May 17, · The Westward Expansion was the acquisition of land out west from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. During this expansion many changes occurred, some good and some bad. The changes could be grouped into three different categories, social, political, and economic. During westward expansion new changes, inventions, and ideas were quite common Jan 29, · For one, Westward expansion and the principle of Manifest Destiny gave rise to the important issue of whether to allow slavery in new territories or to leave the question of slavery up to the residents in the new territory or state. he Compromise of , the Kansas-Nebraska Act of , the Dred Scott Supreme Court decision, the formation of the new Republican party and the election of Suggestions for essay topics to use when you're writing about Westward Expansion ()
Westward Expansion Essay Example For Students - words | Artscolumbia
Browse the database of more than essays donated by our community members! The Westward Expansion has often been regarded as the central theme of American history, down to the end of the19th century and as the main factor in the shaping of American history.
As Frederick Jackson Turner says, the greatest force or influence in shaping American democracy and society had been that there westward expansion essay so much free land in America, and this profoundly affected American society. After the revolution, the winning of independence opened up the Western country and was hence followed by a steady flow of settlers to the Mississippi valley.
By10 new western states had been added to the Federal union. The frontier line ran through Iowa, Missouri, and Arkansas on the western side of the river. All parts of the valley except Wisconsin and Minnesota were well populated.
Thus a whole new section had been colonized with lasting effects westward expansion essay the American institutions, ideals and ways of living. deadline 6 hours Writers : ESL Refund : Yes.
deadline 3 hours Writers : ESL, ENL Refund : Yes. Payment methods: VISA, MasterCard, American Express, westward expansion essay, Discover. The far west was the land of high mountains, westward expansion essay, deserts, strange rock formations, brilliant colors and immense distance. Fur trade with Europe had now become a lucrative business and the fur traders became the pathfinders westward expansion essay the settlers.
Migration was now possible by the discovery of paths over which ox-driven carts could be driven through seeking mountains and across the western desert. People wanted to move away from the overcrowded cities and this led to the migration into the uninhabited lands.
Increased transportation like roads, railroads and canals and their construction created a demand for cheap labor making it easier for people to get jobs now, westward expansion essay contrast with the cities where there was unemployment. The pioneer movement for 70 years after the revolution roughly represented the form of 3 parallel streams, westward expansion essay, flowing westwards from New England, Virginia, and South Carolina.
The first pioneer groups tended to move directly westward. Thus the new Englanders migrated into western New York and along the shores of the great lakes, Virginians into Kentucky and then into Missouri and the South Carolinians and Georgians into the Gulf territories. Throughout the settlement of the Mississippi valley, most pioneers did not travel long distances and as a territory had been occupied, families would move into the adjacent one.
There were boom periods of great activity, during which a million acres of land were sold, alternated with depression periods during which there was little further expansion of the frontier and many disappointed pioneers even backtracked from the west to the east.
When the treaty of Paris was signed inthe Americans had thought that they had enough land between the Atlantic coast and the Mississippi River. Yet inby 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 ofas many as 6 states were created, east of Mississippi-IndianaMississippiAlabamaMaineand Missouri By the s, the frontier line had westward expansion essay carried to Iowa, Missouri and Arkansas-about one-third of the way across the continent.
By the s, the westward expansion essay 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 the 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. Before the s, most sections of westward expansion essay west passed through the same phases of development in regular order.
The first white men to usually enter a new area were the hunters and fur trappers, who had extraordinary skills to open up a new path through the wilderness, finding food for themselves and dealing with the Indians. These men explored the country and brought news of its resources back to the east. In many regions, the second phase was cattle ranching while some also passed through the mining phase, westward expansion essay.
Parts of Missouri and Wisconsin, for example were settled by lead miners, westward expansion essay. Behind the cattle ranchers or miners came the first farmers, who were often squatters with no legal title to land. They were frequently restless and were impatient of the restrictions of civilized society, and were not interested in making permanent houses. Many of them, had a habit of moving every few years and would follow the frontier land as it carried westward expansion essay into the west.
Once a new area had been opened up and shown to be fertile, westward expansion essay, it would soon attract men of sober and ambitious type, who had much more capital and more farming techniques and wanted homes where they could settle for the rest of their lives. They brought with them the habits of civilizations. They developed trade, established churches, schools and newspapers and set up institutions of government. The Federal government then assumed responsibility for guiding each area through the territorial stage until it was ready for statehood.
But there were many parts of the west, where the white settlers provided for their own government, by the democratic methods long before the legal establishment of territorial institutions, westward expansion essay. Thus the society became more westward expansion essay once small towns westward expansion essay up to meet the economic, political, and cultural needs of the population, westward expansion essay. In those cases that did not afterward become urban and industrial, this represented the final stage.
Geographic factors also caused some variation in this usual pattern, westward expansion essay. Some mountain regions never passed beyond the squatter stage, while fertile countries, such as the black belt of Alabama and Mississippi, were sometimes settled, westward expansion essay, at the start, by men of more ambitious type.
Geography also determined the order in which different regions were occupied. The early pioneers mostly preferred to make their homes in a forest country or close to it, for they needed timber for shelter and warmth and also for fencing. The forest regions were westward expansion essay settled in advance of the open prairies.
By the s, westward expansion essay, the frontier line had been carried into Iowa, Missouri, westward expansion essay, and Arkansas, westward expansion essay. Immediately west of the Mississippi valley was the Great Plains, which after miles sloped into the Rockies.
