Westward Expansion Essay

Grade 5, Unit 2: Cornerstone 2 Westward Expansion Database Articles Database Articles • Pioneer Women - http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/pioneer-womanx2019s-life-200-years-ago Note: you will have to log into the databases below using a DC Public Library Card or DC One Card. After logging in, click on the link again to get to the appropriate article. • Black Cowboys - http://www.worldbookonline.com.dclibrary.idm.oclc.org/student/article?id=ar753924&st=exodusters#tab=homepage • Manifest Destiny - http://school.eb.com.dclibrary.idm.oclc.org/levels/elementary/article/353420 • Oregon Trail - http://school.eb.com.dclibrary.idm.oclc.org/levels/elementary/article/353574 • Oregon Trail - http://www.worldbookonline.com.dclibrary.idm.oclc.org/kids/home#article/ar831676

In 1862, Congress passed the Homestead Act in the Great Plains, which allowed the poor to have a chance to own land. During this time, the Civil War was still in action and more people started moving West. First, the Homestead Act and promotion by railroads brought more farmers into the West, which meant more food for the growing population of America and the cultivation of the West. Although this was helpful for the nation, it was less effective than the railroads for the selling of crops because farmers could have a bad harvest or not be able to get crops to the market on time.

The wagon trail took six months and was a journey over rugged terrain and hostile territory. The sea voyage would also take six months. Due to the extremely bad living conditions aboard the boats, many did not choose this route. With the growing populations, the government felt a powerful need to bridge the gap between the Eastern and the Western of the country. The completion of a Transcontinental Railroad would do this as well as make the trip easier and quicker.

Westward Expansion had significant political, economic, and social effects on the United States. While it brought economic growth and new opportunities, it also led to significant economic upbringings with women and the assimilation of Native Americans. Most political issues tied in with some of the other effects, economic and social. Firstly, white people thought that one of the only ways to stop future conflicts with Native Americans was with assimilation (Doc B). White settlers believed that the Native American way of life was unethical and that it’s lower and worse than their culture (Doc B).

The Westward Expansion of the United States from 1860 to 1890 began with President Thomas Jefferson’s purchase of 828,800 square miles of land from France in 1803. The purchase, known as the Louisiana Purchase, provided an opportunity for the United States to expand its territories to cater for its growing population due to the influx of migrants from Europe and China. The Homestead Act of 1862, the California Gold Rush, the abolition of slavery, and the completion of the first railroad network in 1869 were key factors that contributed to the movement of people Westward (Carroll, 2008). Many factors contributed to the rapid expansion of the territories in the West, and the migration had immense impacts on the economic and social conditions

The trails they took to their lands were usually long and dangerous, for example the trail of tears. “Thousands of people died along the way.” And it was referred to by the native’s as “a trail of tears and death”(History House, 4). They were even at times forced to walk in shackles through harsh weather with no support by the American Government. They were forced to find food in a place that they had never seen before.

The Oregon Trail was a huge historic movement in the mid-1800s which stretched over 2000 miles across the American Midwest. In present-day America, the Oregon Trail would go across the states of Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, and finally end in Oregon. The trail was constantly showing the American pioneer's problems because of how hard it was to cross and with hundreds of thousands of them trying to get to their destination there were plenty of casualties and hardships. Determined to spread their religion, gain wealth, or find a place to live, many pioneers took these hardships head-on in hopes of making a better life for themselves or spreading what they believed to new people. The Oregon Trail surely helped boom the United State’s growth

In the later part of the 1800’s, the United States had started to become increasingly roaming. The creation of a new mode of transportation dubbed the Transcontinental Railroad shortened a 6 month wagon journey to just a 7 day train ride. This allowed settlers to move west and fulfill the assumed manifest destiny. This combined with the Homestead Act gave settlers the freedom and prosperity they had always dreamed of. The settlers could claim as much as 160 acres of free land.

The trail was the only reason why travelers made it to the West before the Transcontinental Railroad was finished. As a result, states could have been formed differently. Some of these states included Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Idaho and Utah. If it wasn't for the Oregon Trail most western states would not look like how they do today. As people traveled westward, their culture and religious beliefs followed.

Some Americans believed that United States had the right to take land that belonged to others for their needs and that the “moral justification” for this was that God intended for the America to grow and expand this was named the “manifest destiny.” To the average white American migration to the west meant a better living for families. Our readings suggest that during the 1830s-1850s as a result of the possibility of gold and territory expansion land was vast which created economic opportunities this made moving westward appealing to farmers, ranchers, miners, teachers, servants and others. Families traveled by wagons at times in harsh conditions.

With more railroads being built, it helped to establish the United States, and industries in the West used the railroads to connect industry to retail markets in Eastern United States. Without railroads, it would have been hard for the Western States to expand.

The Civil War was the result of the built up conflict in the nation, the nation was first assembled under a unified ideal, that every US citizen has the right to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Our nation's westward expansion took place in 1787 to 1861. The westward expansion led to economic, cultural and political differences from the North, South and West that would later divide the nation. An economy defines how a region of land prospers as one and grows. The people in the North and South had a different way of using their resources and people.

Manifest Destiny brought an age of expansion and exploration upon the United States throughout the 1800s. The vast Great Plains were unexplored, and held lots of promise and opportunity for new communities and businesses. With the establishment of the railroad system, transportation became much more reliable and efficient, sending a wave of settlers to the West. Railroad companies also posted many advertisements that encouraged settlers to buy plots of land for reasonable prices. The railroad during this time played a key role in Western Expansion by giving people access to fertile and open land, uniting communities together, and lowering transportation costs, but inflicted cruel treatment on those who worked on the railroads.

Though the Oregon Trail was used for another twenty years, its place in U.S. history was over” (Blashfield 39). Though many made the effort to move to the west for a better life and search for gold. Blashfield explained, “Sadly, many pioneers who made the terrible journey did not find what they wanted in Oregon. Others, however, claimed land and settled in for the long work of making a better life. These pioneers helped establish the new state of Oregon in 1859, Washington and Montana in 1889, and Idaho and Wyoming in 1890”

It was fought between the Union, northern states, and the Confederacy, the southern states. The deadly war was started by numerous reasons, such as the belief of Manifest Destiny. Manifest Destiny was the belief that God’s destiny for the United States of America included complete control of all the land between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. In the 1840s, Manifest Destiny took a violent turn. The Americans began to conduct wars with the nations that controlled the land.