Short And Long Term Effects Of Western Expansion

The land we American's call, the United States, is defined by different events that happened during the Western Expansion. The Western Expansion began with Thomas Jefferson’s purchasing the territory of Louisiana in 1803. Many wars, treaties, and Acts would happen during the Expansion to be successful in forming the modern United States. Gold rushes during this time would increase settlements and the population in western territories. The Westward Expansion would define the land borders of the modern U.S., promote land ownership and develop the railway system in the continental U.S.

The land purchased by Jefferson in the Louisana Purchase provide land for migration of settlers westward. The population of in the U.S. from 1800 to 1900 increase

settlers occupied the Republic of Texas, parts of Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas, Wyoming, and New Mexico. Texas in 1836 won their independence from Mexico, but Mexico refused to acknowledge their borders. The government of U.S. put the border of Texas at the Rio Grande as the southern boundary and the Mexican government said border was along the Nueces. In response to the attack by Mexico on April 25, 1846, the U.S. declared war on Mexico on May 13, 1846. (Billington, 2001) The American had captured New Mexico by August of 1846 and then captured California in January of 1847. The ratification of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends the war between the U.S. and Mexico. Mexico renounced theirs rights to Texas and set the permanent southern border of Texas at the Rio Grande. U.S. also broker a sale for part of modern day California, part of Utah, part of Nevada, parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Wyoming and Colorado for fifteen million. An Additional fifteen million went to buy the southern part of Arizona and New Mexico from Mexico. (Billington,2001) There were four main trails to travel west to settlements which included the Sant Fe Trail, The Overland Trail, the Mormon Trail, Oregon Trail. These were the only way to the western territories until the transcontinental railroad. In 1862, the U.S. government issued bonds and land grants to the Union Pacific and the Cental Pacific Railroad in the first railroad acts. On July 10, 1865, the first track of the Union

The Westward Expansion expand from 1807 to 1910 during that time America changed forever geographically, economically and advanced in technology. The different happenings that occurred during the Westward Expansion defined the land boundaries of the modern day the United States and various happenings and techniques during help make the modern day the United States. If the outcomes of the wars fought during the Expansion were different the modern day the United States could look very different geographically. The railroad made traveling and settling claims easier which increased the population in the west without those settlements other countries could have taken the land from U.S. by settling their citizens there. The government through the Homestead Act help many settlers become land owners and succeed in building towns in the west. All the events and the outcomes in the Westward Expansion is the reason for the modern day U.S. being the country it is