifest Destiny. In the nineteenth century, Americans were recognized for coming together and building up one another for one cause: westward expansion.

Native Americans flourished in North America, but over time white settlers came and started invading their territory. Native Americans were constantly being thrown and pushed off their land. Sorrowfully this continued as the Americans looked for new opportunities and land in the West. When the whites came to the west, it changed the Native American’s lives forever. The Native Americans had to adapt to the whites, which was difficult for them.

The contrasts between the American West and East in the nineteenth century range from a new start to the adventure of the living in the Wild West. The east had become overcrowded and did not allow much opportunity for people of lesser wealth. “In 1893, the historian Frederick Jackson Turner gave a celebrated lecture, “The Significance of the Frontier in American History,” in which he argued that on the western frontier the distinctive qualities of American culture were forged: individual freedom, political democracy, and economic mobility. The West, he added, acted as a “safety

The families came together to form what was called a wagon train in May 1846. Another reason for the Americans movement westward, was the belief in manifest destiny. Manifest destiny was the belief of the United States expanding towards the California coast. It was also because the views on religious freedom, were nowhere near as strict as they wear on the East

During the “Gilded Age” period of American history, development of the Trans-Mississippi west was crucial to fulfilling the American dream of manifest destiny and creating an identity which was distinctly American. Since the west is often associated with rugged pioneers and frontiersmen, there is an overarching idea of hardy American individualism. However, although these settlers were brave and helped to make America into what it is today, they heavily relied on federal support. It would not have been possible for white Americans to settle the Trans-Mississippi west without the US government removing Native Americans from their lands and placing them on reservations, offering land grants and incentives for people to move out west, and the

The Westward Expansion consisted of almost 7 million Americans migrating west, hoping to get land and be wealthy. It is often called Manifest Destiny, because many people believed settlers was intended to expand the west. Because so many people thought this way it was also thought the U.S was physically separated from Europe. This migration of people included people from Spain, France, Mexico, and other countries. The Western Expansion had a part in the foreign policies in the expansion towards the pacific and the way the U.S treated their relationship with other