In the article “There Is No History of the Westward Expansion,” the author Robert Morgan makes several claims stating about his feelings and views toward westward expansion. He felt that the expansion westward was one of the best things to happen to the country. I agree with Morgan on his view of the expansion, and what it did for the country. There are several reason as to why I agree with Morgan. The first reason I agree with Morgan comes from “Reporting to the President, September 23- December 31, 1806” by Stephen Ambrose. “In the course of their journey they acquired a knowledge of numerous tribes of Indians hitherto unknown; they informed themselves of the trade which may be carried on with them, the best channels & positions for it, …show more content…
“There were scores of Indian tribes living across Louisiana, but, given their lack of effective political organization, their inability to combine forces into an alliance, their utter dependence on whites for rifles, and the experience of Americans east of the Appalachians in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and in Kentucky and Ohio in the 1790s, it could be taken for granted that the conquest of the Indian tribes would be bloody, costly, time-consuming, but certain.” The Indians’ government was no match for our government. We were and still are so far ahead of them when it came to politics, we needed to keep things in order by our government being in charge. In order for the westward expansion to be effective we needed to be in charge and take control of the land. The third reason I agree with Morgan comes from “Chief Joseph Speaks Selected Statements and Speeches” by the Nez Perce Chief. “There need be no trouble. Treat all men alike. Give them the same laws.” This quotes shows that in order for the Indians and the white men to get along, they would need to be under the same law. The country wouldn't have been able to function with the people going at each other. The Unites States’ government taking control was in the best interest of the
Andrew Jackson did not like that the Indians were still living in the eastern part of the US. He proposed that they all be moved out west past the Mississippi river to improve on the white settlements in the east. When the Indians were moved the settlers would benefit greatly from the selling of the Indians land. The Indians could not do much in that aspect. They could hardly defend themselves. Chief Black Hawk led a group of the sac and hound Indians back in to Illinois yet the militias pushed them back across the
Prompt: Using information you gathered from a variety of texts, write a letter from the chosen group’s point of view, stating their opinion of Westward Expansion by answering the question, “Was Westward Expansion worth it?” Quote evidence from the text to support your claim.
In addition, the Indian Removal Act increases the differences between the Indians and the white settlers. Jackson believes that the removal would benefit the Indians by causing them to “cast off their savage habits and become an interesting, civilized, and Christian community” (“Message to the People”). The contradiction is that Jackson expected the removal to help the Indians become civilized and yet, he sought to separate them from the white settlers. If the Indians were allowed to live with the white settlers, they would have the opportunity to learn many things from their white neighbors. Hence, the isolation of the Indians would only push them further away from civilization.
When Americans expanded their country west, they interfered with many American Indian Tribes. In a letter he wrote to congress, he explained “This emigration should be voluntary… (but) if they remain within the limits of the states they must be subject to their laws” (Andrew Jackson’s Message to Congress December 7, 1829). Andrew Jackson offered to let the American Indians stay if they followed their laws. But in 1831, Jackson forced the Native Americans out of their homelands starting the Indian Removal. According to a reprinted in Niles Weekly Register, the Cherokee’s said “We wish to remain on the land of our fathers. We have a perfect and original right to remain without interruption or molestation”. Jackson lied to the American Indians about allowing them to stay. Jackson did not act democratically because he did not allow the American Indians to stay and forced them to move west. Jackson was fair to his supporters, but not to
What impact did the 1800s American expansion have in our nation's history? Throughout our nation's history, there have been numerous types of expansions, such as the westward expansion that took place in the 1800s. This expansion is most notable since it permitted the growth of our nation's territory. There are both multiple causes of the America expansion of the 1800s and multiple effects of this expansion. Three major causes of expansion in the 1800s include the Louisiana Purchase, Manifest Destiny, and The Alamo; as a result, three major effects emerged, which include expansion, wealth, and land.
