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Causes of westward expansion and manifest destiny
Essay on manifest destiny and westward expansion
Westward expansion and slavery essay
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The conquest of the west came to be for three reasons; 1. Individuals wanted to be free from religious persecution, 2. Moving west would allow individuals to pursue greater social freedoms, and 3. The land was rich and one could work hard and have riches beyond any that could be made in the east (Schultz,n.d.). The move west was broken down into phases. Phase one people moved without any government involvement or consent and was done for mostly personal reasons. The next phase was after the presidential election in which James K. Polk was elected. Polk was a heavy activist for American expansion which was deemed "manifest destiny." Manifest Destiny made further discrimination of Native Americans, helped to continue the expansion of the Market Revolution, on the great frontier a poor man could become rich on his own accord, and the question of slavery was raised if it should happen in the west or not and ultimately ignited the Civil War. The move west included the states of Texas, Oregon, Utah, and California. The development was essentially started by the movement and exploration of Mountain men. Texas was the largest destination for early movement before 1840. Between 1829 and 1834 Santa Anna gained power in Mexico and tried to enforce regulations of slavery on Americans in Texas. This sparked the battle at The Alamo. Everyone was killed in the battle for Alamo, but …show more content…
Movement multiplied tremendously around 1845 from 500 residents to around 5000 (Schultz,n.d.). The movement into Oregon took longer because of the British fur trade and the Native American population that was present in the state. Eventually, the opening of the Oregon Trail made it easier and more and more people poured into Oregon, and by 1850 there were more than 12,000 Americans in the state. Texas and Oregon we settled by Americans because of personal and economic reasons by taking advantage of the Market
Many Americans packed few belongings and headed west during the middle to the late nineteenth century. It was during this time period that the idea of manifest destiny became rooted in American customs and ideals. Manifest Destiny is the idea that supported and justified expansionist policies, it declared that expansion was both necessary and right. America’s expansionist attitudes were prominent during the debate over the territorial rights of the Oregon territory. America wanted to claim the Oregon territory as its own, but Great Britain would not allow that. Eventually the two nations came to an agreement and a compromise was reached, as seen in document B. The first major party of settlers that traveled to the west settled in Oregon.
...ver had the resources nor Polk's true imperialist nature. Polk's idea of "Manifest Destiny" was simply a way to rationalize the United States practice of imperialism in North America. Little of the land gained in the 19th century was given to the U.S.; most of it was taken using force and often violence. Financial compensation for the land was irrelevant considering the wars that took place to complete acquisition of the southwest. The motives of the United States government and President Polk were not only that of expansion. They had also wanted to gain new natural resources, land for agriculture, and the power that would be attained by the country's increased size. The country's belief in Polk's imperialistic form of expansion was the key to attaining a western seashore. The power gained by this expansion helped make America into a world powerhouse it is today.
During the early to mid eighteen hundreds, there was great unrest across the country over territorial expansion. Half of the nation believed that it would be beneficial to the country if we expanded, while the other half were firmly opposed to expansion. Within the century, the United States managed to claim Texas, California, and the majority of Indian-owned lands. Opinions on this expansion were mixed around the country. Polls taken during the time period show that the majority of the south and west supported expansion, while northerns were opposed to it. (Document B) This was because the northerners had different values and beliefs than the southerners of westerners. Both the opponents and supporters of territorial expansion during the time period between 1800 and 1855, had a tremendous influence on shaping federal government policy. However, it can be argued that the supporters of territorial expansion had the largest impact. They were able to sway the federal government to create policies and new laws that were in favor of supporter’s beliefs.
From the mid 1840s into the 1900s, the Pacific Northwest transformed from small towns to an urban society. In the beginning, settlers traveled by foot, water, and horse to the Pacific Northwest; then later by wagons, stagecoaches, steamboats and sailing ships to passenger trains. The Pacific Northwest experienced a rapid rate of growth from 1880s to 1890s. In between 1859 to 1890, the Pacific Northwest established its statehood between Oregon, Washington and Idaho. The growth in resources of travel and the increase of immigrants, transformed the Pacific Northwest from small towns to an urban Society.
