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Westward Expansion Research Paper

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Grasso 1 Michael Grasso Ms. Vargas 20TH US HI. 21 September 2014 Westward Expansion in the 1800s After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, which was the United States buying the huge territory known as Louisiana from the French, the country doubled in size. This gave the country great opportunity due to the abundance of land and natural resources. Some citizens believed in manifest destiny which is the belief that the American settlers were destined to expand as a country throughout the continent. In the 1860s when the Civil War was coming to an end the west was still greatly undeveloped and rural. This war caused expansion to become crippled due to the funds, efforts, and lives tolled. The west was mainly able to expand and develop …show more content…

One example of this is when many Americans went to settle in Pikes Peak Colorado due to the gold found there. This resulted in the Americans taking over Indian settlements which lead to the Indians retaliating and raiding their settlements from 1861 to 1864. Due to this on November 29, 1864 the Americans massacred approximately 400 Cheyenne Indians even after the Indians offered peace. (George …show more content…

By 1886 most railroad tracks were the same length apart. This enabled the tracks to connect in ways they never have. This resulted in there being more options for travel. On top of this it also allowed certain areas to become cities and towns because of its easy access to supplies. What was also developed as a result of this is the time zone system. This was needed so people would be able to know when their train was coming and going and so trains could stop crashing (Daniel K. Boorstin). The transcontinental railroad began developing in 1862 which was a connection of railroads that connected the union pacific to the central pacific and met up in Utah. These were the results of the Pacific Railway Act of 1862 (Pacific Railway Act). The third way the west was able to develop was through its new opportunities that resulted from it. One of the opportunities was an abundance of land which was habitable and farmable. This meant much room for cities and towns to develop (Barrett, J.P). What was so beneficial was that people could go out west to get away from the south which was being reconstructed from the Civil War. Some men even left their families in the east for certain amounts of time just for job opportunities in the west (Letter to Wife and Baby). A mail

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In the late 19th century there was a spike in Railroad Construction in the United States. The growth began as a result of congress passing the Pacific Railroad Bill in 1862 which began the construction of the Transcontinental Railroads. In the near future the Transcontinental Railroads would connect both sides of the United States, therefore they would eventually lead up to the settling of the west. Railroads in the late 19th century would affect the settling of the west by allowing people to travel to find work in an efficient manner, by allowing faster and more efficient methods to transport goods to consumers, and improving the economy overall. Starting off Railroads greatly impacted travel time from one place to another.

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The Transcontinental Railroad: How it Made America into One Nation The transcontinental railroad changed the United States in the 1800’s in a way never seen before in America. Before the transcontinental railroad, the eastern states and the western states lacked a timely and reliable source of trade, travel, and communication. The nationwide railroad system connected the states in many new ways that helped shaped America into the nation it has now become. The transcontinental railroad improved transportation, commerce, expanded communication, and formed the United States into one nation.

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The railroad system was a huge factor in in developing the west. It took away the need of steamboats and was much cheaper and safer than traveling on water. The railroad changed the way of transportation, products and animals were shipped from the west to the east coast, and it allowed the United States to expand the west at a much faster rate. In the years between 1855 and 1871 the Federal government operated a land grant system that gave companies millions of acres of land in the uninhabited west.

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Transcontinental Railroad Tera Richardson, 4336787 History 102 B008 Sum 17 Professor Traci Sumner American Military University July 22, 2017 Abstract The transcontinental railroad was one of the biggest advocates for the industrial economy and westward expansion. The railroads could transfer goods and people across the country with ease, and quickly. While some bad came from this miraculous progression, such as the panic of 1873 and a yellow fever epidemic, the good outweighed the bad as it enabled the United States to fulfill its Manifest Destiny through westward expansion.

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The United States is always in an ever changing state. This is especially true during the westward expansion that followed the Civil War and the ever expanding American Industrial Revolution. There are three major events that occurred in the late 19th century that set the precedence for the westward expansion of America. With American still in a new born state, there was many great accomplishments and many failures. I am going to breakdown the westward expansion during 1860-1890 after analyzing the Westward Expansion map from PBS Learning Media website, to assess how the westward expansion moved between the 1860’s and 1890’s (Westward Expansion, 1860-1890, n.d.).

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The railroad was vital in the setting of the west for the American people. The Pacific Railway Act gave the American people a much easier way of travel to the east. This made it more likely for large families to participate in the expansion due to the lack of hardship that many encountered during the Oregon Trail. The Act gave the Union Pacific Railroad the expansion from Nebraska west, while the Central Pacific Railroad moved from California east. Thus, the first railroad was completed when the two companies finally connected in Promontory Point, Utah in spring 1869.

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First transcontinental railroad The construction of the first transcontinental railroad undoubtedly changed the Country. Construction of the project took place between 1863 and 1869. The Transcontinental Railroad, also known as the Pacific Railroad and the Overland Route, was opened on May 10, 1869. It had a huge impact on expanding the nation to the west, and made transporting goods, and people across the country much faster. This caused people to sell more things to a wider range of consumers.

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The western expansion had a large impact on the United States. Although it had a positive impact on the country as they gained an economic growth, it had a negative impact on the Native Americans who had experienced a decrease in population. Western expansion began in 1803 with Thomas Jefferson purchasing the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million as the U.S. population increased drastically. “...from around 5 million people in 1800 to more than 23 million by 1850,” (History.com) According to History.com, the purchase of Louisiana Territory gave them another 828,000 square miles, which stretched from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains.

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Most of the pioneers who settled the west became cash croppers. The South wanted to expand slavery into the North during the westward expansion but the North did not want slavery to be legal. The Gold Rush brought even more people to the west.

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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.

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Westward Expansion Flash Draft Have you ever wondered about what would 've happened if the westward expansion never occurred? We wouldn 't have many things you know today and America would be a lot smaller. The westward expansion happened during the 1800s and helped shape the modern America. The westward expansion started with the Louisiana Purchase and was made even stronger by the Gold Rush. Many people came to strike it rich or just to start a new life out west.

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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.

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The treaty the US government signed with the Indians in 1851 granted the Indians to have an extensive territory, which means the Indians can get more land, but eventually that did not last(doc 3,4). One of the most important and well-known wars was the Sand Creek Massacre. On November 29, 1864, John Chivington led 700 troops in an unprovoked attack on the Arapaho and Cheyenne villagers. There they killed over 200 women, children, and older men. US Indian Commissioner admitted that :We have substantially taken possession of the country and deprived the Indians of their accustomed means of support.”

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Another opportunity people had moving west, was a different lifestyle than they already had. As shown in (Image Bank: 19th-Century Population), in 1860, most of the Western United States had fewer than 2 people per square mile. Whereas in most of the Eastern United States, there were 18-89 people per square mile. This new lifestyle they had was a more isolated, and not so crowded lifestyle. The opportunities seemed endless.

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