Western Expansion, Manifest Destiny, and the Mexican-American War

The environment on the Great Plains did affect the way of life of the Native Americans.  However, we must realize that they did not simply get acted upon by the environment.  These were...

Manifest Destiny significantly shaped the United States by promoting westward expansion, which led to territorial growth and the displacement of Native American populations. Politically, it...

The contemporary relevance of Manifest Destiny in American society lies in its enduring impact on national identity and policy. This 19th-century belief in American expansionism continues to...

The U.S. did not immediately annex Texas after it gained independence from Mexico due to concerns over slavery and provoking war with Mexico. Texas would have disrupted the balance between free and...

Westward expansion positively affected the United States by providing economic benefits through the discovery of precious metals and the conversion of grasslands into productive agricultural areas....

The Mexican government attracted settlers to Texas to strengthen control over its northern territories and counter threats from Native Americans and the United States. The General Colonization Law of...

There were many problems farmers faced when they went to settle on the Great Plains. One of the problems was the land. The soil was much more difficult to farm in the Great Plains. Regular plows...

The justification for the U.S. going to war with Mexico in 1846 is debated. Supporters argue it was justified due to a border dispute and the belief in Manifest Destiny. Critics claim it was an...

Texans wanted independence from Mexico primarily due to economic and political reasons. Mexico's abolition of slavery, increased tariffs on imports, and Santa Anna's rise to power threatened Texas's...

Petalesharo, a Pawnee chief famous for saving at least one young girl from ritual sacrifice by his people, travelled to Washington DC with other Native Americans in 1822, during the presidency of...

There were many changes that occurred in the Great Plains by 1900. One change was the status of the Native Americas. The Native Americans had been able to roam the Great Plains since they were...

There were several examples of how the United States expanded its territories. Americans were willing to move into these territories for various reasons. The first example of expansion came in...

You might consider at looking at an interesting minority group's perspective on Westward Expansion.  In addition, consider water rights and irrigation.  While not as "sexy" a topic as...

The motivations for Westward Expansion in the 1800s included the promise of economic opportunities, such as farming, mining, and the fur trade. Additionally, the belief in Manifest Destiny, the idea...

The United States had two significant territorial expansions after the Revolutionary War. In the Treaty of Paris of 1783, the United States got land from Great Britain. Our boundaries went beyond...

O'Sullivan is most famous for his famous assertion that it was the "Manifest Destiny" of the United States to expand throughout the North American continent to the Pacific. This vision was closely...

During the Westward Expansion, women's experiences varied widely. Some women found opportunities, such as dictating marriage terms or working as prostitutes, due to the scarcity of women. Wives faced...

The U.S. consequences of the Mexican War included gaining significant territory, such as California, Utah, Nevada, and parts of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming, fulfilling Manifest...

If it's 15 years after the Civil War (1880), I think your best bet is being a farmer. By 1880, mining wouldn't have been much fun.  This is no longer the days of the prospector independently...

American migration to Oregon in the early 1800s was driven by the promise of fertile land, economic opportunities, and the chance for a fresh start. The Oregon Trail facilitated this westward...

Westward expansion and the Industrial Revolution had profound impacts on American society, including economic growth, urbanization, and technological advancements. The expansion facilitated the...

The statement to which this question refers emphasizes the economic diversity of the American West. One might add many other economic pursuits as well—logging, railroads, and trapping in...

The Mexican Cession, resulting from the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, significantly expanded U.S. territory by over 500,000 square miles, including present-day California, Utah, Nevada, and...

The main importance of immigration for westward expansion is that immigration provided many of the farmers and laborers who made this expansion possible.  Let us look at two examples of this....

Manifest Destiny was driven by the belief that Americans were destined to expand across North America. Key causes included the desire for economic opportunities, land for farming, and the spread of...

For all of the first three of your groups, the railroads were pretty useful.  In all three cases, they allowed those businesses to boom.  The reason for this is that they allowed the...

Manifest Destiny was crucial to westward expansion in U.S. history because it embodied the belief that Americans were divinely destined to expand across the continent. This ideology justified the...

Settlers moved to the Great Plains for several reasons. One reason was the government was offering 160 acres of land for free if the settler agreed to live on the land for five years. This was part...

The idea of Manifest Destiny influenced America's western migration by promoting it and causing it to occur quickly. Manifest Destiny was the ideology that God had given Americans the land all the...

There were several seismic changes that resulted from Westward Expansion.  One major change was the Native Americans were relegated to merely the fringes, literally and figurative, of the...

First, there was the impact of the war itself:  many Northerners saw this as a Southern conspiracy to spread slavery.  The war was ordered by a Southern president (James K. Polk) and...

The simple answer here is slavery.  The Northerners thought that this was a war to expand slavery and the South liked the war because they thought it would give them a chance to expand...

Manifest Destiny and Lebensraum were both ideological constructs that emphasized the right of allegedly superior peoples to claim the lands of neighboring peoples they deemed inferior. Manifest...

Manifest Destiny affected the lives of many different groups within the U.S. Lower and middle class farmers were affected by the large tracts of land opened by territorial acquisitions and...

To effectively answer this question, let's first look at how the United States acquired each of these territories. The areas comprising Texas and the Southwest were originally claimed by the...

As long as we define “early 1800s” to include the entire first half of the 19th century, the idea of manifest destiny had a huge impact on Mexicans and Native Americans.  In both cases, it...

Manifest destiny was the belief that God wanted the United States to spread out over the North American continent, taking control of as much territory as possible.  Americans of the time...

There were several reasons why Americans believed they had a right to the land that was located west of the Mississippi River. One reason was the concept of manifest destiny. Americans had been...

There were some negative effects that arose from the policy of Manifest Destiny. The policy of Manifest Destiny was the desire of the American people to spread their way of living over all of the...

Westward expansion began very early, with the ever pressing need for more land. The more land you controlled, the more food and money you had and thus a larger settlement. After people started...

The homesteaders faced a myriad of problems when trying to settle the American West.  First, they faced the thread of ambush by various American Indian tribes, obviously.  The Indians did...

There were a number of beliefs and values that were involved in the westward expansion of the United States.  Let us look at three of the most important. First, there was the idea of Manifest...

Westward expansion shaped the character of the United States in many different ways. Westward movement, also known as Manifest Destiny, dictated American’s course as a nation for almost 200 years....

Westward expansion affected the United States in many important ways.  Let us look at some of the most important of these effects. Westward expansion/migration helped to industrialize the...

Settlers moving onto the Great Plains of North America changed the landscape significantly upon arrival. Most of the settlers on the Plains set out to make a living as farmers. Miners and trappers...

The Morrill Act, first passed in 1862, provided land grants so that new western states could establish colleges, thus giving farmers and people of the working class access to...

For westward expansion, the government did a lot of things: Provided protection against Indians (Army) Gave huge land grants to the railroads to get them to push westward Gave cheap land to...

The impact of horses on the Plains Indians was rather dramatic. Horses were part of what is dubbed the Columbian Exchange--the goods, foods, animals, and diseases that were traded between the Old...

Barbed wire had a dramatic effect on the development of the west.  Barbed wire had a tremendous impact on cattle ranching.  Before barbed wire was used, cattle ranchers practiced...

The Mexican War was primarily caused by the annexation of Texas by the United States in 1845, which Mexico considered part of its territory despite the Texan Revolution. Additionally, disputes over...