Impact Of Western Expansion Essay

Following the War of 1812, America began to expand rapidly due to improvements in the economic landscape. During the war when the United States had cut off trade with Britain, they developed more factories and mills on their own. This spiked a development of a more diverse economy. Between 1815 and 1850 the United States expanded all the way to the pacific coast. The allurement of cheap land, unlimited amounts of job opportunities, along with freedom of religion, captivated those who lived in Europe. By 1850, the United States became one of the world’s greatest commercial and manufacturing union as well as one of the fastest growing (Shi and Tindall 265-266). The most significant impact of western expansion other than the growth of size, was

, and as the US expanded further west, the manufacturing of goods increased a considerable amount leading to new innovations.

Early Expansion of the United States

The Market Economy Large scale manufacturing and commercial agriculture surfaced in America during the early 1800s, which produced a substantial amount of economic growth and raised the American standard of living. Transportation made a major breakthrough with inventions like railroads, steamboats, canal systems, and clipper ships. These improvements led to faster transportation of goods and people (Shi and Tindall 267-270). The shift in transportation led to incredible improvements in communication as well, such as the telegraph system which was faster than writing letters and posting ads in newspapers (Shi and Tindall 271). During the Industrial Revolution, slavery expanded across the west due to the enhancements

By the end of the 1840s, the United States expanded its territories from Texas west to California and the Pacific northwest (Shi and Tindall 415). The southerners wanted the new western states to advance pro-southern representation in congress to guarantee that slavery wouldn’t be jeopardized by northern abolitionists (Shi and Tindall 416). What spurred the migration westward was the continuing population explosion in the United States for desired land (Shi and Tindall 420). On March 1, 1845, President Tyler signed a resolution adding Texas to the Union. Later on under his term, California became a part of American territory (Shi and Tindall 420-421). The “free-soil party” attracted three major groups: Northern Democrats (who opposed slavery), anti-slavery Whigs, and members of the abolitionist Liberty Party. It was a political coalition created in 1848 who opposed expanding slavery into the western territories (Shi and Tindall 438). The California Gold Rush in 1849 was an immense migration of gold hunters, who transformed the economy after gold was discovered in northern California (Shi and Tindall 439). President Lincoln won the election in 1860, soon after his victory southerners began to secede from the union and began to form the Confederacy to ensure that states should have the rights to hold slaves in their domestic institutions (Shi