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Westward Expansion
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Oregon Fever
News from explorers like Lewis and Clark, talking about rich farming land in Oregon country caused a spark in westward expansion. Called the Oregon Trail, thousands of American settlers journeyed 1,000 miles from Missouri to Oregon for the free land. -
Webster-Ashburton Treaty
The treaty dissolved territory boundaries between British Canada and America. The peaceful resolution would later help with a bigger issue involving Oregon Territory -
Manifest Destiny
In 1845, newspaper editor John O'Sullivan, coined the phrase Manifest Destiny to describe the mindset behind the phrase. Many Americans believed that they were destined by god to claim lands to the west for themselves and America. The main idea was to spread American culture and end the "barbaric" ways of the Native Americans. -
Texas Annexation
The Republic of Texas was added to the United states of America and became the 28th state. Texas was hotly debated over slave or not slave but in the end became a slave state. The annexation caused border issues with Mexico. -
Mormon settlement
After the murder of Joseph Smith who founded the Mormons Brigham Young led the Mormons across America into the Salt Lake valley. Like many other Americans, the Mormons wanted their own land where the would no longer be criticized for their beliefs. -
California Gold Rush
After gold was found at Sutter's Mill in California, thousands of Americans and people from other countries flooded into California. California would become a state in February of 1848 before word got out about the gold discovered at the mill. By mid 1848, countries like Mexico, China and European countries had heard about the wealth they could acquire in California.Thus bringing forth a diverse population of Americans and immigrants from all over the globe into Western America. -
Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo
The treaty marked the end of the Mexican-American war. Cutting Mexico in half and giving America its southwestern region for $15 million. Mexico agreed to land a boundary in Texas, the Rio Grande being the line between Mexico and Texas. -
Compromise of 1850
The compromise gave the North; California as a free state, prohibited slave trade in Washington D.C. and fixed boundary disputes between New Mexico and Texas. The South got; the Fugitive slave law and no slave restrictions on New Mexico and the Utah area. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Senator Stephan A. Douglas pushed for popular sovereignty in both Kansas and Nebraska. This meant that the states would be able to decide if they were to be anti-slave or slave states. This caused many northern politics to be outraged as the Act went against the Missouri compromise of 1820. The southern states were for the act since it gave them a chance of adding more slave states. -
Gadsden Purchase
The Gadsden Purchase helped to end tensions between America and Mexico. The two countries had been arguing about certain border lines and who owned what. The purchase did not end the tensions but America was able to finish the southern railroad through the newly acquired land.
