-
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
An act of the Congress of the Confederation of the United States that created the Northwest Territory, the first organized territory of the United States, It was created first, so it was created to expand the U.S. It took place in from lands beyond the Appalachian Mountains, between British Canada and the Great Lakes to the north and the Ohio River to the south. -
Louisianna Purchase
The Louisianna Purchase was the acquisition of the Louisianna terroritory by the United States and France. The Louisianna territory stretched from the Mississippi river all the way up to Canada. The United States paid $11,250,000. -
Lewis and Clark Expedition
The first American expedition to cross what is now the western portion of the United States. They started near St. Louis on the Mississippi River, making their way westward through the continental divide to the Pacific coast. Lewis and Clark were sent to explore land and find new territory, which they did. They helped expand the U.S. before Britain and other European powers before could claim it. -
War of 1812
A military conflict, lasting for two-and-a-half years, fought by the United States of America against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It happeded for several reasons, including trade restrictions brought about by the British war with France, the impressment of American merchant sailors into the Royal Navy, British support of Indian tribes against American expansion. It secured existing U.S. boundaries and defeated native tribes of the Old Northwest, helping expand the U.S, -
Purchase of Florida from Spain
In 1810, American settlers in West Florida rebelled, declaring independence from Spain. It settled a standing border dispute between the two countries. It happened in present-day Florida and expanded the U.S. more to the south. -
Missouri Compromise
It was a federal statute in the United States that regulated slavery in the country's western territories. It was made to diffuse the sectional and political rivalries. It was devised by Henry Clay in Missouri. -
Erie Canal
The Erie canal goes from lake Erie to New York. It was a major sucess and brought transportation, trade, and goods to New York from the North. It stretches 383 miles long. It relates the the westward expansion because it brought stock to the America and took more people westward. -
Indian Removal Act
It authorized the president to negotiate with Indian tribes in the Southern United States for their removal to federal territory west of the Mississippi River in exchange for their ancestral homelands. It happened because Andrew Jackson wanted to remove many Indians. It affected the West of the Mississippi. This made more land for U.S. citizens, but expanded area for some indian tribes. -
Trail of Tears
The Trail of Tears commonly refers to a series of forced relocations of Native American nations in the United States following the Indian Removal Act of 1830. It happened because Andrew Jackson thought the Indians were interferring. It made the Cherokee nation to move to present-day Oklahoma. This expanded the country by pushing indians out. -
Mormon Movement
The Mormon Movement was also called the Latter Day Saint movement. The Mormon Movement traces its routes to Christian primitivist. It was founded by Joseph Smith in the late 1820's. There are about 15,000,000 people that are Mormons. This is a part of the Westward expansion because The mormons moved west to found their new religion. They went all the way to Park City Utah, where the town is now %60 mormon from whenever they moved westward that long ago. -
Annexation of Texas
The Annexation of Texas was the 1845 corporation into the United States of the Republic of Texas. It happened in Texas and it free'd them from the Mexican Republic. It relates to the westward expansion because it was far more west then they already were. This purchase got Texas into the United States. -
California Gold Rush
The california gold rush started whenever James Marshall foud gold in Calirornia. The news of the gold brought 300,000 people to the region. Gold worth 10's of billions of dollars in todays money was found. It relates to the westward expansion because it brought a lot of people into the region. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
It was a peace treaty signed in Mexico City. It was between Mexico and the United States. It relates to the westward expansion because it allowed people in Mexico to come into the West. -
Gadsden Purchase
The Gadsden Purchase is a 29,640 square mile area in Southern America that was purchased by the Americas from Mexico. The America's built a railroad through it that costed 10,000,000 dollars, equivilant to 260 million today. It relates to the westward expansion becuase it was more land that America had gotten west. Which was more room for more people and buisness. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
This act created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. It opened new lands for settlement and had the affect to appeal the Missouri Compromise. It became a problem when popular soverighnty was written into the proposal. It relates to westward expansion because it pushed slaves westward and out of the main states. -
Oregon Territory
An organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Oregon. In happened in present day Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, as well as parts of Wyoming and Montana. It expanded the United states a massive ammount west. -
Homestead Act
A set of several United States federal laws that gave an applicant ownership of land, typically called a "homestead", at little or no cost. It happened because the Northerners who wanted individual farmers to own and operate their own farms opposed Southern slave-owners who could use groups of slaves to economic advantage. Anyone who had never taken up arms against the U.S. government that was 21 years or older could file an application to claim a federal land grant which helped expand the US. -
Transcontinetal Road
It was a 1,907-mile contiguous railroad line constructed in the United States between 1863 and 1869. It was west of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers to connect the Pacific coast at San Francisco Bay with the existing eastern U.S. rail network at Council Bluffs, Iowa. This road helped majorly with Westward expansion. It allowed stock and goods to move west as with people. -
The Dawes Act
The Dawes Act was dopted by congress in 1887 to divide Indian terroritories into individual indians. It happened in Massachussetes and happened becuase they wanted to ge tthe Indians out of their homeland. It relates to the westward decision because it pushed Indians westward. -
Spanish-American War
The Spanish-American War was a war between Spain and America. It was fought in Cuba and the Caribbean. It happened because Cuban Independence from Spain. It relates to West Ward expansion because it gave us things so westward that we got Hawaii.
