American Expansion Essay

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The two most important events during American expansion were manifest destiny and the availability of land. Lewis and Clark had opened the nation’s eye to a vast continent that begged to be explored. Stories of beautiful land and riches were being spread much like during the of early days of European exploration and Americans felt it was their destiny to take possession of these territories. People were pouring in from around the world to become Americans and the population was ready to spread over the Great Plains to the the Pacific coast like to a wave of humanity seeking the American promise for the pursuit of happiness. Expansion westward seemed to be a natural thing in the mid-1800s. With the independence that had been gained from the …show more content…

Activities like gambling, drinking, and fighting would become popular as activities people would do when not looking for gold. With each each man, woman and child entering lands west of the Mississippi, the need grew for law, order and government to both tame and profit from these millions of undeveloped acres of land. Immigration become the human fuel for growth as millions of people from opposite sides of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans continued to flood in. The gold rush attracted tens of thousands from Latin America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. roughly 15,000 immigrants went to california. Towards the end of the gold rush many immigrants who stayed were forced to pay a tax of $20 a month. If they stayed after that then some americans would attack them and the native americans would attack as well because they were being driven from their homes. The reasons for westbound extension were the buy of the Louisiana domain from France, the Lewis and Clark endeavor, President Thomas Jefferson 's vision of venturing into the accessible land to make a "realm of freedom" and a developing feeling of American "show fate." The impacts included discussions over the servitude issue, which prompted to the Civil War, the mistreatment and annihilation of Native Americans and the war with

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