Westward Migration Research Paper

There were several kinds of hardships and motivations for moving west in this time. Settlers had a lot to see and find in the westward expansion period including gold and land. They were mostly drawn by those very two aspects. The railroad systems also allowed for people to travel west easier, making for a perfect situation to travel westward. Although the end of the journey was most desirable, the in between presented a lot of hardships.

During the time period of 1750 to 1776, the colonists, to a moderate extent, identified as American. In determining why a vast majority identified as American and why some didn’t, one must look into detail the social, political and economic standpoints that led to such divide. Throughout all 3 points, Thus, the identification of being “American” and its usage depended on the view the person had of Great Britain. In the economic standpoint, due to the “No taxation without representation” slogan being violated by the British, most of the colonists weren’t against the anti-British sentiment boiling up due to the conflict. The ensuing increase in tax acts later led to the practice of tar and feathering tax collectors, and, to a bigger scale, the Boston tea party.

The Promise of America Within the illustration, the poem by Emma Lazarus, and FDR’s speech the promise of America is shown. Each source has their own take on the promise of America brought to immigrants, but they each have one thing in common, the Statue of Liberty. She brings the immigrants hope in the New World. She is a beacon of peace for the rest of the world. She is a symbol of freedom, being an immigrant herself.

“More Than Just A Shine-Ellis Islands In “More Than Just A Shine-Ellis Island,” Mary Gordon describes a visit she made to the Ellis Island, the gateway to America for immigrants throughout the last century. Ellis Island, the place, however, does not interest Gordon as much as the people who passed through it. Gordon imagines their dreams and their hopes as they pursued their destinies in a new and foreign land.

Based on the text by Robert Morgan, I do not agree with Morgan’s central idea. Mogan is telling us westward expansion is a good thing. I do not agree that westward expansion is a good thing. Morgan believes westward expansion was made up by us, the people, and he thinks the government just followed along, but he is nowhere near right. The government brought about the westward expansion and Thomas Jefferson made it happen.

Early European settlers have landed along shore of the east coast. Originally they were sent there to explore the land, however they soon found out how profitable the land was. European settlers began creating stable housing. They had thought they were the first to settle there but, they didn’t realize there were native americans who had already created their homes there.

During the Western Expansion, white settlers moved west for numerous reasons. They were motivated to find new land, Gold, and Stuck upon the belief of Manifest Destiny. This attitude helps fuel western settlement, Native American removal and war with Mexico. In doing so, Native Americans faced harsh conditions and were treated horribly. The Great Plain Indians endured the Wounded Knee massacre of 1890, killing of the Buffalo, and many acts such as the Dawes act and Homestead.

I agree with Morgan’s central ideas that there is no true first hand accounts of true westward expansion. I believe that there are no first hand accounts there is only biographies about the people that played a big role in westward expansion. There are no first hand accounts of the people physically moving from west that i have read or heard about. In “Chief Joseph Speaks Selected Statements and Speeches by the Nez Percé Chief” there are many speeches done by Chief Joseph that are accounts of westward expansion but they are in third person.

The late 19th century was a time of exploration, innovation, and continued westward expansion. The West, however, was not as glorified as people today like to think it was. Westward expansion had many benefits, the main being lots of new land for both the Americans and immigrants, but many ideas of the West have been altered throughout the years. The West was romanticized in many ways, people moved to the West in the pursuit of happiness, but today many hardships of westward expansion have been ignored. Cowboys and homesteads are two major concepts that have been romanticized today about the West.

This statement could define the theme of "Westward Ho!" in the best way. Scene in the painting takes place in the middle of the nineteenth century, in the period of strong expansion of American influence westwards, when ordinary Americans, hoping to gain some economic independence after years of struggling, among them around 90,000 so-called "forty-niners" - 4 De Benneville Randolph Keim was a correpondent of New York Herald during the American Civil War; author of Keim's Capitol Interior and Diagrams: A Complete Guide to All Parts of the Capitol (1874) gold-seekers, hoping to become rich in California, began to settle the territories that had been populated by Indians before. This process of settlement was violent, thousands of native Americans

The early beginnings of the British colonies as the United States of America led to the passing of laws and the development of precedents that have governed the American people to present day. Despite having declared their independence in 1776, the colonies did not truly get to exercise this freedom until General Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown five years later and the British finally recognized their independence as free states. Since the Articles of Confederation and the Continental Congress were deemed ineffective, it was time for a new governing force- starting with the Constitutional Convention. Intellectual powerhouses and future political players such as George Washington, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton met and created the famous document we know today as the United States Constitution, which outlined the fundamental rights all citizens deserved and the basic structure of the government. In the following months, the judicial branch was created, Madison’s Bill of Rights was

By the 1860’s more than half of the American population was located west of the Appalachian Mountains. This area was known as the Far West or as many nineteenth century Americans called it, “The Great West.” This migration of people was caused by the West’s connection to political, transportation, and financial progress. All three of these aspects were extremely important in American migration to the Great West and they helped shape the structure for America as it is today. The Political need for new classes caused by industrialism and abolition of slavery, the opening of jobs and new business involving financial situations and the boost of transportation that would expand almost everything.

During the 1800s, America was a prospering and powerful country so the People felt that it was their Manifest Destiny, or obvious fate, to settle from coast to coast. Therefore, they set out to get all lands in the West, and were determined to do so, no matter how much they had to give up. However, when the Americans started moving westward, they kicked Native Americans out along the way. They had no respect for other people’s ownership of the land and did anything they needed to obtain it. The idea of Manifest Destiny divided the nation in several controversial topics like Indian territories and slavery.