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Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was a land deal between France and the United States of America, finalized on December 30th, 1803, that almost doubled the size of the United States. France sold about 827,000 square miles of land to the United States for around $15 million, which amounts to approximately 4 cents an acre then and about 42 cents an acre today. The French figured they would not be able to support colonial establishments in the land and effectively liquidated it to the US. -
The Monroe Doctrine
During his seventh annual address to Congress, on December 2nd of 1823, President Monroe laid out an important piece of foreign policy that came to be known as the Monroe Doctrine. The Monroe Doctrine stated that the Western Hemisphere was to be free from the influence of European powers and that the United States would intervene in any colonizing or puppet monarchs. The Doctrine encouraged US expansion to drive out potential intervening powers. -
The Erie Canal
Finished on October 26th, 1825, the Erie Canal connects Lake Erie to the Hudson River and stretches around 363 miles. While the Erie Canal does not appear to be as directly impactful as the doubling of the land area of the United States, the canal greatly encouraged westward expansion as it allowed quick and safe transport of goods west of the Appalachians (especially around the Great Lakes) and opened the door further for settlers. -
Indian Removal Act
The Indian Removal Act was a law passed on May 28, 1830, during the presidency of Andrew Jackson. This law gave the United States the power to take Indian land in established states and offer the tribes a piece of land west of the Mississippi. Many tribes went peacefully but some rebelled, notably the Cherokees. The law forced natives to effectively scout out and settle what was west of the Mississippi while allowing Americans to fully expand up to the Mississippi in the mean time. -
The Battle of the Alamo
The Battle of the Alamo was a siege of the Alamo by General Antonio López de Santa Anna. The 13 day siege ended on March 6th, 1836, with the deaths of all the Texan defenders and the loss of the Alamo. However the loss actually only inspired more Texans to sign up for the Texan military and lead to Texas securing independence from Mexico soon after. -
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Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail began as a chain of individual trails used by Native Americans. In the 1830's however, missionaries and fur traders began to unite the trails to make traveling westward simpler. In the 1840's mass immigration to the western edge of the continent began and the trail became used by large groups of settlers. The Oregon Trail was used heavily in the mid 1880's to facilitate expansion but was effectively replaced by railroads in the late 1880's. -
Texas Independence
Texas won independence from Mexico on April 21st, 1836, after declaring independence on March 2nd of the same year. The final battle of the revolution was along the San Jacinto River but it is important to remember this made Texas an independent body and not part of the US as it was not yet annexed by the United States. -
Trail of Tears
The Trail of Tears was the forced removal of the Cherokee natives from their native lands to land the United States government had allocated to them west of Mississippi. This event exemplifies how the United States would stop at nothing to expand as around 4,000 members of the 15,000 people belonging to the Cherokee nation were killed in the forced removal which took place in the fall of 1838 through the winter of 1839. -
Texas Annexation
The topic of annexing the Republic of Texas became a serious topic to the US in 1843 when it was clear that Great Britain wanted to do everything to stop American expansion and tamper with their trade, this included manipulating Texas. James K. Polk, the president at the time, won his presidency in part due to his pro-annexation beliefs, and later both Congress and the Republic of Texas agreed on annexation and Texas became a state legally on December 29th of 1845, expanding the US. -
The Wilmot Proviso
The Wilmot Proviso, introduced by David Proviso, was an amendment to a bill that never got ratified as it only passed in the House of Representatives. What the amendment proposed was that no territory acquired from Mexico as the result of war should allow slavery. While this may never have been ratified, the debate over the amendment sparked clear divide between political parties, and was a primary cause of the Civil War. -
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began in 1848 when a gold nugget was found in the American River and word spread quickly. By 1849 people were moving by the thousands from all across the United States to seek gold, many even coming from different countries. By 1850, the population of Sacramento grew from 1,000 in 1848 to 20,000. The Gold Rush solidified America's westward expanse because while the gold ran out by the late 1850's, many of the people still remained. -
Mexican American War
James K. Polk, president at this time, wanted to secure more land for America which Mexico had. After provoking war in January of 1846, the Americans dominated the Mexican forces and the war ended on February 2nd, 1848, with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. -
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was on the terms of the United States and again sought to take as much land from Mexico as possible. In exchange for $15 million and $3.25 million in assumed debt, America would recieve modern day California, Nevada, Utah, and pieces of Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Wyoming. Mexico would also have to give up all claim to Texas. -
California Becomes a State
California had been ceded to the United States as part of the bulk territory America had won from the Mexican American War. However California became a state two years later, very quickly because of the California Gold Rush. The largest question about Californian annexation was whether it was to be a slave state or a free state and it became a topic of serious debate which further escalated tensions between North and South. -
The Comrpomise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was a group of bills passed throughout September of 1850. These five bills formed a compromise between the North and South on the issue of slavery. The North relieved California as a free state, New Mexico and Utah being able to decide slavery for themselves, and slave trading being banned in the capitol. The South in turn received no slavery restrictions in Utah or New Mexico, slaveholding in the capitol, and the Fugitive Slave Laws; runaway slaves must be returned. -
Gadsden Purchase
Named after the ambassador to Mexico who signed it, the Gadsden Purchase was a treaty between Mexico and the US where America paid Mexico $10 million for 29,670 square miles. The land purchased is located in modern say southern Arizona and New Mexico and was purchased in order to end border disputes with Mexico and construct new railroad lines, securing American expansion. -
The Ostend Manifesto
The Ostend Manifesto was a document written by the United States Ministers to Spain, France, and Great Britain. Originally they were supposed to have seen if it could be possible to buy the island of Cuba from Spain, but they were poor diplomats. In October of 1854 they made their ideas public that either Spain should sell Cuba or be invaded by the United States; this is now considered one of the biggest diplomatic failures in history but embodies Manifest Destiny: stop at nothing.
