ipl-logo

How Expansion Out West Changed The Dynamic Of The US

1102 Words5 Pages

Expansion out West for the United States changed the dynamic of the United States forever. The intergration of whites and native americans caused a multitude issues for with the expansion out West. Striking gold was the dream of many moving out West with the idea of living an upper class life. Native Americans had a culture shock with the expansion out West by the United States government. Politcians played a huge role in the expansion out West such as Andrew Jackson. The idea of getting rich quick was the mindset of many in taking the risk to move out West. Accumpalating land,resources and money was the mission of the United States moving out West however they did not take into account for people merging together who were not equiped to …show more content…

The gold rush started in 1849 and ended in 1855 which started the reason for immigrants and people to travel out West. Next the expansion out West caused the drive for success with the ability to strike gold, this opportunity that did not exist before caused the government to keep expanding causing groups of people to interact that had no interest of doing. However this lead to speculation of how good the West really was and the misrepresentation that you would strike gold and go from nothing to success overnight. “This expansion caused San Francisco to become the 8th largest city in the U.S in 1890 with a population of 300,00 increasing from 1848 of 1,000”. The gold rush was prevelent in the expansion out West and jump started the populations growths out …show more content…

Andrew Jackson was the promitent president who was very influencial in the expansion. President Jackson ordered an Indian Removal Act to send the natives out west with the over population forcing the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole tribes to unite as one in the western part of the country. This era is known as the Trail of Tears as 4,000 died on there way out West with limited resources and traveling into the unknown with tribes in the West clashing with the one another. With this removal this opened up 25 million acres for more white Americans to spread across the eastern part of the country. Also there were corrupt goveners across the western part of the country that were not about the greater good and only added to the problems in the West. Corruption exsisted with predijice and racism all over the U.S and the govenors defined that for sure. The leaders of the country during the Western expansion were full of corruption and lacked the ambition to do what was best for the country instead of themselves and their own personal

Show More
Related
491 Words | 2 Pages

The Lewis and Clark expedition laid the foundation for the understanding and exploration of the western territories. The gold rush prompted an immediate and massive movement of people. This even caused the integration of the West into the United States, economic development, and rapid settlement. The gold rush's influence on economic activities, population growth, and migration patterns had a more transformative and direct effect on the West's demography and landscape than Lewis and Clark's exploratory mission. The ideology of manifest destiny had a crucial role in shaping the Lewis and Clark Expedition and the California Gold Rush.

Read More
741 Words | 3 Pages

Territorial expansion and national unity from 1800-1850 involved many events. Western expansion boosted national unity at first, spurred the issue of slavery, and created extreme sectionalism between the north and the south. There are many events that helped boost national unity like the Louisiana Purchase, Manifest Destiny, Era of Good Feelings, and the Monroe Doctrine. The United States needed more land in order to continue moving out West.

Read More
1119 Words | 5 Pages

One reason why Americans moved westward was to gain opportunities for themselves. The two most promising land claims were Oregon Country and the Louisiana Territory. The idea of starting a new life on the recently claimed land of Oregon Country lands all began when Lewis traveled to the land and discovered that “this passage across the continent as affording immense advantages to the fur trade,” (Doc 9). As a result of Lewis’s expedition some settlers headed to the new land to start trading on this land. Afterward, more Americans flooded this land upon learning that it was, “nice and (it had) streams full of fish,” and that “the valleys are rich and the mountains high

Read More
433 Words | 2 Pages

The primary groups that were involved with western expansion, were the Native americans and the white settlers. This also included miners, railroad tycoons, and ranchers. Many major events that occurred with this was the Indian wars, homestead act, movement of natives to reservations,

Read More
529 Words | 3 Pages

Introduction The Westward Expansion is about moving west to find better land. almost seven million Americans moved west to find better land to farm and to build a house and raise a family. Two topics about the westward is The Oregon Trail and The Gold Rush.

Read More
596 Words | 3 Pages

The United States government played a major part in Westward expansion. From building railroads to relocating Native Americans to reservations, the U.S. realized how big the West was both financially and politically. They found many ways to encourage citizens to settle in the west. They sold cheap land, borrowed money to support the railroads, cleared up hundreds of acres of good, fertile land (by taking it from the Native Americans). In this essay, we will be discussing the roles of the U.S. government in Westward expansion.

