Westward Expansion Research Paper

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Ever since the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, westward expansion has been a continuity in American history until the US census of 1890, which announced that the frontier no longer existed. In forty-five years, the organized United States doubled in size, from the Louisiana Territory to the west coast. Westward expansion to the Pacific Coast wouldn’t have been as efficient, or perhaps not possible, without several key factors. This research paper will discuss such factors. The major influences of a continuous westward expansion of America include the nationally accepted idea of Manifest Destiny, the invention of the railroad and telegraph, and the expansionist policies of the United States government, especially of President James K. Polk.
Manifest …show more content…
Without governmental aid and encouragement, the quest westwards wouldn’t have been as fast, smooth, nor organized. The biggest factor of expansion was the fact that many of the nation’s presidents strongly supported it. The idea of Expansionism can be traced back to the early seventeenth century under Thomas Jefferson presidency. Jefferson abandoned his vision for America to be a close-knit, agrarian society and purchased the Louisiana territory. He appointed the Lewis and Clark expedition, and its success spread to the public, encouraging settlement on the Louisiana territory. Other presidents such as James Polk and Abraham Lincoln continued this movement westward. James K. Polk played the biggest role in expanding the United States. Throughout his presidency, Polk sought the expansion of America through the Mexican territory. He believed in many tenants of Manifest Destiny, especially the fact that the U.S. should rule as much of North America as it could. During his presidential term, Polk enforced the Monroe Doctrine and annexed Texas. Mexico became threatened by Texas’s annexation and prepared for war. Attempts to negotiate the Mexican-American border dispute failed, and war was declared against Mexico in 1846. Throughout the war, the Mexican army, commanded by Antonio López de Santa Anna, faced many defeats before surrendering in early 1848. The United States received approximately half of Mexico from Texas to California, the largest acquisition of land since the Louisiana Purchase. The discovery of gold in California sparked a gold rush that led to mass migrations into California, leading to its statehood in 1850. Though Lincoln didn’t expand the United States like Polk did, he influenced the migration into the unorganized territories of the Union by the Homestead Act of 1862, The act stated that with All the settlers had to do was to pay a fee and live on their plot of 160 acres for 5 years before
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