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The Oregon Trail
Every year settlers gathered in Independence, Missouri and traveled for six months to Oregon. The Oregon Trail is a prime example of westward movement. These travelers left the Midwest because of a depression and a flood of propaganda from people in Oregon for a great opportunity to start a new life in Oregon. Although the first trip was actually in 1841, 1845 was the year the amount of travelers boomed. -
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Westward Expansion
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Statehood of Texas
Following James Polk's victory as president in 1844, Democrats in Congress called for the immediate annexation of Texas. The opposing Whigs denied the needed two-thirds majority in the Senate to ratify a treaty. In February 1845, the Democrats approved the deal by a joint resolution of Congress. Soon after, there was a convention in Austin which created a constitution and the people voted for statehood. Texas became part of the Union in 1845 as a slave state. -
War with Mexico
President Polk wanted to "re-annex" Texas and "re-occupy" Oregon. He was aggressive minded and wanted to gain land for the United States. President Polk first offered to purchase California, New Mexico, and the rest of the present day southwest region, but was denied. This caused Polk to instigate a fight by moving troops into a disputed zone between the Rio Grande and Nueces River. This is an example of western movement because of the United States want for more land in the west. -
Oregon Treaty
Prior to the treaty, President Polk wanted to seize the Oregon Territory all the way to 54 degrees 40', which was all the way to the southern border of Russian Alaska. His belief was "fifty-four, fourty or fight!" Which meant he would fight Britain for the Oregon Territory, but when the Mexican-American War began, the U.S. couldn't afford to fight a two front war so they settled for the boundary of Oregon to be split at the 49th parellel. -
Gold Rush
On January 24th, 1848, James Wilson Marshall found flakes of gold at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Word got out and migrates began flooding into California in hope of finding gold. The Gold Rush caused a sudden large migration west, which populated California quickly causing it to become a state just two years later. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican-American War in favor of the United States. The United States gained land from present day Arizona, California, Colarado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. Mexico also gave up claims of Texas and made the border between Mexico and United States the Rio Grande River. In total the treaty added 525,000 square miles of land to the United States for expansion. -
Statehood of California
A rapid migration west, called the Gold Rush, caused large amounts of people to settle in California. To avoid a debate over slavery, President Taylor advised the Californians to apply for statehood immediately. They ratified a state constitution that prohibited slavery and became a free state in 1850. This caused the south to argue that admitting California as a free state would prevent the expansion of slavery to the Pacific Ocean and it would cause the unbalance of free and slave states. -
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was established to maintain the Union of the United States. There were five parts and two of them were instrumental in Western Migration. The first was the establishment of California as a free state. The second was the organization of lands gained from Mexico into the territories of New Mexico and Utah. The decision on slavery was left up to popular sovereignty. -
Gadsden Purchase
The United States acquired additional land from Mexico for the construction of a railroad from Texas the California. The United States payed $10 million and attempted to resolve disputes that lingered after the Mexican-American War. The Gadsden Purchase thus created more land for expansion of people and slavery. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
The Kansas Nebraska Act caused more dispute over westward expansion. Stephen Douglas created a bill to extinguish Native American rights on the central Great Plains and organize a large free territory called Nebraska. First he repealed the Missouri Compromise and wanted to organize the region based on popular sovereignty. Second he agreed to form two territories, Kansas and Nebraska. Southern planters would then be able to settle Kansas and eventually make it a slave state.
