During the Western Expansion farmers, as cattle ranchers or cowboys, drove cattle across the plains. Their cattle ranches were founded throughout the Great Plains from Texas to the Prairie regions. Cowboys were not only whites, but blacks and hispanics. They were an important part of expansion because the need for food increased with the railroad industry growing. A prominent cattle rancher during the Western expansion was Joseph McCoy. He eventually created one of the most enterprising cattle ranching businesses in Texas and Kansas. When cattle ranchers petitioned for the creation of a wide trail running through Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas, and Oklahoma, Congress denied the request.
During the period 1860-1890, western expansion negatively impacted the lives of Native Americans, by turning their lives upside-down under the order of the orders of the federal government. I say this because The Americans massacred the friendly Indians, Disrespected the culture and beliefs by slaughtering the buffalo, and Forcing Indians to assimilate to American culture. Native Americans were negatively impacted by Americans because of the western expansion and in doing so it lead to the incorrect assumption which in fact lead to the massacre of friendly Indians. In the morning of November 29th Colonel Chivington allowed a surprise attack on the friendly native americans which lead to the death of mostly women and children. The Native
Many people know Theodore Roosevelt as the 26th president of the United States,but many people don’t know he was also a rancher. He loved to go hunting for Bison in the Badlands. He loved it so much he invested $14,000 in cattle and started a ranch south of neighboring towns of Little Missouri and Medora. Teddy wasn’t the typical cowboy he was 5-foot-8 and 135 pounds, he was anything but robust because of him shaving his beard and brushing his teeth. The other cowboys thought he was to clean and dressed too nice to be a cowboy.
Thomas Jefferson viewed western expansion as an opportunity to open trade with Indians of the west and find a water route to the Pacific ocean. Jefferson was fascinated with the discovery of the west and wanted to map out the new acquired territory before any European nation could claim it as their own. Not only was Jefferson interested in the territory, he wanted to build relations with the Indian tribes of the west and help them develop their agricultural methods and way of life. He sought to expand America to the west as a way to benefit both the Americans and the Native Americans. Jefferson wanted to learn from the Natives of the west, as well as influencing their way of living in efforts to build a working relationship between the
The transformation of the West changed the frontier into a new and growing part of the United States. Over the period of twenty five years the land changed drastically. New technologies were created allowing the expansion of the United States to continue marching forward. The Native Americans were conquered and the railroads brought greater civilizations. The United States had already started creating a path leading into the West by laying down railroad tracks, consequently the Indians fought back in fear of losing their homelands and people.
Tensions were evident between the Northern and Southern regions of the United States due to the westward expansion seen from 1800 to 1850. Many different disagreements arose as a result of this mass of lands in the west, primarily because of conflicting perspectives. The North and South, historically, have had a variety of different viewpoints on many aspects of life and liberty. This caused more tension once ideas such as Manifest Destiny came about, an concept where the need for new lands west was prevalent.
The primary groups that were involved with western expansion, were the Native americans and the white settlers. This also included miners, railroad tycoons, and ranchers. Many major events that occurred with this was the Indian wars, homestead act, movement of natives to reservations,
Was the westward expansion of the United States just an inevitable or unjust and easy to stop? Manifest destiny was not a god given right, it wasn’t helpful to the other countries, we weren’t enlightening anyone. All of that is just a cover of our power hungry government. I am not against the expansion of America, I think it’s great if we buy countries, or they join us.
Between 1800 and 1850, western expansion played a major role in the sectional tensions between the North and South in America. Most of this would stem from whether or not new territory would be free or slave states. Later on, there would be compromises in place to alleviate the tension but disunity between the North and South was very prevalent. In 1803, the Louisiana Purchase from the French got a rise out of the New England Federalist party.
During the pre-civil war time period— also known as the antebellum years— America experienced a widespread transformation for the sake of its economy. With the booming belief of the Manifest Destiny, America’s constant desire for westward expansion caused disputes between the North and the South regarding the establishment of free states and slave states, which led to certain compromises such as the Missouri Compromise. After the Market Revolution, the North and South used its new gained land to create different means of economic gains; the North became industrialized through manufacturing, while the South became an agricultural industry dependent on cotton. However, as America’s boundaries expanded, tensions between the North and South grew, often leading to compromises in bloodshed. The drastic differences between the two groups eventually transformed America into a divided nation of sectionalism economically, politically, and socially.
In conclusion, the westward expansion was one of the most important times in American history but one of the hardest for those who made the journey. The settlers had to go through a lot of hardships to get a new life in the west. The Gold Rush helped bring people to the west and populate California so it became a state. People such as Sacagawea helped Lewis and Clark helped explore the new terrain and make maps so people could live there. Even though the pioneers got diseases, had conflicts with the Native Americans, and had to travel for long periods of time in a ship or covered wagon, they never gave up hope.
The Westward Expansion all started when America made the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. There were many benefits from the purchase for the US that the French didn’t realize before they sold it. The purchase gave the US access to the Mississippi river which allowed for expansion of river trade to the North and South from the center of the US. The port city of New Orleans was bought by the US and its prosperity benefited the US greatly. The US sent Lewis and Clark west to investigate the land they purchased.
For some, it was destiny to move west. Although there were many conflicts and disagreements between ourselves and others, it was destiny to move west because of overpopulation, new inventions of transportation methods, and new opportunities. In the 19th Century, overpopulation was one of the major reasons for Westward Expansion. Immigrants were flooding into America for new opportunities and new ways of life and there was just not enough land to suffice the needs for all of the people. These immigrants were arriving in America in the port cities on the East Coast.
In Robert Morgan’s writing, “Lions of the West,” he tell a good point about the history of westward expansion. Morgan states that everyone notices the famous people that were apart of westward expansion but the people who are not noticed are the most important and that is what Morgan is trying to point out. He gave a great point and gives much evidence to why the natives and people who are not mentioned very often are some of the most important people of westward expansion. Mogan also tells how we only know so much about westward expansion because that is all that they really want to tell us, but really there is so much more.
There were both positive and negative components of westward expansion from 1800 to 1875. By the late of 1800s, the land of the United States was mostly purchased. In seventy five years, the United States continuously expanded westward, which was encouraged by the idea of Manifest Destiny. New land in the United States led to more economic, social, and political opportunities. Gaining more land also led to disputes between the states and wars with other countries.
In between California and the rest of the country were the Great Plains which were not heavily populated so there was no easy way of trade and transportation to the growing western territories. A group of men called the “Big Four” which consisted of Collis Huntington, Leland Stanford, Charles Crocker and Mark Hopkins, decided what the country needed was a transcontinental railroad. Their company, The Central Pacific Railroad company would hire 15,000 Chinese men to work on constructing the railroad due to the fact that they would work for less than the average American. This made transportation cheaper and quicker than ever