As more Americans moved west and into Texas it became evident. that there was going to be a continued clash between Mexico and the white frontiersmen who quickly flooded. certain areas of the world. The American government wanted to purchase this valuable land but eventually it was taken by Americans. frontiersmen where it was declared its own realm.
The American West was the land of opportunity for many groups of people from 1865 to 1890. For farmers and ranchers, the American west was a land of opportunity due to low cost of land as a result of the Homestead Act and the a chance for Americans, including immigrants and blacks, to achieve the American dream and make a profit by growing crops such as cotton for the thriving textile industry and raising cattle for the upcoming cattle industry. For the miners, the American West was seen as an opportunity to get rich through the gold and silver rush and was even popular in other parts of the world where immigrants responded to the rush as well; although most were not successful. The America West offered opportunities for Americans, both rich and poor, to establish a new life and achieve economic independence.
First, the Manifest Destiny included extremely inexpensive land for sale in the west. In some cases it was free since it was government land, and they passed things like the Homestead Act to encourage westward settlements. With so many people taking part in horizontal mobility by moving west, it gave the economy a chance to expand commerce. We would do this by building ports and increasing trade with countries in the Pacific. The economy also got a kick when there were gold or silver rushes in the west.
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.
Following the exploration of the Spanish and French, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Oregon was mapped by the Lewis and Clark expedition in their search for the Nortwest Passage. Starting in the 1830s, manygroups of pioneers travelled in their search to the state on the famous Oregon Trail, and the United States began joint settlement of the area with the United Kingdom. In 1846, the border between the United States and British territory that was formally established at the forty-ninth parallel-the part ofthe territory that was given to Britain would ultimately become part of Canada. Oregon was officially admitted to the Union as a state on February 14,1859.
In the 1860s Americans began to inhabit the land west of the Mississippi river on the promise of free land and the hope to improve their economic situations. Large investments began to pour into the west based on the economic prospects one of these investments includes the large projects by railway companies. Many settlers who went west did encounter economic success, which painted a portrait of the west inductive to believe that the successes were based on individual motivation and grand old American ingenuity. Still any success experienced in the west would not have been possible without the help of Congress and the United States army.
...media as much after the Mexican-American War it still showed that Americans could go anywhere and live there and help the US expand. With manifest destiny telling the population they could help build the west expansionism happened rapidly.
Immigration to America began when Christopher Columbus discovered the new land now called the American continent. Immigration increased in the 17th century when people came from Europe, Africa, and Asia to the new land. There were many colonies, such as the British and Dutch. When people came they go to their people and find jobs as farmers. The first immigrants were in the east coast around 1607 to 1775 after the number of immigrants increased. In 1790 - 1850 there were few immigrants who came to America, but in 1850 to 1930 the number of immigrations increased (Dolan 4).
As population continually increases in the Southern states, the NHL is moving teams into large Southern cities. In an effort to increase profits and popularity, the NHL has increased the number of teams in the league and moved into Southern cities that have never had hockey teams before. The problem is that hockey is not as popular in the South as it is in the North. This expansion in the South has lead to huge monetary losses to Southern teams and very low attendance numbers. The NHL should not have expanded the league into Southern cities and should keep NHL teams farther North.
Indians had been moved around much earlier than the nineteenth century, but The Indian Removal Act of 1830 was the first legal account. After this act many of the Indians that were east of the Mississippi river were repositioned to the west of the river. Tribes that refused to relocate ended up losing much of their land to European peoples (Sandefur, p.37). Before the Civil War in the U.S. many farmers and their families stayed away from the west due to a lack of rainfall (Nash et al., 2010). Propaganda in newspapers lured Americans and many other immigrants to the west to farm. The abundance of natural grasses in the west drew cattlemen and their families as well.
The federal government created Oregon Territory on August 14, 1848. The area of the new jurisdiction included what we know as Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and western Montana today. Finding gold in California in 1848 started a large migration westward of people, and the settlement of Oregon Territory was promoted by the passage of the Donation Land Claims Act of 1850, which gave 160 acres to any U.S. citizen who agreed to stay on his or her land for five years.