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Western Expansion In The 1800's

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In the early 1800’s the founding fathers and citizens of the early United States decided that the east coast was not enough for them and they wanted more. More land to conquer, more people to come to their country, more respect from other countries, and to get this they were willing to do anything. The United States expanded west in the 1800’s when the territory west of the mississippi was found to be arable and habitable. After gaining the louisiana territory, which was most of the land west of the Mississippi, which made the US over twice as large as it was before. Then the US continued expanding - gaining Florida, Texas and other states that are now in the US. Although the US did grow larger in size, it is obvious that the gains of western expansion were outweighed by the mistreatment of native people, and this could have been prevented had there been a greater understanding of lifestyle between the natives and the government. Western expansion was the result of many devastating battles, provoked by the government towards the native american nations. According to a document written by the Shawnee tribe leader Tecumseh, it stated “You wish to prevent the Indians from doing as we wish them, to unite and let them consider their lands as the common property of the whole. You take the …show more content…

After looking at the evidence it can now also be said that if the government had had a better understanding of the native people then many of the pains of western expansion could have been prevented. I believe that if the government had spent six to ten months getting a better understanding of the native’s lifestyle then much of the tragedies they caused could have been prevented. Either way Western Expansion made our country the way it is today, only now we can debate if it was worth

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