Not knowing how to cultivate the land or domesticate animals, the Cherokee at a standstill. The Whites, who knew how to cultivate the land and domesticate animals, would have been able to utilize the land to its fullest potential instead of withering away precious resources. The Whites tried various methods to persuade the Cherokee to part with their land, but they refused and were frequently abused. “… we have come to the conclusion that this nation cannot be reinstated in its present location, and that the question left to us and to every Cherokee, is, whether it is more desirable to remain here, with all the embarrassments with which we must be surrounded, or to seek a country where we may enjoy our own laws, and live under our own vine and fig-tree.” If the Cherokee had agreed to relocate further west, they would not have had to go through adversity. The Whites would have left them alone, free to create their own laws and free to do what they wanted. The Cherokee pushed their source of food westward leaving a shortage of deer and buffalo and they did not have the knowledge or resources to cultivate the land. Due to these facts, they were not self-sufficient and would not have been able to survive using their outdated methods of living. Compared to the Whites, the Cherokee population was miniscule, spread across a vast amount of land. “The
One of the many subjects of critical importance in American history was the relocation of American Indians, known as the Indian Removal. President Andrew Jackson favored the rapid settlement of Western and Southern lands by whites, therefore he wanted to make a drastic change, and he certainly did. In his two terms as president, Jackson worked to implement his vision of a politics of opportunity for all white men (The American Promise, 285). He held the belief that previous efforts to promote the assimilation of Indian peoples had failed. In his 1830 letter to Congress, Jackson announced the benefits resulting from the relocation of the native people, and the “pecuniary advantages” that such movement would bestow on the Anglo American population
As all authors are undeniably guilty of, James Axtell has a bias, and not one shamefully swept underneath the rug. The enlightening article Axtell has published remains not only as informational; it stands convicting in a sense. Unfortunately, the reader may find themselves lumped into the assemblage of Americans that regard the Native Americans as “pathetic footnotes to the main course of American History” (Axtell 981). Establishing his thesis, Axtell offers plentiful examples of how Native Americans contributed to Colonial America,
In his article “Andrew Jackson and His Indian Wars”, the author Robert V. Remini believed that Andrew Jackson’s Removal Policy benefited Native Americans. However, in his article he contradicts himself. While speaking of Andrew Jackson’s inaugural address Robert V. Remini points out “Anyone who
The westward expansion of America involves many events that are important to history as a whole. It took place during the Age of Imperialism which began during the nineteenth and twentieth century. Westward expansion was a major event that took place throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In the early half of the nineteenth century, the westward movement arose numerous issues involving social class, gender roles, and slavery by both political and social means.
Westward expansion was a new thing and time in our country and had many impacts on the American people and ways of life. The government made it available to buy a lot more of land in the West. Our government gave opportunities for people to move west for a better life or more land in the west. The government gave opportunities like the homestead act where the government would give families 160 acres of land if they moved west at the time this deal was going on. This act was signed into law by President Lincoln in 1862. People moved west for any opportunity they could. People moved for a new life, more land, and more opportunities in
I believe the government is primarily responsible for continued westward expansion during the 1800s. Westward expansion or “Manifest Destiny” is the idea of moving west after the Civil War in 1865, Many people felt it was their “God-given right” to do so, also the encouragement of the government. The reasoning behind this is the extended land in the west with the Louisiana Purchase and the law of the Homestead Act which allowed anyone to own land, in which the U.S. government both passed. Also with the U.S. government setting policies with unclear directions about moving westward and the insensitive acts towards the people who were currently living in western areas.
Westward expansions of the united states molded and affected the nations advancement socially, politically and economically holding quick to its connections to agriculture, its relations with and through slavery with the westward expansion therefore there would not be an abolishment movement and the women would not have been there to find against it. Although the Indian removal has helped shape the westward expansion politically and economically because it has given America more land and cotton. The Mexican war shaped the western expansion culturally and politically because the Mexican were racially religiously superior.
Westward expansion was a time of successes and failures, a time celebrations and grief, a time full of life and death but in the end it shaped how America is the way is today. Westward expansion was put in action because of the belief of Manifest Destiny, the belief that it is America fate to expand from the Atlantic to Pacific ocean. The economical, political and humanitarians impacts were necessary to achieve the goal of manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion.
Some historians may construe westward expansion as beneficial to the United States, arguing that it reduced tensions within the nascent nation. Westward migration was glorified in the early 19th century as the way in which to achieve true freedom. The West was associated with economic opportunity and basic Republican ideals. Streams of individuals seeking prosperity and liberty flooded into the west after the Louisiana Purchase. With the rapid peopling of the west, new transportation systems arose in an effort to connect the new western territories to the southern and northern regions. Roads, steamboats, and canals such as the Cumberland Road and Erie canal were created to transport people and goods from one end of the United States to the other. The railroad was another invention that promoted unity.