Westward Expansion
In what ways can progress & growth be positive or negative?
Territorial Expansion
When Thomas Jefferson became President, the French claimed a large part of land west of the Mississippi River. They called this land Louisiana. The French also controlled the port of New Orleans. President Jackson asked the French if he could use the port at New Orleans and to his surprise, the French offered to sell all of Louisiana to the United States. The President accepted the offer and this became known as the Louisiana Purchase, more than doubling the size of the country.
President Jackson sent a group of soldiers with Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore the land (also called the Expedition of Lewis and Clark). The President wanted them to look for a water route to the Pacific Ocean. He wanted information about the geography, animals, plants, climate, and people of the West. They started their journey in May of 1804 and were called the Corp of Discovery. A Shoshone woman named Sacagawea joined them as an interpreter. The group traveled up the Missouri River, over the Rocky Mountains, and down the Columbia to the Pacific Ocean.
In the 1820s, settlers from the United States started moving to Texas, which was part of Mexico. In 1836, Texas declared their independence from Mexico and attempted to form a new government. Mexico sent soldiers to stop them and war broke out between Mexico and the United States. The fighting lasted about fifteen months. One of the battles took place at the Alamo in San Antonio. The Texans lost the battle, but their courage inspired the battle cry, “Remember the Alamo.” In 1848, the two nations signed a peace treaty and Mexico agreed to make the Rio Grande the border between Mexico and Texas.
Westward expansion continued into Oregon and California. Pioneers followed trails that led to the Oregon Territory. John Fremont explored a route to Oregon in 1842 and his reports created interest in the area. In 1843, the first large group of 1,000 settlers headed west along the Oregon Trail. Most settlers were families who were looking for good, inexpensive farmland. They faced injuries, diseases, bad weather, and lack of food and water. River crossings could be dangerous for the wagons in which they rode. As the pioneers continued to move west, gold was discovered in California. The news spread quickly and soon thousands were headed to California to find gold. 29,000 people flocked to California to make their fortune. The miners were called forty-niners since the year was 1849. Miners set up boomtowns (towns that grew very quickly) near the mines. People who wanted to sell their goods and services to the miners went to the boomtowns.
The War of 1812
As the United States continued to grow, so did the conflicts with Britain and with American Indians. People continued to move west and fighting increased between the settlers and American Indians trying to protect their lands. Some thought that Britain colonists in Canada were supplying weapons to the American Indians. As this continued, France and Britain were engaged in a war. America remained neutral, but the British were capturing American ships to stop trade with France. The British would capture American sailors and make them join the British navy. This caused America to declare war on Britain in 1812. They fought along the Canadian border and the cities on the east coast. Later in the war, British soldiers attacked Washington D.C. Late in the war, in 1814, Francis Scott Key was at the battle at Fort McHenry. After the bombardment ceased through the smoke of the guns, he saw the American flag still flying. He was so moved by the sight that he wrote “The Star Spangled Banner.” This poem was set to music, and became the National Anthem of the United States. The war had been going on for two years and neither country was winning, so both sides agreed to end the war.
Impact of Westward Expansion on American Indians
Newly elected President Andrew Jackson wanted more settlers to own frontier land. In order to get the land he signed the Indian Removal Act in 1830. This law ordered people of Indian nations east of the Mississippi River to move to Oklahoma. The U.S. Army forced thousands of American Indians to leave their homes. Chief John Ross argued that this was illegal and took it all the way to the Supreme Court, who agreed with him that it was indeed illegal. President Jackson ignored this finding and continued to force the American Indians from their land. In 1838, the army forced the Cherokee to make the 1,000 mile journey trip to the west. Thousands of Cherokee became sick and died from the terrible conditions along the way. This heartbreaking journey became known as the Trail of Tears.
Conflicts on the plains continued to grow as the government forced growing numbers of American Indians to move to reservations. The government wanted them to become farmers, but the Lakota and Arapaho were nomads and they moved from place to place hunting food. In June of 1876, Custer and his men tried to force the Lakota and Cheyenne onto a reservation. The soldiers attacked them in their village on the Little Bighorn River in Montana. Led by Crazy Horse, Gall, and Sitting Bull, the Lakota and Cheyenne won what became known as the Battle of Little Bighorn. Many U.S. soldiers were killed.