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How Did Technology Affect Territorial Expansion

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Many factors greatly impacted the development of America such as slavery, railroads, wars, and agriculture. All of these factors can be placed into one of three overarching categories; technological innovation, territorial expansion, and cultural developments on the nation.Of the three factors, technological innovation was the factor which most dramatically altered life in the United States due to its presence in the development of both Cultural innovation and Territorial expansion. The United States brought technological advancements from the roads to war, there were very few aspects of modern day life that were not affected by the technological innovation that would soon spread across the world. Throughout history, technology was created …show more content…

Territorial expansion was not always commendable, the greatest example of this was the Trail of Tears. “By 1835, some 46,000 Indians had been relocated across the Mississippi River at government expense.”(Shi and Tindall, 331) Cherokee rights were originally fought for, Georgia had made the Cherokee part of the state, instead of a nation inside of a nation, but in response Andrew Jackson sent military to force them out by force. America gained approximately one hundred million acres throughout all the southeast territory which was previously occupied by Native Americans. “In 1817, Americans burned a Seminole village on the border (Florida), killed five Indians, dispersed the rest.” (Shi and Tindall, 306) This comes to show that the trail of tears was not the first ruthless obtainment of territory on America’s part, and as shown throughout History, it was not the last. Territorial expansion helped raise the population and diversity of white men and women, but through the expansion of America in unscrupulous ways millions of Native Americans and black slaves were killed. America’s hunger for more territory was not always satisfied by the thieving of other ethnic group’s territories, soon America began pioneering west once more. “Our manifest destiny, is to overspread the continent allotted by providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions.” (O’Sullivan, 420) From 1841 to 1867 more than 350,000 men, women, and children migrated to California, and many others settled in territories along the way such as Texas and New Mexico. Nearly every migration was over 2,000 miles in a wagon, so the reasons for migrating were great. Originally it was for families to own more land, but once gold was discovered the number of migrants skyrocketed. The ethical expansion of territory through migration west for the chance

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