More handpicked essays just for you.
Impact of westward expansion on the natives
Impact of westward expansion on the natives
Impact of westward expansion on the natives
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The development and expansionism of the American West was far more aggressive than that of New England. By the early nineteenth century, countries from all over the world were attempting to claim a stake in the rapidly evolving continent. As is described in Major Problems in Environmental History, “Indian tribes experienced the advent of Spanish and Mexican explorers and missionaries from the south, followed by Russians and Aleuts from the north, New England traders and whalers by sea from the west, and finally Europeans, Americans, Asians, Mexicans, Chileans, and other ethnicities by sailing east and around the world” (Merchant, 251). Essentially, the West was a stomping ground for a variety of cultures throughout the world as they attempted
From the years 1800-1850 the nation was full of battles and prosperity. Territorial expansion was a cause in most of the battles, but also gained prosperity for the nation. There were many impacts on national unity between those time periods, but the main impact was territorial expansion. This is true because of the Louisiana Purchase, the purchase of Oregon territory, and the Mexican War.
Westward movement is the populating of lands, by the Europeans, in what is now known as the United States. The chief resolution of the westward expansion is economic betterment. The United States story begins with westward expansion and even before the Revolutionary war, early settlers were migrating westward into what is now known as the states of Kentucky,Tennessee, parts of the Ohio Valley and the South. Westward Expansion was slowed down by the French and the Native Americans, however the Louisiana Purchase significantly improved the expansion efforts. Westward expansion was enabled because of wars, the displacement of Native American Indians, buying land, and treaties. This paper will discuss the effects of westward expansion on domestic politics and on American relations with other nations.
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!
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.
In the late nineteenth century the expansion to the west increased the American culture. Since population was growing they needed to satisfy demands equally for every person. The idea of Manifest Destiny was used as a justification for the expansion and westward movement. Natives Americans were against the thought Americans had about the West. As a result Americans put a number of policies that helped remove the Natives Americans of the West. Americans were trying to destroy the culture Natives had.
Following the events of the American Civil War the United States resumed its expansion across the the western part of the continent. Having Claimed uncivilized land as according to America, not yet colonized. Although this would not be met with a peaceful protest of the Native American’s who had previously laid claim to this land.
It is possible to argue that the 1840s represented a quite challenging period of America’s political and socio-economic development. With James K. Polk’s political progress in terms of the Democratic Party, Manifest Destiny was proclaimed to officially set America’s deep expansion to the West. However, this expansion was a quite radical and categorical political decision; which is why the opposition of the Whig party was arranged, bringing an ideological and political split within the rows of Democrats. Indeed, expansion was the main political controversy within the United States’ political system: on the one hand, Democrats sought mainly positive aspects from expanding country’s borders; on the other hand, Whigs and other oppositionists of
During late seventeen hundreds and the early eighteen hundreds America focused on growth and development. In 1803, America bought from France 828,000 square miles of land that ranged from the Mississippi to the Rockies for the bargain price of $15,000,000. This pristine land had not yet been ravaged by the rigorous process of growing cotton, so Southern farmers were excited about the prospect. However, most farmers were also afraid of what lay in the West, be it “savages,” dangerous wildlife or inhospitable terrain. The government believed that American citizens needed convincing that travelling west, settling and stabilizing this new land was a smart thing to do. To help convince the populace, the government turned to a new media, photography. The product of this invention astounded and perplexed many viewers who believed that the photos they saw depicted the absolute truth. Their ignorance of the selective bias of photographers paved the way for rumors and myths that influenced many to venture into dangerous areas, having little idea what really lay ahead. Photography in the early American West was a manipulative tool of the government’s interest by portraying the West as a safe land filled with opportunity.
During the late 1800s and 1900s in various societies, imperialism played a major role. Imperialism consists of a country's domination of an economic and cultural life in another country. Within the 1800s and 1900s, Europe became a large-scale global leader. Europeans set up colonies all over the world, specifically Africa, India, China, and Japan. Imperialism is viewed through two different major points such as the imperialist and colonialist.
Like previous American expansion, American imperialism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was motivated by desire for new economic gains and improvements. However, the social justification, diplomatic and military approach and geographical aspect of imperialist expansionism varied greatly from previous American growth. Therefore, American expansionism underwent more change in this period than continuity. For many years, the American boundaries expanded as people moved, at the governments urging, westward for new economic opportunities and later imperialist expansion was no different. While many factors contributed, economic possibility was a driving factor in the expansionist aspirations.
Manifest Destiny! This simple phrase enraptured the United States during the late 1800’s, and came to symbolize an era of westward expansion through numerous powerful entities. The expansion can be inspected though many different contextual lenses, but if examined among the larger histories of the United States, this movement can be classified as one of the most influential developments of the post-Civil War period. While very influential to the larger part of American history, the seemingly barbaric methods that were used conquer the western lands and their peoples took physical and economical forms that proved to be a plague upon the West.
Imperialism in America At the turn of the century, America and the views of its people changed. Many different ideas were surfacing about issues that affected the country as a whole. The Republican Party, led by William McKinley, was concentrating on the expansion of the United States and looking to excel in power and commerce. The Democratic Party at this time was led by William Jennings Bryan, who was absorbed in a sponge of morality and was concerned with the rights of man.
In 1589, a Jesuit priest by the name of Joseph de Acosta jumped ahead of his contemporaries in explaining the arrival of the Indians into the New World. While he remained within the doctrines of the church, de Acosta put forth the theory that the Indians could have arrived to the Americas via three means: an organized and prepared transoceanic voyage, an accidental landing, or a migration over land. He worked under the assumption that man hailed from the Old World, as all humanity was descended from Adam, and that the Ind...
It is believe that some early colonizer of the Americas may also have come by boat along the Pacific coast. Some of these early colonizers of the Americas have migrated southwa...
Introduction The concept of aggressive expansion sometimes also, somewhat ironically, called American Imperialism is being recognized as a phenomena of the 19th century by most historians. However, some credit its start with the first colonization of the Northern American continent. For example the historian Paul Kennedy wrote; "From the time the first settlers arrived in Virginia from England and started moving westward, this was an imperial nation, a conquering nation." (P. Kennedy, 2002) Meaning that even the Western expansion should be considered an act of aggressive expansion which makes sense considering the land was already inhabited by Native Americans.