Read More
784 Words | 4 Pages

During the “Gilded Age” period of American history, development of the Trans-Mississippi west was crucial to fulfilling the American dream of manifest destiny and creating an identity which was distinctly American. Since the west is often associated with rugged pioneers and frontiersmen, there is an overarching idea of hardy American individualism. However, although these settlers were brave and helped to make America into what it is today, they heavily relied on federal support. It would not have been possible for white Americans to settle the Trans-Mississippi west without the US government removing Native Americans from their lands and placing them on reservations, offering land grants and incentives for people to move out west, and the

Read More
1309 Words | 6 Pages

During the 1840, the United States was able to access much more land in the west than previously before. The United States saw this as an opportunity to expand their territories and to settle and obtain all things the land has to offer. The United States justified their actions through the idea of Manifest Destiny, which they viewed to be a harmless and benevolent philosophy. Manifest Destiny was in fact not as benign as the United States has come to believe; it caused the colonization and imperialism of land that held many Natives who were eventually killed or sent into reservations. People in the southern region of the conquered land were greatly influenced by this expansion as well; it caused many families who were living in the Texas area

Read More
1039 Words | 5 Pages

In conclusion, the westward expansion was one of the most important times in American history but one of the hardest for those who made the journey. The settlers had to go through a lot of hardships to get a new life in the west. The Gold Rush helped bring people to the west and populate California so it became a state. People such as Sacagawea helped Lewis and Clark helped explore the new terrain and make maps so people could live there. Even though the pioneers got diseases, had conflicts with the Native Americans, and had to travel for long periods of time in a ship or covered wagon, they never gave up hope.

Read More
298 Words | 2 Pages

The Gold Rush supposedly inspired the largest mass movement of people in world history because of the incredibly large masses of gold being found in the West. People found thousands of dollars in gold and people of all different cultures and backgrounds moved Westwards in hopes of finding gold as well. The Gold Rush left a positive effect on American History because Americans became wealthier and more foreigners came to California which expanded diversity. To start, Americans were able to sell this gold in exchange for loads of money. One man who only had a piece of land that was four feet square “got thirty pounds of gold in less than a month.”.

Read More
703 Words | 3 Pages

The Westward Expansion all started when America made the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. There were many benefits from the purchase for the US that the French didn’t realize before they sold it. The purchase gave the US access to the Mississippi river which allowed for expansion of river trade to the North and South from the center of the US. The port city of New Orleans was bought by the US and its prosperity benefited the US greatly. The US sent Lewis and Clark west to investigate the land they purchased.

Read More
603 Words | 3 Pages

They had the passion to find new homes and work where they could experience new life. The westward expansion offered people many opportunities to find gold or silver and to become rich; In other words, they were enabled to live the American Dream as they were inspired by the belief that the destiny of the frontier was God's will. Thomas Jefferson believed that their future mostly depends on the westward expansion, and then they purchased Louisiana to double the US size. The gold rush It began on May 12, 1848, when a merchant waved a bottle of gold flakes in San Francisco and shouted “Gold!

Read More
441 Words | 2 Pages

Life for the Native Americans was much harder during and after the western expansion. For example, the US took land from the Indians leading the formation of reservations, White men almost hunted the Buffalo , an important food source for the Indians, to extinction, and forced the Indians to get rid of their culture. Because of the western expansion, the area of land the Indians could occupy decreased significantly. The government would make treaties with the Indians allowing them to keep a certain area of land, but this would soon be broken ; When the Pacific Railroad Act was passed it stated that wherever a track was laid the company would own any land 200 ft surrounding the track including Indian land ; the Government would make sure that

Read More
719 Words | 3 Pages

People in America during this time seeking for opportunities out west that they did not think they had in the east. During this time, gold was discovered in California that attracted many people not just from America, but all over the world. Plus, the government encouraged people to go mining for gold by giving miners cheaper land to live on out west. As stated in the Homestead Act of 1862, United States Congress, a law providing free land for citizens of the United States in western territories. This act encouraged people to mine for gold in California so they could have cheaper land than they would anywhere else.

Read More
801 Words | 4 Pages

Two main effects of the US expansion were the amount of mistreatment towards the Native Americans and the increased amount of land

Read More

More about How Expansion Out West Changed The Dynamic Of The US

Related Topics

Open Document