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African Americans During Westward Expansion

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Recommended: Long and short term effects of the westward expansion

Westward Expansion gave hope to many Americans. This act of growing the USA boosted our industry. Yet, this placed fear into many people’s hearts, especially minorities.This period of American history took place from 1803-1850. White men still overruled the country, and slavery was a key factor in the country’s trade. According to Merriam-Webster, equality is defined as the quality or state of being equal. All men were not equal during westward expansion due to the dehumanization of Native Americans and the lack of freedom given to African Americans.
While capturing more land, settlers ran into their first problem, Native Americans. The government dehumanized these people who had lived in the country for hundreds of years before them. President …show more content…

This supports my claim because the loss of land shows that they aren’t equal to white men, who are taking them …show more content…

Another extremely oppressed group were African Americans. Slavery didn’t seem to be decreasing at all in the South and the percentage of free slaves declined even more. In the “Growth of the African American Population” chart created by Digital History, my claim provides to be even more undeniable. In the year 1820, 87% percent of African Americans were enslaved. As the American production rate increased, slavery had a dark future. In 1850, 88% of slaves were enslaved.Statistics are extremely unbiased, so this supports my claim. This supports my claim because it’s clear slaves aren’t equal to free men and with the enslavement rate increasing rate, the whole African American population is suppressed and therefore not equal. Another document that collaborates with both these statistics and my claim is the book “Life and Liberty in America: or Sketches of a Tour in the United States and Canada in 1857-1858.” This piece of literature was written by Charles Mackay, who was a British traveler visiting the states during the late 1850’s. This travel novel reflects on the incorrect assumption of how the North was not prejudice, and the inequality African Americans dealt with on the daily even though they were considered free. Mckay reflects on the feeling of the north by

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