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Northwest Ordinance
The Norhtwest Ordinance was an act of Congress of the Confederation of the United States passed on July 13,1787. This event was important to westward expansion because passing this law showed that the US wanted to expand West by organizing new states that would be equal to the Union. -
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was a land deal between the US and France in which the US got 827,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi river for $15 million. The Louisiana Purchase is important to Westward expansion because this event would double the size of the US and stretch from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from Canada to New Orleans -
Cumberland Road
The Cumberland Road was the first major improved highway in the US. This event was important to Westward Expansion because it served as a gateway to the West for thousands of settlers. -
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a canal in New York that is part of the east-west,cross-state route of the New York State Canal System.This event is important to the westward expansion because it created a great transportation system from the east coast to Michigan and the Hudson River. -
Indian Removal Act
The Indian Removal Act was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830,letting the president to grant unsettled lands West of the Mississippi in exchange for Indian lands.This event is important o Westward expansion because it allowed people to move out West to settle in lands. -
Manifest Destiny
The Manifest Destiny the 19th-century doctrine or belief that the expansion of the US throughout the American continents was both justified and inevitable.This event is important to westward expansion because it was believed the US was destined to expand West and was the primary force to do so. -
Texas Annexation
The Texas annexation was the 1845 incorporation of the Republic of Texas into the United States of America, making it admitted as the 28th state on December 29, 1845.This event is important to Westward Expansion because it allowed the US to expand further and gain more Western land and unionize them as states. -
Mormons in Utah
The Mormons in Utah was when on July 24, 1847, a man named Brigham Young and his members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints arrived in Utah's Great Salt Lake Valley.This event is important to westward expansion because the Mormons had moved west to escape religious discrimination. -
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California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush was when gold was found at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California.The news of gold brought some 300,000 people to California from the rest of the United States and more.This event is important to westward expansion because this gold rush made people from all around move out West in hopes of becoming rich and finding gold. -
Gadsden Purchase
The Gadsden Purchase was a 29,670-square-mile region of present-day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico that the United States purchased by a treaty.This event is important to westward expansion because purchasing this land from Mexico allowed the US to expand even further into new territory out West -
Transcontinental Railroad
The Transcontinental Railroad was the first "Pacific Railroad" built by the Central Pacific Railroad and Union Pacific Railroad to link the San Francisco Bay at Alameda, California with the nation's existing eastern railroad.This event is important to westward expansion because it served for the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the US to be connected by rail for the first time in history.