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How Did The Civil War Affect The Westward Expansion

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The South And The West Three major events that significantly impacted the history of the U.S. were The Civil War, Reconstruction, and Westward Expansion. They shaped what our country is today and what it will become in the future. However, there were several political, social, and economic consequences due to the events. The Civil War pinned brother against brother in the fight against the Union and the Confederacy. Originally, the purpose for the North fighting the war was to preserve the Union. However, once Abraham Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation, The Union now fought to end slavery as well as preservation of the Union. Even though the Union had been victorious, hundreds of thousands of mean still died. The Civil War is known as the bloodiest war to have ever taken place on American soil. One positive outcome of the Civil War is that the railroads were being built and perfected which is a major technological development in U.S. history. Another consequence of the war …show more content…

The Americans believed that it was their divine and inevitable right to claim the westward land. However, this expansion had a large problem. The Native Americans had already been settled in that land for thousands of years. And the Americans wanted to simply take it away from them. The Native Americans were forced out of their land as more and more Americans began to settle down in the west. Many Americans were influenced by the Homestead Act which gave them 160 Acres of land as long as they maintained the land for 5 years. Eventually, the Native Americans no longer had somewhere to go. They decided to sign a treaty with the Americans which granted them a small reservation in which no American would cross and a promise that supplies would be sent. However, the supplies never came and Americans continued to cross into the reservation. The Native Americans wanted to fight back but they were powerless against the American’s

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Manifest Destiny: The Effects of Westward Expansion 3.797 million miles. That is the area of the United States of America. Within two years, from 1846 too 1848, more than one million square miles of territory was gained by the US. This time of immense growth was called Manifest Destiny. This term was first used by John L. Sullivan and was the idea that Americans had the God given right to govern the USA.

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In Robert Morgan’s, “There is no true history of the westward expansion”, his claims of westward expansion are more sensible than any other mans at that time. “It is natural and perhaps necessary for historians and story-tellers to view the dramatic shifts of history through the actions of a few famous figures, whether heroes or villains.” (Robert Morgan paragraph 4 line 2) By saying this, Morgan is saying that most stories that a reader will read, will be one sided. With westward expansion, nobody wants to tell the bad things that happened, but only the good things.

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The problem with this is was that those lands were controlled by either Mexico, Great Britain or Native American tribes. To gain this territory, the US would have to either purchase, negotiate or forcefully take it from its current owners. Americans justified their expansion west by claiming it was their Manifest Destiny, or god given right to cover and control these lands. In addition to this idea, notions of racial superiority motivated white Americans to travel west

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As the white Europeans began to discover America the continent, the Native Americans perceived America as the only home they had ever known. As the white Europeans began to migrate in bigger quantities they began to harass the Native tribes. Throughout the course of the relationship a new nation as built using enslaved labor and the white Europeans, now referring to themselves as “Americans”, began pushing the Natives farther west to allow the United States to expand. Using many methods the Native Americans responded to the threat of removal made by the United States by adapting to the religious, educational, political, and cultural practices of the peoples of the United States. Even though there are a multitude of tribes that made movements

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How the Civil War Affected the USA The Civil War is considered to be the most horrific yet influential wars in American History. While the American Revolution revolved around establishing the nation, the Civil War was about deciding the fate of the blossoming nation. But determining the fate of the nation came at a huge cost; approximately 620,000 American citizens lives were tragically lost during the barbarous conflict, which is equivalent to ¼ civilians whom went into combat never returned home.

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In fact, they wanted the land they had, as they were settled in large areas art of the Us Terriortiry. President Andrew Jackson urges Congress to pass the Indian Removal Act, until it was finally passed in 1812, Despite their efforts to become as white men as possible the Whites ill wanted the Native Americans out of their lands. Yes, the whites were a selfish brutal bunch who did not want to live wior mix with ther races but this forceful behavior brought them to where they are today so it’s actually bitter swee. The Whites eventually achieved their gosl of relocating the Natives,however, the CHerokeess put up a stronger fight onto the Americans Above all pros, the American’s Manifest Destinh was greatly affected by the Trail of Tears.

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First of all, Native Americans were settled on a hotbed of natural resources which included oil and precious metals such as silver and gold. There was also much fertile land that would entice farmers and frontiersmen to move out west. On this land there was so much potential economic opportunity for farmers, cattle drivers, miners and many other occupations. The government developed the popular public misconception that the indians were misusing the land and that Americans had the right to take advantage of the opportunities that lie in the west. These ideas led to the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 which authorized encroachment of Indian lands by the US government in order to divide up reservations and control Indian activity.

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They shaped the Civil War by having the Emancipation Proclamation, the fourteenth amendment, and the fifteenth amendment. The consequences would be that at first the newly freed slaves wouldn’t have a place to go, because they never had no money and they didn’t have all their rights yet. The Emancipation Proclamation helped the slaves because they should be free. The Emancipation never really freed any

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Westward expansion and the industrialization period positively impacted developing the United States. Westward expansion created a space that allowed so many important figures in the history of the industrial revolution in America to prosper. The country after expanding west had the space to create things like railroads and large factories. This period of time was an essential part of the development of this country. Anyone could participate in this era; some were the brains behind these inventions and others were funding these projects.

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Merriam-Webster defines the word opportunity as, ‘a set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something’. People living in nineteenth century America were searching for an opportunity, and a chance to better their lives. People in this time period needed the resources such as land and the raw materials in order to achieve their goals and improve their current situations. Between the years 1803 and 1853, the United States nearly tripled in size. Westward expansion allowed the United States to acquire more land for settlers to take advantage of.

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The Transcontinental Railroad and Impact on Westward Expansion The Indian’s called it the “Iron Horse”, we called it a ‘Locomotive”. But, no matter what you call it, the Transcontinental Railroad was the key to Westward Expansion and the gateway to a new way of life. Many new jobs were created by the railroad and many different people upheld them. There were the Chinese, who used their knowledge with explosives to help build the actual railroad.

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After the civil war, Americans began to settle in the west beyond the Mississippi River. There were many political and economic motives to move west. Once the West was settled, there were both positive and negative effects. The government passed as series of laws to encourage Americans to move west .Westward expansion had tremendous impact on the development of the United States.

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During the course of American History there have been three major’s events that accord which changed American society and the way we live today. The Some historians (as well as I) strongly belive that the Battle of Trenton was an important event, because troop morale was at its lowest; the rebels hadn 't yet won a battle. The Continental troop 's one-year commitment would expire in 3 days, and Washington would have virtually no army. His gutsy move to cross the Delaware on Christmas Day to attack the Hessians at Trenton resulted in a victory that boosted the morale of the troops. In part, supported by the Battle of Princeton on the heels of the Trenton victory resulted in a major patriot enlistment, hence preserving the army and the future

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In the 19th Century the idea to move westward would present Americans with new opportunities and a chance for possible wealth. Americans were determined to explore the lands from the Atlantic Ocean all the way to the Pacific Ocean. The term Manifest Destiny in short, is a movement. A movement in which gave Americans the “right” to colonize and civilize west because it’s their calling. Americans believed that expanding throughout the continent would give them new opportunity to share the government, which they believed was so great.

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People change over time. This has been shown throughout history by the changing ideals of men and women over the centuries. Even though people change some of the issues that are faced today are similar to the issues faced after the Civil War. During the Civil War the purpose of the war switched from preserving the union to slavery.

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