The plains had a lot of wildlife with nomadic and highly warlike Indian tribes. Beyond the Great Plains, the way westwards was through the South pass between two immense westward expansion essay systems. The Spanish territories of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada and California, including parts of Kansas, Colorado and Wyoming were passed onto the newly established Mexican government in But the Spanish had only made settlements in New Mexico and parts of Texas and California, so the rest of the areas were ripe for expansion.
To the north of California, the area of Oregon was to be occupied jointly by the Americans westward expansion essay the British according to the Anglo-American convention of From till and afterthe Federal government sent a number of exploring parties to the far west. And so the American government during the s and the s believed that the west might appropriately be left to the Indians and were willing to promise that they could keep it in perpetuity.
A more important role in expansion to the west was played by the fur trappers. They were the first white people to cover most of the western territories and find routes suitable for pioneer settlers. Between andthe trappers penetrated into the mountains with intensive exploration and exploitation of the mountain country and discovering routes that helped establish the fur trade as well as open up the west for expansion.
Overland trade with Mexico also helped in the knowledge of the far west. The trade route from Missouri to Santa Fe and later up to California resulted in the Americans establishing contacts with New Mexico and California which prepared the way for annexation.
It can be assumed that the northern parts of Mexico would have eventually come under the control of the United States as the Mexicans did not colonize them, there was no effective sovereignty and American settlers would have resulted in American annexation. Mexico achieved independence in with the installation of a constitutional government but from tothe country was dominated by the army and chronic military revolutions. The earliest of the northern parts westward expansion essay Mexico to come under the control of Americans was Texas.
InStephen Austin secured authorization from the Mexican government to colonize the area. The Mexican government was hoping for the quick settlement and Americanisation of the area. Byaround 30, Americans were settled in Texas with local self-government. At the same time, westward expansion essay, the Mexican government barred any more Americans from settling in Texas.
The dictatorial government meant negotiation was impossible and in Marcha convention of Texans issued a formal declaration of independence, drafted a constitution, and chose Sam Houston as commander-in-chief of their army, westward expansion essay.
The Texans were hoping for annexation by the Americans but the question of slavery meant the Lone Star Republic remained a republic. Ina motion to make Texas a part of the United States failed but it became the main platform for the next presidential elections.
Ina joint resolution was passed by Congress and Texas finally became a part of the United States. Polk now had to get Mexican consent to the annexation of Mexico and fix the boundary line, which the Texans said was the Rio Grande while the Mexicans insisted on Nueces. Mexico had also defaulted on the repayment of the debt of 2 million dollars. This made Polk order the American army under General Zachary Taylor to occupy the disputed boundary region.
Mexican troops were also ordered to hold the same region and when a clash between the two armies occurred inCongress declared war. The Northeast, under the leadership of Emerson, Thoreau, and James Russell opposed the war, as they feared slavery.
The planters of the South wanted Texas but knew that New Mexico and California were unsuited for slavery and so wanted limited expansion while the people of the West wanted war for expansion. Texas was soon conquered and with California being taken inthe American annexation of the Far West was complete. A treaty was signed in whereby Mexico ceded Texas with the Rio Grande boundary, westward expansion essay, New Mexico, California, and the rest of the western territories.
The United States would pay Mexico 15 million dollars and assumed its debt of 3. The treaty was ratified by the Senate.
The settlement of California was accelerated by the Californian Gold Rush, when gold was discovered in Inelections were held in California and California asked Congress for admission to the confederation. California became a state in The settlement of Oregon was preceded by lot of propaganda, which was nationalistic in westward expansion essay led by Kelley and later Wyeth. Religious missions, from Methodist to Presbyterians and Congregationalists and Catholic, all tried to settle this area and they were the first permanent American settlements in Oregon and became the centers of agriculture and cattle-raising.
The great migration began in and was stimulated by the depression of with people with some capital hoping to make a fresh start. Bythere were 6, Americans in Oregon, and the United States government tried to make the 49th parallel as the boundary without success. The fur trade had since declined in this area so the British agreed to the 49th parallel as the boundary in a treaty in and thus, American sovereignty was established over the area covered by Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.
The Mormon Church under the able leadership of Brigham Young settled the area south of Oregon and by had settled the area of Utah. The new acquisitions meant that problems like transportation had to be tackled. The building of a transcontinental railroad westward expansion essay the financial assistance of the government was debated upon.
Also the question of slavery in the newly acquired territories was a more troubling issue and this decided the fate of the United States for the next few years. Successive generations also gave this sense of mission life in various ways from the struggle of religious liberty in Plymouth and Boston at the time of the early colonies right until the 14 points of Wilson when the 13 colonies had matured into a major world power.
In the mids, a new form of expansionism, novel in name, westward expansion essay, appeal, and theory made its appearance in the United States.
Westward Expansion and Manifest Destiny Lectures: (HIST 118: Ch. 17) (HIST 10: Ch. 3)
, time: 1:33:06Westward Expansion Essays: Examples, Topics, Titles, & Outlines
Feb 26, · The Westward Expansion Essay was a new concept for Americans in the s. In their minds there was a abundance of land out west just waiting to be claimed. The people that moved out west thought they were doing no harm, but in reality they committing genocide which is the complete annihilation of an entire race of people.5/5(1) Suggestions for essay topics to use when you're writing about Westward Expansion () Oct 14, · Westward Expansion and Its Support in the USA Essay October 14, by Essay Writer In the s the territory of the United States of America experienced a massive and quick growth. Within only four years the size of the country blogger.comted Reading Time: 6 mins
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