Americans Expansion 1800

Are y’all quoting anything in your essays? like the book?

direct quotes would really help said the TA. ← brownie points, i’m sure.

intro

As the war of 1812 drew to a close, peace with Great Britain allowed Americans to focus their attention towards the vast, lush lands existent within North America. America, a now flourishing nation rising in population with immigrants from throughout the world developed a need for more land. With various intrinsic economic and spiritual, ideological factors in mind including the pursuit of fertile land suitable for agriculture, commercial opportunities, as well the thought of providing the nation with a steady supply of exploitable natural resources, Americans and most importantly the nations lawmakers expanded the nation’s territory in an unwavering manner via “diplomacy, military action, force and even fraud.” (American Stories: Brands) The nation fueled by the fervor that they were preordained for ‘manifest destiny’ felt it was their duty to God to save the souls of the barbaric Native American heathens. Also this divine movement of ‘Manifest Destiny’ gave Americans the belief that God himself was setting the course for the nation’s westward expansion. Furthermore, expansion formed a crucial facet of the American identity, as Americans felt the acquisition of property was their natural right and that owning property went together with independence.

Manifest destiny was a movement an ideology

why

For Americans expansion not only allowed for settlement towards new territory but it also allowed many the opportunity of a new start, a new beginning. Settlers had a vested interest in western expansion to overwhelming economic factors. During the 1800’s jobs were becoming scarce and the acquisition of a job proved to be overly competitive due to a rise in population as a result of growing immigration. Furthermore, the advent of the Panic of 1837 caused a recession that crippled the nation with an unemployment rate as high as 25%. To promote westward expansion, the Homestead Act of 1862 was passed which promised 160 acres of land to anyone who settled Western land for five years. This lure with the added prospect of being able to farm fertile land set forth the foundation for why Americans realized the potential for western land to become the settlers’ primary source of income. One such example is found in Willa Cather’s My Antonia which is credited for bring Western expansion to life. The book reveals the experience of a Bohemian family who settled in the Great Plains. For Jim Burden, the expanse of his newly settled farm was tremendous, “The new country lay open before me: there were no fences in those days, and I could choose my own way over the grass uplands (My Antonia, Willa Cather). Expanding westward also had an added benefit in the discovery of natural resources, some of which would prove to be quite exploitable namely, Gold. As gold was discovered on 1848 in Sutter’s Hill, the California Gold Rush ushered in an era of mining as hundreds of thousands flocked westward in the hopes of a quick fortune. Named the ‘49’ers’, these gold miners were able successfully mine gold worth upwards of tens of billions of dollars. Furthermore, commercial opportunities such as the fur trade caused ‘mountain men’ to search for expensive beaver pelts to support the fashion demand of the elite. This very trade formed the basis of the fortune of John Jacob Astor, one of the wealthiest men of his era.

Western expansion was deeply rooted with a spiritual and ideological driving force, as Americans felt an innate responsibility for growth. Manifest Destiny: John Sullivan

When Lewis and Clark completed their expedition, they brought back reports of rivers and streams in the northern Rockies teeming with beaver and otter. Fur traders and trappers quickly followed in their footsteps. The life of the mountain men was difficult, dangerous, and violent

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For the United States, it could provide needed natural resources, living room for an expanding population, a barrier against foreign aggression, opportunities for profitable commerce, and the space for the resettlement of eastern Indians.

History Essay Exam 2

Prompt: Why and how did American territory expand so dramatically in the 18th and 19th centuries?

natural law also included right of property

American identity

John locke

God, who hath given the world to men in common, hath also given them reason to make use of it to the best advantage of life, and convenience. Enlightenment Second Treatise of Civil Government John Locke (1690) CHAPIV Property, Sec. 25 Natural law of property –Amrc. Identity. "The true foundation of republican government is the equal right of every citizen in his person and property and in their management." --Thomas Jefferson to Samuel Kercheval, 1816.”empire for liberty” The expansive future is our arena, and for our history. We are entering on its untrodden space, with the truths of God in our minds, beneficent objects in our hearts, and with a clear conscience unsullied by the past.John L. O'Sullivan 1839 "The Great Nation of Futurity," US Democratic Review. –Religious fervor spawned by 2nd Gr8 Awakng. brands states natives didn’t use land efficiently bc pagans

To Jefferson, westward expansion was the key to the nation’s health: He believed that a republic depended on an independent, virtuous citizenry for its survival, and that independence and virtue went hand in hand with land ownership, especially the ownership of small farms. (“Those who labor in the earth,” he wrote, “are the chosen people of God.”) In order to provide enough land to sustain this ideal population of virtuous yeomen, the United States would have to continue to expand.

Virginian lawyer

Even before holding national office, Jefferson tried on several occasions to organize expeditions to the west. While president, Jefferson successfully acquired the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803 and sent the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1803–1806) on a mapping and scientific exploration up the Missouri River to the Pacific. He also sent other expeditions to find the headwaters of the Red, Arkansas, and Mississippi rivers and to gather scientific data and information on Native Americans.

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