was expansion inevitable

Louisiana Purchase

1803

The United States purchased a huge amount of territory from France and it allowed for a wide new range for exploration and settlement. This event makes westward expansion inevitable because the Americans spent a ton of money on this land, so they were obviously going to explore it.

Lewis and Clark Expedition

1804

This was an expedition done by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to go explore the new land that was purchased from France. This allowed for more knowledge about the resources, people, and geography of the land, which made people want to move more west to explore more.

Trail of Tears

1830

This was the forced relocation of Native Americans, so that the Americans could better place their own influence on the west. Although this was not a good thing to do, it opened up more people's eyes to expanding west after realizing people lived there.

Manifest Destiny

1840

This was a belief that Americans held onto strongly. It basically stated that Americans were destined to expand across the whole continent. This made expansion inevitable because this motivated people to move West and put that idea of being "destined to expand" in their heads.

Texas Annexation

1845

This is when the United States conquered Texas from Mexico and this added another large amount of land. This made people more eager to expand even further west.

Mexican American War

1846

This war won the United States a huge amount of territory including present-day California, Arizona, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas. This win made people excited to explore the new lands that were fought hardly for.

California Gold Rush

1848

This was when gold became discovered in California, which drew people's attention towards it. This made people want to move West, which began the development of the area.