Positive And Negative Effects Of Westward Expansion

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.

There were many causes that led to westward expansion. One cause of westward expansion is, the Homestead Act of 1862. Essentially the homestead act, granted 160 acres of land for a nominal fee as long as citizens promised to build a home and farm on the land for five years. The Morrill Land Act was another law that was passed by the federal government, this act

One effect of westward expansion is the Indian Removal act. This act forced thousands of native americans off their land and move their tribes to new Indian Territories, which was located in Oklahoma west of the Mississippi river. President Andrew Jackson ordered this removal, in the Supreme court case Cherokee nation Vs. Georgia Andrew Jackson went against the Supreme Court's ruling that Cherokees had a right to their land. The trial of tears was the forced march of the Cherokee Nation from Georgia to Indian Territory. Over a thousand died of disease and malnutrition. The Dawes Act of 1887 was another way of pushing the Native Americans off their land. Due to the violent Indian Wars, the federal government passed the Dawes Act in an attempt to assimilate the Native people by redistributing reservation land into individual land allotments. The attempt of assimilating the Native Americans destroyed traditional way of life, and children were taken away from their families and put in American schools. In addition, another effect of westward expansion is, The Grange Movement. The grange movement originally was created as a social club to alleviate loneliness on the homesteads. This movement became politically active by electing political candidates to local and state offices who supported interests of farmers. Granger laws were passed to end railroad abuses, railroad companies challenged these laws in the supreme court case Wabash.