The United States expanded across North America to the west at a rapid rate most notably in the 1840’s through the 1850s. Many social, econonomic, and political factors lead to the nations growth and acquisition of land. Social interests included families’ desire to seek more land out west along with economic opportunities for interstate commerce and political agendas concerning territorial expansion.
The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 from the French government, by President Thomas Jefferson, cost $15 million, and included territory from Canada to New Orleans, and the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains (Westward Expansion, 2009). The purchase of these territories doubled United States’ size and according to Jefferson it was crucial to the nation’s expansion and health because that the time, owning land, especially farms, was equated to freedom and independence. (Westward Expansion, 2009). The issue of Slavery had continued to be controversial and had an impact on land boundaries, free states and slave states. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 attempted to keep the balance between those states that still maintained slavery and those that didn’t, while there was conflict it did not stop the emigration of settlers to the west (Missouri Compromise, 2009). The “Manifest Destiny, “was a social and political idea that Americans were divinely destined to acquire land all across North America, and build opportunity for regular men, women, and settlers (Manifest Destiny ,n.d). In the 1840s expansion based on Manifest Destiny in the United States became an aggressive ideology that lead heavily into politics an began a quest for more western land that was justified by the idea that it was Anglo-Saxons divine mission and obligation in order to prosper (Manifest Destiny, 2009). The Removal Act of 1830, by The U.S. Government, helped the spread of European Americans to the west while acquiring Indian land by force, meanwhile, Indians were seen as a problem because the were occupying land European American settlers wanted to take over and as a result of fighting and settlers petitioning the government, Alabama and Mississippi were acquired. (MILESTONES: 1830–1860 n.d.) In 1843 , President James Polk realized that American immigration on the Oregon Trail increased, creating an issue, and since Polk was a “Manifest Destiny” supporter he wanted to settle the issue by proposing a settlement for Oregon with Great Britain which lead to arbitration and compromise giving the United states area from Oregon to Canada and …show more content…
The 1846, Oregon Treaty, after the negotiations with Great Britain, Oregon joined the United States of America as a free state (“Manifest …show more content…
On March 1, 1845, Mexico decided to cut diplomatic relations with United States after the Treaty of Annexation, and Texas was admitted into the Unites States on December 29. (MILESTONES, n.d.).The end of the Mexican War with Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, gave the U.S over 1 million square miles of land. (MILESTONES, n.d.) Rapid progression to the went coast increased with the discovery of Gold, creating economic opportunities that led to a population boom in California (The Gold Rush, 2009). When gold was discovered in the Sacramento Valley in early 1848, the gold rush began creating an increase in population that went from 1,000 to 100,000 in a year’s time, also by 1852, $2 billon in gold had been mined (The Gold Rush,
The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 from the French government, by President Thomas Jefferson, cost $15 million, and included territory from Canada to New Orleans, and the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains (Westward Expansion, 2009). The purchase of these territories doubled United States’ size and according to Jefferson it was crucial to the nation’s expansion and health because that the time, owning land, especially farms, was equated to freedom and independence. (Westward Expansion, 2009). The issue of Slavery had continued to be controversial and had an impact on land boundaries, free states and slave states. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 attempted to keep the balance between those states that still maintained slavery and those that didn’t, while there was conflict it did not stop the emigration of settlers to the west (Missouri Compromise, 2009). The “Manifest Destiny, “was a social and political idea that Americans were divinely destined to acquire land all across North America, and build opportunity for regular men, women, and settlers (Manifest Destiny ,n.d). In the 1840s expansion based on Manifest Destiny in the United States became an aggressive ideology that lead heavily into politics an began a quest for more western land that was justified by the idea that it was Anglo-Saxons divine mission and obligation in order to prosper (Manifest Destiny, 2009). The Removal Act of 1830, by The U.S. Government, helped the spread of European Americans to the west while acquiring Indian land by force, meanwhile, Indians were seen as a problem because the were occupying land European American settlers wanted to take over and as a result of fighting and settlers petitioning the government, Alabama and Mississippi were acquired. (MILESTONES: 1830–1860 n.d.) In 1843 , President James Polk realized that American immigration on the Oregon Trail increased, creating an issue, and since Polk was a “Manifest Destiny” supporter he wanted to settle the issue by proposing a settlement for Oregon with Great Britain which lead to arbitration and compromise giving the United states area from Oregon to Canada and …show more content…
The 1846, Oregon Treaty, after the negotiations with Great Britain, Oregon joined the United States of America as a free state (“Manifest …show more content…
On March 1, 1845, Mexico decided to cut diplomatic relations with United States after the Treaty of Annexation, and Texas was admitted into the Unites States on December 29. (MILESTONES, n.d.).The end of the Mexican War with Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, gave the U.S over 1 million square miles of land. (MILESTONES, n.d.) Rapid progression to the went coast increased with the discovery of Gold, creating economic opportunities that led to a population boom in California (The Gold Rush, 2009). When gold was discovered in the Sacramento Valley in early 1848, the gold rush began creating an increase in population that went from 1,000 to 100,000 in a year’s time, also by 1852, $2 billon in gold had been mined (The Gold Rush,