Isabelle Lorette
Mr. Colson
US History 1 Honors
24 February 2015
Desire of Expansion from Sea to Shining Sea
In 1783 when the Treaty of Paris was signed to end the Revolutionary War with Britain, America’s land consisted of the thirteen original colonies. These former colonies were located along the eastern coast of North America. Western expansion essentially stopped at the Appalachian Mountains, and it was fairly rare to travel beyond them. During the nineteenth century, America continued to gain independence from Britain and flourish. More land was needed as a result of this. The country started to expand into the western frontier and began adding large portions of land to the country including the Louisiana territory, Oregon territory, …show more content…
The United States believed it had a God-given right to expand its borders due to its intelligence and advancement over other cultures. They also accredited that the United States was intended to eventually be a country stretching from coast to coast, causing them to expand towards the western coast. Benjamin Franklin talked about a destiny for Americans to use new lands to the west as early as 1751. Other early presidents including Jefferson, Monroe, and Adams also all expressed dreams of expanding ("Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion"). Under Presidents Tyler and Polk in the eighteen forties, the territory of the United States augmented by around eight hundred million acres. This enormous amount of land was gained through the annexation of Texas, the addition of half of the Oregon territory, the military gain of California and New Mexico, and the taking over of Native American lands in the Great Lakes region. These tribes were required to resettle in the land known as the Great Plains ("Westward Expansion"). This expansion was colossal in size but also had very nationalistic and aggressive undertones. The spirit of nationalism continued to demand more territory throughout the nineteenth century. Many Americans justified the acquisition of territory with the ideology of Manifest Destiny. A newspaper editor by …show more content…
The creation of easier transportation, railroads, made western expansion more feasible. America’s first steam locomotive was introduced in eighteen thirty. Within twenty years it linked many cities along the east coast. During this same time, settlers were beginning to move westward and a large sum of gold miners began to move across the United States in search for gold. Neither the journey by land or sea was particularly desirable. The land journey is both difficult and risky and travelling by sea is very long. Travelling by sea would take six months to go all the way around South America to avoid likely diseases by crossing the Isthmus of Panama (“Transcontinental Railroad”). A possible solutions was to create a railroad stretching from the east coast to the west coast, a transcontinental railroad. One of the first people to try for the transcontinental railroad was a merchant named Asa Whitney around eighteen thirty. He failed to get congress to pass an act regarding this. In the eighteen sixties, Theodore Judah tried again and found a passage the railroad could be built on. The length in total was one thousand seven hundred and seventy six miles long. A journey that took longer than four months was reduced to the time of about three and a half days, resulting in further westward expansion due to the new technology of railroads and
Mr. Colson
US History 1 Honors
24 February 2015
Desire of Expansion from Sea to Shining Sea
In 1783 when the Treaty of Paris was signed to end the Revolutionary War with Britain, America’s land consisted of the thirteen original colonies. These former colonies were located along the eastern coast of North America. Western expansion essentially stopped at the Appalachian Mountains, and it was fairly rare to travel beyond them. During the nineteenth century, America continued to gain independence from Britain and flourish. More land was needed as a result of this. The country started to expand into the western frontier and began adding large portions of land to the country including the Louisiana territory, Oregon territory, …show more content…
The United States believed it had a God-given right to expand its borders due to its intelligence and advancement over other cultures. They also accredited that the United States was intended to eventually be a country stretching from coast to coast, causing them to expand towards the western coast. Benjamin Franklin talked about a destiny for Americans to use new lands to the west as early as 1751. Other early presidents including Jefferson, Monroe, and Adams also all expressed dreams of expanding ("Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion"). Under Presidents Tyler and Polk in the eighteen forties, the territory of the United States augmented by around eight hundred million acres. This enormous amount of land was gained through the annexation of Texas, the addition of half of the Oregon territory, the military gain of California and New Mexico, and the taking over of Native American lands in the Great Lakes region. These tribes were required to resettle in the land known as the Great Plains ("Westward Expansion"). This expansion was colossal in size but also had very nationalistic and aggressive undertones. The spirit of nationalism continued to demand more territory throughout the nineteenth century. Many Americans justified the acquisition of territory with the ideology of Manifest Destiny. A newspaper editor by …show more content…
The creation of easier transportation, railroads, made western expansion more feasible. America’s first steam locomotive was introduced in eighteen thirty. Within twenty years it linked many cities along the east coast. During this same time, settlers were beginning to move westward and a large sum of gold miners began to move across the United States in search for gold. Neither the journey by land or sea was particularly desirable. The land journey is both difficult and risky and travelling by sea is very long. Travelling by sea would take six months to go all the way around South America to avoid likely diseases by crossing the Isthmus of Panama (“Transcontinental Railroad”). A possible solutions was to create a railroad stretching from the east coast to the west coast, a transcontinental railroad. One of the first people to try for the transcontinental railroad was a merchant named Asa Whitney around eighteen thirty. He failed to get congress to pass an act regarding this. In the eighteen sixties, Theodore Judah tried again and found a passage the railroad could be built on. The length in total was one thousand seven hundred and seventy six miles long. A journey that took longer than four months was reduced to the time of about three and a half days, resulting in further westward expansion due to the new technology of railroads and