Geography is a term used to describe the land, the resources and how it affects the

people. It is the main ingredient in determining the likelihood of success of the people in the
region. Similarly, geography was integral in the European colonization of the Americas and the
events that took place in the United States of America. From the moment that Europeans set foot
in the Americas, they desired land. Native Americans felt as though it was their land because
they were already living in the Americas. This created a conflict of interest between the colonists
and the Native Americans for many years to come. The conflict escalated after the colonies
became the United States of America. Due to the Louisiana Purchase, War of 1812 and the
Manifest Destiny, Americans went into Indian Territory in record numbers and made the
indigenous people move westward. Even the Native American centers like Glaize couldnt stop
the westward movement. The colonists also had a problem over land with the other European
powers. All the European powers wanted more land in order to expand their colonies. Moreover,
the United States of America was also engulfed in this problem. It was divided in two, the North
and the South, on slavery. Due to different geography in the North and the South, they had
different ideologies. Thus, they had different views on the expansion of slavery in the western
territories. Their opposing views on slavery would also eventually lead them to the Civil War and
the Reconstruction era afterwards. Therefore, geography was very important in the history of the
European colonization in the Americas, the expansion of the United States as an Empire of
Liberty, and the sectional conflict that characterized the Civil War and the Reconstruction era.
Native Americans did not appreciate the European arrival and encroachment of the
Americas in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. At first, the Native Americans were very
curious when the Europeans arrived. They lived side by side with the Europeans but that soon
changed. In a primary source document from 1610, reverend John Heckewelder recorded a
Native American oral tradition about the time when Europeans came to the Americas. He
translates, The white and red man lived contentedly together for a long time, though the former
from time to time asked for more land, which was readily obtained until the Indians began to
believe that they would soon want all their country (Heckewelder 13). Native Americans and
Europeans lived harmoniously but the European settlers kept asking for more land. Native
Americans had the birth right of their lands. They felt threatened by the Europeans for their land.
They knew that the Europeans were going to try to get more land in the near future. For
European colonization to occur, Europeans needed more land. Land was very important to
convince people to settle in the Americas. Thus, the importance of land was crucial to the
European colonization in the Americas but that is also what started the conflict with the Native
Americans.
Colonial conflicts between the British, Spanish, French, Dutch, and other European
powers were about trying to get more power in the Americas. They all had colonies spread
throughout the Americas. However, they wanted more influence in the Americas and competed
against each other regularly to get it. For instance, in Furs, Rivers, and Black Robes, Jill
Lepore writes about Franois-Joseph Bressani, who comes to the New France in 1642. Franois-

Joseph Bressani went empty handed to meet Iroquois, a Native American tribe. He described his
encounter with one of the counselors, he said that we were worth nothing because we brought
him no gifts. Then he told how the French had traded with them here with six men and had given
them good gifts (Lepore 103). In this case, the French were trying to get on the Native
Americans good side. The European powers would compete with each other for resources and
alliances with the Native Americans. On the other hand, some of the Native American tribes
would take advantage of the conflicts and use them for their interests. The geography of the
Americas also made fur trading very profitable in the Americas. Hence, many Europeans powers
would try to befriend the Native Americans in order to gain economically by trading fur with
them. Moreover, the conflicts were also very violent. They would go to war with each other in
order to determine who gets the land. In the end, the European powers sought more power to get
more land in order to increase their colonies. Therefore, the colonial conflicts between the
European powers were due to them trying to expand their horizon.
The colonists and Native Americans were always in a battle on the frontier from the
colonial era to the earliest years of the United States. Some of the Native American tribes had
already withdrawn from their land and wished to go no further. However, the colonists still
desired more lands. Thus, it had become a stalemate to some extent. In The Glaize in 1792: A
Composite Indian Community, Helen Hornbeck Tanner talks about the feelings colonists and
Native Americans had towards each other. She states, Frontier folk, reported one federal
official, consider the murdering of the Indians in the highest degree meritorious (Tanner 404).
The colonists living on the edge of the United States of America hated the Native Americans.
They were their enemies. Similarly, Native American communities on the Frontier, such as the
Glaize, hated the colonists. They resisted westward movement and defended the lands with their
lives. However, the colonists didnt give up and kept their pursuit of more land. This was
important because getting more land was crucial for the development of the United States of
America. Hence, the contradictory purposes, of one trying to achieve more land and the other
trying to defend it, led to bloodshed on the frontier.
The United States of America tried to expand westward after the Louisiana Purchase and
the War of 1812. Many Native Americans had continued fighting the Americans in order to stop
the westward expansion. They even joined the War of 1812 against the United States of America.
In Indian Utilizing a Strategy of Armed Resistance, Gregory Evans Dowd analyzes the Native
Americans use of violence against the Americans to stop the expansion. He particularly talks
about the War of 1812 and its aftermath. He states, By 1812 American citizens outnumbered
Indians in the region applied additional pressure from the west, disrupting Indian travel
(Dowd 220). United States won the War of 1812. They defeated many of the Native American
tribes and their allies. Thus, they had a much bigger force and man power than the Native
Americans. They needed more land for its people and for the country. They also believed
America to be an Empire of Liberty. America would fight for peoples freedom and lead with
example. They thought that in order to do that, they needed the westward territories. They would

