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Westward Expansion As the preface to the first edition states, Westward Expansion attempts to follow the pattern that Frederick Jackson Turner might have used had he ever compressed his researches on the American frontier within one volume. Dr. Billington makes no pretense of original scholarship except in limited instances. Instead a synthesis of the voluminous writings inspired by Turner's original essays is presented. In that respect, the book is highly successful. Dr. Billington masterfully weaves these monographs, essays, texts, and learned journals, into a readable yet pedantic overview of the history of the American West.
Permissiveness coupled with a self-righteous entitlement is not considered very flattering on anyone, much less a developing young country. The loose handle the US government had in the 1800s on its land-hungry constituents contributed to the worst (but among the most overlooked) genocide in recorded history. The few preventative actions taken by the federation to slow the quickening roll of excessive expansion were overruled or overlooked by the citizens. Deciding that the east coast was no longer enough to satiate their appetite for possession, they looked to the west. Imagining themselves to be Moses, claiming their promised land, the settlers surged westward, citing Manifest Destiny, a concept that suggested providence had intended the
...to Americans: if their prospects in the East were poor, then they could perhaps start over in the West as a farmer, rancher, or even miner. The frontier was also romanticized not only for its various opportunities but also for its greatly diverse landscape, seen in the work of different art schools, like the “Rocky Mountain School” and Hudson River School, and the literature of the Transcendentalists or those celebrating the cowboy. However, for all of this economic possibility and artistic growth, there was political turmoil that arose with the question of slavery in the West as seen with the Compromise of 1850 and Kansas-Nebraska Act. As Frederick Jackson Turner wrote in his paper “The Significance of the Frontier in American History” to the American Historical Association, “the frontier has gone, and with its going has closed the first period of American history.”
The Manifest Destiny was a progressive movement starting in the 1840's. John O'Sullivan, a democratic leader, named the movement in 1845. Manifest Destiny meant that westward expansion was America's destiny. The land that was added to the U.S. after 1840 (the start of Manifest Destiny) includes The Texas Annexation (1845), The Oregon Country (1846), The Mexican Cession (1848), The Gadsden Purchase (1853), Alaska (1867), and Hawaii (1898). Although this movement would take several years to accomplish fully, things started changing before we knew it. New technology took off right away!
The westward movement was a time period from the 1840’s to the 1860’s, where the Americans traveled west for search of land and/or gold. In this essay, you will read about the wagon trails, Manifest Destiny, people, medicine, religion, politics, railroads, and the gold rush.
In 1845, a fellow named John C. Calhoun coined the term "Manifest Destiny." The term Manifest Destiny was a slogan for westward expansion during the 1840's. In the west there was plenty of land, national security, the spread of democracy, urbanization, but there was also poverty out west. People moved out west in search for a new life such as a new beginning. Moving out west, settlers from the east were taking a risk of a lot of things. The climate was different and there were more cultures that lived out west because of how much land was available.
How do you see progress, as a process that is beneficial or in contrast, that it´s a hurtful process that everyone at one point of their lives has to pass through it? At the time, progress was beneficial for the United States, but those benefits came with a cost, such cost that instead of advancements and developments being advantageous factors for humanity, it also became a harmful process in which numerous people were affected in many facets of life. This all means that progress is awsome to achieve, but when achieved, people have to realize the process they had to do to achieve it, which was stepping on other people to get there.
Manifest Destiny was the belief that started and caused the westward expansion and led to many wars between all different types of people and the different countries that owned the land. The expansion allowed for lifespan to increase, the economy blossomed, and the main goal was accomplished which was getting occupation of America from ocean coast to ocean coast.
The book ‘Lions of the West’ by Robert Morgan talks about how important historical events shaped America. Morgan’s main claims in this book are accurate and he explains them by sources and stating famous persons who impacted westward expansion. By referring to these persons and sources he is showing a great understanding of the topic. His two claims are that heroes and villains make up the history of western expansion, as well as normal citizens.
America was expanding at such a rapid pace that those who were in America before us had no time to anticipate what was happening. This change in lifestyle affected not only Americans but everyone who lived in the land. Changing traditions, the get rich quick idea and other things were the leading causes of westward expansion. But whatever happened to those who were caught in the middle, those who were here before us?
The significance of Frontier in American History is a thesis paper that was written and delivered by Jackson Turner on 12th July 1893. Turner delivered this paper during a yearly meeting of the fledging American Historical Association that was being held at Chicago. I believe this paper had a lot of impact on the study of American History specifically in colleges and universities. The original paper was informed from twelve sources. Turner wrote this paper and formed the frontier theory following the work of Achille Loria- An Italian economist- who proposed that the key to changes in human society was free land and that America would be the best place to research on this proposal. The other event that precipitated Turners paper was the announcement of superintendent in 1890 census which claimed that there is insufficient free land in US to allow frontier to feature in the census report as had been previously done until 1790 (Turnver, 3).
There were many people responsible for the westward expansion of the US. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were one of the first Americans to precisely explore and map the western Territories. During their expeditions they were aided by a Shoshone woman named Sacagawea and her French-Canadian husband Toussaint Charbonneau, during which they served as translators. Their expedition helped path a way for thousands of settlers to move west.
Frederick Jackson Turner and Patricia Nelson Limerick are two historians that had two different points of views to define the West and its history. The West usually refers to the present-day states of California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansa, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana ( Patricia Nelson, p.8). The first view put forth by Fredrick Turner in the 1890s explained that the movement of American settlers westward, was a process and “ its a form of society rather than a area” (Turner, p. 2). Less than a century later, New Western Historians analyzed that the West is a place that has diverse people, with diverse ethnicity,
The American Frontier consisted of a vibrant and expansive land made for the opportunity of American settlement. Unfortunately, the age of exploration of the Frontier officially ended in 1890 with the U.S Census Bureau declaring that “here can hardly be said to be a frontier line." A historian, Frederick Jackson Turner, claimed that the Frontier shaped American culture and the attitude of Americans. By evaluating U.S Census Bureau statistics, he famously wrote the Frontier Thesis. Along with the Frontier Thesis, Turner contributed to the field of New History, primarily analyzing the West and Sectionalism of the United States. Today, historians acknowledge the tremendous impact Turner’s role in American Exceptionalism and the study of geographic
Throughout most of the nineteenth century, the United States expanded its territory westward through purchase and annexation. At the end of the century, however, expansion became imperialism, as America acquired several territories overseas. This policy shift from expansionism to imperialism came about as a result of American's experience in the Spanish American War and the Congressional debates that followed the American victory.
During the 1800-1900s America was growing rapidly, the population, the income, immigration; especially the western expansion. There was one main issue, travel and transportation to the West was challenging which affected the lives of the American people. With the Louisiana Purchase deal in 1803, America nearly doubled in size and by 1840 almost 6 million Americans had migrated west with hopes of a better life and acres of land, this increased the need for a more connected United States through new transportation methods. Most rivers ran N-S not E-W; wagons were slow. In 1811 the U.S National government opened the first Federally paid road in Cumberland, Maryland to open up the West for settlers. This was controversial because it crossed many states; those that not support it, did not want to pay for it; this resulted in transportation being left up to individual states or to private investors or wealthy individuals. This new national road offered Americans a speedy more luxurious way to travel but did not solve the nation's transportation issues as this road was not suitable to transporting large amount of goods.