Westward Expansion

Johanna Mendoza

When did the westward expansion begin?

What started it?
The westward expansion began in 1803

In 1803, president thomas jefferson purchased the territory of louisiana from the
french government for $15 million. The louisiana purchase stretched from the
mississippi river to the rocky mountains and from canada to new orleans, and it
doubled the size of the united states.

Westward Expansion timeline

1803: louisiana purchase- president thomas jefferson buys the louisiana territory from france for $15 million.
1805: lewis and clark reach the pacific ocean explorers lewis and clark map out the areas of the louisiana purchase and
eventually reach the pacific ocean.
1830: indian removal act- congress passes a law to move native americans from the southeast to the west of the mississippi
river.
1836: battle of the alamo mexican troops attacked the alamo mission killing all but two texans.
1838:trail of tears- the cherokee nation is forced to march from the east coast to oklahoma.
1841: oregon trail- people begin to travel west in wagon trains on the oregon trail.
1845: texas becomes the us state- The united states officially claims texas as a state, eventually leading to the mexican-american
war
1846-1848: the mexican american war- a war fought over the rights to texas. After the war the united states paid mexico $15
million for land that would later become california , texas, arizona, nevada,utah and parts of several states
1846: oregon treaty- england signs the oregon treaty handing over the oregon territory to the united states
1848: gold rush begins- james marshall discovers gold at sutter's mill, soon word is out and people rush to california to strike it
rich
1849: around 90,000forty-niners move to california to find gold
1861: the first transcontinental telegraph line is finished. The pony express shuts down
1862: pacific railroad act- the united states government agrees to help fund a railroad from california to missouri.
1862: homestead act- the us government offers up free land to farmers who agree to live on the land for five years and make
improvements to the land. Many people rush to places like oklahoma to claim their land
1869: the transontinental railroad is completed- the union pacific railroad and the central pacific railroads meet at promontory,
utah and the railroad is completed
1872: yellowstone national park is dedicated as the nations first national park by president ulysses s grand
1874: black hills gold-gold is discovered in the black hills of south dakota
1876:battle of the little bighorn- an american indian army composed of lakota, northern cheyenne,and arapahoe defeat general
custer and the 7th calvary
1890: the us government announces that the western lands have been explored

Important People that helped the westward

expansion and how are they important?
Stephen F Austin- the most successful of all texan empresarios, he became an
influential political leader in texas.
George Armstrong Custer- A civil war hero, was dispatched to the hills of south
dakota in 1874, when gold was discovered in the region, the federal government
announced that custer's forces would hunt down all sioux not in reservations after
january 31, 1876
Robert Fulton- credited with the invention of the first effective steamboat, new york
in 1807. Andrew Jackson- president of the united states from 1829 to 1837, and thus
oversaw much of the expansion, the indian removal act of 1830 ranted jackson the
funding and authority to accomplish this goal, which he pursued determinedly
throughout his presidency

Westward expansion important people

continued
James K Polk- polk was the president of the united states from 1845 to 1849, he
oversaw the annexation of oregon and of texas, and is credited with beginning
the mexican war in earnest
John Tyler- became president of the united states in 1841, when william henry
harrison died after a month of office, but the issue of annexation had risen to the
force of american politics.
Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana- the president of mexico, organized a mass purge of
mexicans liberals from his government in 1834.

Map of the expansion of the united

states

Louisiana Purchase
The louisiana purchase was important because it it gave the U.S control of the
mississippi river and the port city of new orleans, both of which were used by
farmers to ship their crops and get paid.
After it was brought to the french, it doubled the size of the united states. It was
bought for a low price and it allowed the americans to spread out west and
expand the united states. It added to the agricultural power of the united states
as well. The amount of slaves in the states also increased since we had all that
extra land. Also, the more goods sold, the stronger the economy becomes.

Lewis and Clarks Expedition

The lewis and clark expedition, also known as the corps of discovery expedition,
was the first american expedition to cross what is now the western portion of the
united states, departing in may 1804, from near st. louis making their way
westward through the continental divide to the pacific coast. But actually they
weren't the first white men to cross the continent from the atlantic to the pacific
north of mexico, nor did they visit places not ready seen and mapped by
generations of native people.

Lewis and clarks expedition continued

The most important of lewis and clark expedition was that
explorers found the waterway to the pacific ocean. It met the
nez pearce indians and sacagawea. It found and identified
many species of animals and plants. And it discovered the
terrain of the united states out of the west.

How did westward expansion affect native

americans?
When moving west, native americans taught the pioneers basic facts about living
in the wilderness and helped them. soon more pioneers came and took up more
and more of the native americans space. They became very annoyed, but, since
they don't want to cause war, they let the people stay. Andrew jackson signed the
indian removal act which caused all the native americans to die. Many of them
died on the way because of little of food source and all the snow.
So the native americans were literally forced off their land,and also forced to
move to smaller less productive reservations. In my opinon that was a bad thing
to do cause they killed people by taking them their lands and by taking them thir
space they died of the food source ect.

Was Manifest destiny a good idea?

So expanding and taking land is good or bad?
Well in a part its good but just for the people that are taking it because they have
more opportunities to use the land and to progress but at the same time they
were stealing the land from the native american and the other people.
And also i think i was a bad thing to do or a bad idea because they are like
taking their homes and ect, imagine if this have happened to you, now, would you
like other people to take what you have earned working hard or just come and
take it all away from you?

I think it wouldn't be fair to you as well it wasn't fair for the

other people that lived there because they just took what
they had and almost all their families died because they
were on a bad condition as well as the food source and the
hot and cold days or the other bad weather.

How did technology help westward

expansion?
Technology helped westward expansion by giving settlers their edge over the
native americans.
Trains and telegraphed helped westward expansion by the trains transported
people to other places and the telegraph's helped other people by to escape out
their lands when the other people took their lands, homes, and food.
Technology helped westward expansion by taking them where they wanted to go
in less time than before like if they usually take 3 months to get to their place
now the trains took 1 week to get there.

Conclusion
In conclusion, Westward expansion was kind of good for the
us because we all live in the place where it was expanded, i
feel bad for them but it worked on our future that is where
we live and we like this place.
In my opinion it was good for all people that live now
because we like how now it looks and feels to be in this
place

Conclusion continued
I think it was fair for us but not for the indians, in part it was
bad for the indians because they didn't have a place to live
or what to eat and when they had all that they just took them
away from them and they lost families ect, but in fact it was
good for us because we now live in this place