need the land and the resources spread throughout the continent. Thus, the United States of
America expands west in order to get more land to grow and prosper.
Manifest Destiny made Americans believe that it was their destiny to expand westward
and make the whole continent America. They believed that it was their duty to reshape the west
in their image. In 1845, John L. OSullivan defines Manifest Destiny in a Democratic
Newspaper. He wrote that it is the fulfilment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent
allotted by Providence for the free development of the yearly multiplying millions (OSullivan
277). Manifest Destiny went along with the idea of America being the Empire of Liberty. They
had to free the whole continent and make it part of America. America needed to become an
empire and to do that, it need more land. Additionally, Manifest Destiny was a ploy by the
Democrats to justify the Mexican-American war. The war was about land, particularly Texas.
America wanted more land and Manifest Destiny let the people believe that it was their right to
take the land. So, the emergence of Manifest Destiny was about land in the end and about
America trying to expand its borders.
The North and South of United States of America had different views on how far slavery
should spread in the new territories. America was constantly acquiring new land from the west.
There were many new states and the question became that if they should be slave states or free
states. Walter Johnson acknowledges this problem in Slaves and the Commerce of the Slave
Trade. He emphasizes, political conflict over slavery was increasingly defined by the question
of how far west it would be allowed to spread (Johnson 373). North was a combination of free
states and viewed slavery as immoral. However, the South relied on slavery and thought of it as
nothing more than an economic transaction. Thus, they had differing views on slavery and how it
should be handled. America had gotten land it wanted but it was crucial to determine how the
new states economy would be, whether it would be run by free workers or slaves. The new
lands resources also helped determine if the state would be a slave state or a free state. The
European immigration also helped the free states because it provided cheap labor. It was an
alternative to the cheap slave labor in the South. The different views in the North and the South
created conflicts over the spread of slavery into the territories in the west.
The sectional conflicts that characterized the Civil War and Reconstruction were because
of the differing mindsets due to the different geography of North and South. The economy of
North and South relied on two completely different things. North was industrialized and had
labor provided by the Americans, the free African Americans and the European immigrants. On
the other hand, the Souths economy was depended on crops. They needed hard labor because of
all the tedious work in the farms. Their source of labor was the free labor provided by the slaves.
In The Economic Divisions That Contributed to Civil War, Bruce Levine discusses the
differences in the economies of the North and the South. He reports, Frederick Douglas, having
reached new England in his flight from slavery in 1838, marveled at the striking and gratifying
contrast he observed between the productive efficiency of the North and that of the South
(Levine 411). North was much more efficient due to having better technology. It had many

factories and was more modern. On the other hand, Souths land was perfect for farming. Thus,
the slaves were necessary in the eyes of the plantation owners. Therefore, the people had
different attitudes on many matters in North and South because of their different lifestyle and
economy due to having a different geography in the North and South. Additionally, the differing
mindsets of the North and South didnt disappear after the Civil War. In the Reconstruction, the
ideology of white supremacy still existed in the South. The different lifestyles due to having
different resources in the North and South had left a lasting impression on both the groups.
Therefore, the different lands and resources of the North and South created the different
ideologies between the people, which characterized the conflicts of the Civil War and the
Reconstruction.
In conclusion, geography was integral in the history of European colonization in the
Americas, the expansion of the United States as an Empire of Liberty, and the sectional
conflict that characterized the Civil War and the Reconstruction because land influenced
everyone in one way or another. Everyone either wished for more land or the land gave them a
lifestyle, which made them think a certain way. It is very important to learn about the beginning
of the history of the United States of America to learn about America and what it has done to get
to where it is today. It started off by taking over the lands of the Native Americans. It is crucial to
ask why many people did not question the westward movement. Many Americans believed in the
Manifest Destiny which said that it was justified to take more of the Native American lands.
Studying that part of history will help us understand if we are blinded to some other belief in
todays culture. Moreover, the greed for land still exists today. Countries compete with each
other to get resources. People and even countries like the United States of America behave
questionably in order to acquire more land and resources. Therefore, geography helped shape up
America and it continues to do so till this day.