Westward Expansion 1800 To 1875 Dbq Analysis

During the 1840s and later through the Civil War Reconstruction Era, western expansion faced a wave of American interest. Many people thought the west was overflowing with wealth and opportunities. The land was advertised and sold by the government in an attempt to increase the nation’s farming productivity and territorial expansion. Land legislation promised to reward young farmers and families for their successful Midwest homesteads. This legislation included the Homestead Act of 1862 and the Timber Culture Act of 1873.

The expansion of America is had its basis with westward expansion. During this time a change occurred to the landscape, in that settlers have modified the landscape in order to better suit them. In today’s day and age, this does still happen, however not as frequently, nor as dramatically. Robert Adams is a photographer who specializes in photographing the West’s landscapes. The photography of Robert Adams puts in to perspective humanity's impact on the American west's last expanses of wilderness.

The railroad system was a huge factor in in developing the west. It took away the need of steamboats and was much cheaper and safer than traveling on water. The railroad changed the way of transportation, products and animals were shipped from the west to the east coast, and it allowed the United States to expand the west at a much faster rate. In the years between 1855 and 1871 the Federal government operated a land grant system that gave companies millions of acres of land in the uninhabited west.

Exploration is the act of searching for the purpose of discovery of information or resources. Exploring was exactly what drove the thrill in Lewis and Clark’s life. Having been given a chance by Thomas Jefferson, the current president at the time, they both joined together and brought each of their skills to help accomplish the journey they 've been requested to take. Having each of their strengths combined they needed a crew to make the trek successful. Lewis wondered through the deep thicket of the uncharted land when Clark fixed his eyes across the rivers and rich earth untouched lands mapping every thing he could imagine.

The development of the Western Frontier was extremely beneficial to the citizens of the United States. Railroad developments, western settlements, and irrigated land helped to create a strengthened idea of progress in the minds of Americans. Railroads were immensely valuable to the American society of this time. The railroad was the only way to transport goods to the far west. It facilitated the quick transportation of raw materials as well as finished goods from coast to coast.

New people. New land. The free land was free for Everyone to take. People love free things so why judge Farmers and Slaves when they wanted to start a new beginning. Farmers and Freemen were among the groups of individuals that saw in the Homestead Act the kind of opportunity that led them to the West.

Westward Expansion rundown: The narrative of the United States has dependably been one of westward extension, starting along the East Coast and proceeding with, frequently rapidly, until it came to the Pacific—what Theodore Roosevelt portrayed as "The Colossal Jump Westward. " The securing of Hawaii and Alaska, however not typically incorporated into exchanges of Americans growing their country westward, proceeded with the practices set up under the rule of Manifest Destiny. A trip to the west for an average American would cost them about one thousand dollars per family.

Technology may not seem like it made a huge impact on Western Expansion, but it in fact did. Without the creation and development of railroads, canals and bridges, expansion would have progressed a lot slower and not nearly as efficiently. Railroads allowed farmers to trade crops into the valley and passed the Appalachian’s which were previously off limits due to distance and terrain. Canals are water pathways connecting two bodies of water through a large piece of land. They allowed trade ships to have a shortcut for easier travel on trade voyages.

Americans believed that god predestined them to expand from coast to coast in the concept of Manifest Destiny. The increase in mining precious metals, building of a transcontinental railroad, cattle herding, and farming the Great Plains helped the US not only to reach their goals of expanding from sea to shining sea, but it also had the ideals that our Founding Fathers always wanted. America’s Western Expansion started from all the sightings of gold and other precious metals in the west. From the gold rush, people were settling west so that they can strike rich from all the precious metals that was there. Not only that, instead of using animals to travel a long way from their homes, the invention of railroads made travel easier, faster, and

In the early 1800’s the founding fathers and citizens of the early United States decided that the east coast was not enough for them and they wanted more. More land to conquer, more people to come to their country, more respect from other countries, and to get this they were willing to do anything. The United States expanded west in the 1800’s when the territory west of the mississippi was found to be arable and habitable. After gaining the louisiana territory, which was most of the land west of the Mississippi, which made the US over twice as large as it was before. Then the US continued expanding - gaining Florida, Texas and other states that are now in the US.