Effects Of Westward Expansion On The United States Of America

From the late 18th early 19th centuries, Westward expansion dominated the United States of America. Westward expansion was the push towards going to the west coast whether it was for new job opportunities, a better home life, or safer living options or pull factors. This changed American ways and views of life as well as altered other cultures' ways of life. Westward expansion and industrialization negatively affected America's political views, social views, cultural views and overall economic development of the United States due to the amounts of discrimination and assimilation that different groups faced, the amounts of capitalism in the work industry, and the idealization and spread of Manifest Destiny.

The first example of how Westward

Manifest Destiny was the cultural belief that America as a whole was destined to move west and expand across America. When talking about the views of manifest destiny, it often takes on two sides of a story. The side that often believed that it was a natural outcome of American economic state,politics, and trends supporting western expansion, or the side that thought it was a clear example of American imperialism driven by land hunger, cultural superiority, and racism. The country at this point in time was described to be “entirely based on the great principle of human equality.” But this was not true. Like mentioned previously, the country was built up and established by wealthy, white powerful men, for these certain types of men. Different races such as African Americans, Native Americans, and Asian backgrounded people did not get treated as equals. Manifest destiny was built primarily on the focus for land hunger. Individuals looking to claim land for one's own benefit did not consider the vast majority of people that they could have been affecting at this point in time. An example of this could have been how the Native Americans were pushed out of their country during the Indian Removal Act of 1830. These individuals were pushed out of the land, and not able to be considered American citizens until about 1924. Even upon entry back into the United States, Native Americans were forcefully assimilated into American society using resources like boarding schools and were blocked from voting until the 1950’s. This shows that even while claiming things like “equality for all”, it was still not