Western Expansion Westward expansion lead to greater opportunities for Americans. Westward expansion was a very big step for America at the time when the country was still developing. Some people think it was the wrong idea to move west, but it benefited our country in many ways. Westward expansion opened up new living places, created new job opportunities, and formed the country almost to how it is today. The Louisiana purchase was a main part of the expansion of the United States. Westward expansion was a key part in the development of America and with all the new land from the expansion many jobs were available, homes were built, and all around was a boost to the economy. You may not have heard of the term “westward expansion” but America …show more content…
At this time in history, Americans needed places to go where they could find new jobs and ways to make money. The west was perfect for new jobs. Since the size of the United states were doubled with the Louisiana purchase, there was a lot of new land that needed stores homes and ways of transportation. So many Americans were able to get jobs like mining, railroad working, and business owners. The people who would build homes at this time also were making money also. It was also a great opportunity for Americans looking to move out to be successful even if they only had a little money. The homestead act was passed which granted free land to any Americans willing to move out and live in the Western United States.”Most of these people had left their homes in the East in search of economic opportunity”9History.com Staff). This was great for people looking to start a new life and be prosperous in the West. Westward expansion also gave people the opportunities to become farmers which benefited the farmers and the consumers of the goods they produce. Also ranching became popular in the west at the time which was another job Americans, moving west to settle, could have. All of these new jobs helped the economy …show more content…
The west was also a lot different from the rest of the United states. “There was little law enforcement and government in the ‘wild west’.It was during this time that many gunslingers made a name for themselves”(Softschools) .This is also why it was nicknamed the “Wild West” at the time. Thomas Jefferson, the president at the time, believed that the nations future depended on settling in the west. This belief was referred to as manifest destiny. The cost of the Louisiana purchase was $15M, giving the US the land west if the Mississippi river. The purchase also put some boundaries into place that still are the same as of today. With all this new land people were able to leave home and become independent which was Jefferson’s goal with the purchase of the new land.The expansion itself was also an essential part to the republican project. “Some of the people trying to stake land claims would sneak ahead and hide until the land rush began. Then they would stake their land. These people were called “sooners’’(Soft School). “The debate over whether the U.S. would continue slavery and expand the area in which it existed or abolish it altogether became increasingly contentious throughout the first half of the 19th century”(Huntington). Because of all the different jobs and the climate in the west, a whole different culture was developed focused more on farming and ranching, rather than working in the factories
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.
The Louisiana Purchase was the most influential and important land purchases in American history. The acquired land in this historical purchase proved to far outweigh what most Americans at the time could imagine. The Louisiana Purchase more than doubled the size of the United States, and lead to many great discoveries and societal benefits. Some of the major and most prominent ways that the Louisiana Purchase influenced the evolution of American were the expeditions of Louis and Clark on the newly acquired westward territory, increase in the countries resources, which in turn increased in trade and resulted in a richer, more economically stable country, and it also played a very pivotal role in the relationship with African Americans, which still is remembered and prevalent in today's society.
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.
The Louisiana Purchase helped the economy by reopening the ports. By opening up the ports the Western farmers could get their products to the market while Eastern merchants prospered from trade (American Passages). When the United States started expanding westward hundreds of acres would guarantee that the economy would remain the primarily agricultural for decades. (Louisiana Purchase. Dictionary of American History) By buying Louisiana the United States gained greater security for the border. Also we gained a better power and self-
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.
The exploration of the West could have had the greatest economic impact on the United States ever. After the west had now been explored, they realized they had a great deal of land that now had to be settled. The land was so vast and so cheap that it was sold for very low prices and sometimes just given away. This caused a huge surge of people to begin flowing west and sparked westward expansion. People began setting up farms and more and more people had opportunities to make a good living.
White settlers started moving westward to settle the land gained by the victory over the Native Americans. A major factor that caused this major movement, other than by the victory of the war, was the homestead act. This act provided and granted 160 acres of free land to any citizen who was the head of a house or family. While moving, the settlers were challanged by the new enviornment of the plains and they had to start adapting to the new enviornment. While moving west, all farmers were supported by the government on technical aspects and on agricultural education.
Post Civil War, America was looking for new opportunities to become a stronger and more efficient nation. Though reconstruction collapsed, they took the opportunity of the Manifest Destiny to gain the territories of the Louisiana Purchase and the Mexican-American War and settle the west. With this expansion, it provided numerous opportunities for the people to gain success alongside the nation. The gold rush caused an increase in immigration that brought more people to the newly flourishing nation, and allowed the west coast to become settled as well as help the economy from the new wealth. The land that was gained in the Louisiana Purchase provided the Great Plains, where pioneers settled and ranching operations were run. Though it sadly pushed away the native tribes who originally lived there, throughout the gilded age the government has tried to return to them their land and rights – and gives them reparations today. All of which provided a basis to the American dream that gave the opportunity for a better life to many people. Towns and economy was...
Although the Louisiana Purchase did cause negative results, the purchase seemingly brought more positive results to the people of the United States. First off, the Louisiana Purchase doubled the territory of the United States. Subsequently, the United States experienced a new sense of national pride (rise in nationalism). In addition, without the Louisiana Purchase, the United States would have never experienced westward expansion or manifest destiny. The purchase added more farmland to the United States, which allowed many people to follow their dreams about leaving the city to live off the land.
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 United States, as a young nation, had the desire to expand westward and become a true continental United States that stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Various factors, strategic and economic, contributed to the desire to expand westward. According to John O’Sullivan, as cited by Hestedt in Manifest Destiny 2004; "the U.S. had manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence to the free development of our yearly multiplying millions" (¶2). As Americans ventured westward to settle the frontier, their inherent superior beliefs, culture and the principles of democracy accompanied them. America’s ruthless ambition to fulfill its manifest destiny had a profound impact on the nation’s economy, social systems and foreign and domestic policies; westward expansion was a tumultuous period in American History that included periods of conflict with the Native Americans and Hispanics and increased in sectionalism that created the backdrop for the Civil War.
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
This also attracted immigrants to move westward, the railroad owners sold off excess land to them for inflated prices. The new railroads also provided access to goods for their farm and/or house from other cities. The railroads provided great help to the homestead, they even delivered houses by the rails. There was great expansion with the mixture of the Homestead Act and the railroad, “over 1.6 million homestead applications were processed and more than 270 million acres—10 percent of all U.S. lands—passed into the hands of individuals” (National
At the time Andrew Jackson was president, there was a fast growing population and a desire for more land. Because of this, expansion was inevitable. To the west, many native Indian tribes were settled. Andrew Jackson spent a good deal of his presidency dealing with the removal of the Indians in western land. Throughout the 1800’s, westward expansion harmed the natives, was an invasion of their land, which led to war and tension between the natives and America, specifically the Cherokee Nation.
It was not very easy for the United States to expand like they had in mind. The division of land had been a rising problem since the Revolutionary war. Two of the main issues during the time of the Articles of Confederation were the pricing and land measurement (Potter and Schamel 1). Throughout the course of over fifty years, the government had tried many different attempts to get people to want to expand to the west. They just didn’t really know the right way of how to go about it. Trying to sell the acres did not go over well, considering the price seemed outrageous for what they were getting. Untouched soil was very hard to start on and be successful from the beginning, which caused some problems with people not wanting to buy the land (Weiser 1). So again, a different political group tried a different approach.