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Northwest Ordinance of 1787
The Northwest Ordinance organized the northwest terriory of the United States from lands beyond the Appalachian Mountains. -
Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark expedition was the first journey across the western portion of America. The expedition was commissioned by president Thomas Jefferson after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. -
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition of the Louisiana territory by the United States from France in 1803. The United States payed only 15 million dollars. -
War of 1812 in connection ro westward expansion
Once the War of 1812 ended, expansion began in earnest. The government was eager to enlarge the Union, and, accordingly, six new states joined the Union between 1816 and 1821: Indiana, Mississippi, Illinois, Alabama, Maine, and Missouri. -
Purchase of Florida from Spain
The transcontitnetal treaty, also known as the Treaty of Florida, was a treaty between the U.S. and Spain. It gave the United States Florida and set up a boundary between the United States and Mexico. -
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was a federal compromise in the United States that regulated slavery in the western territories. All new states except Missouri above the 36 parallel 30" north would be free states, and all below would be slave states. -
Mormon Movement
The Mormon Movement is a collection of idenpendent church groups that trace their roots back to the Christian Primitvist movement founded by Joseph Smith in the late 1820s. Their churches have 15 million memebers. Most of them belong to the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.They are mostly mormons. -
Erie Canal
Erie Canal construction began in 1817 and opened October 26, 1825.The canal connected lake Erie to the Hudson River. -
Indian Removal Act
It allowed the president to negotiate with Indian tribes in the Southern United States for their removal to federal territory west of the Mississippi. -
Trail of Tears
The Cherokee nation was forced to give up its lands east of the Mississippi River and to migrate to an area in present-day Oklahoma. -
Annexation of Texas
The annexation of Texas was the incoporation of Texas into America. After delaring independence from Mexico, in 1836 many Texas citicizens favored annexation by the United States. -
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848 when gold was found by James W. Marshall. News of gold brought about 300,000 people to California from the rest of the United Sates and abroad. They called the old seekers 49ers. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe was a peace treaty signed between Mexico and America. It ended the Mexican-American war. -
Oregon Territory
The Oregon Territory was an organized territory of the United States when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Oregon. The region was divided bty the United Staes and Great Britain in 1846. -
Gadsen Purchase
The Gadsen Purchase is a region of present-day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico purchased by the United States by James Gadsen who was the American ambassador to Mexico at the time. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. It opened up new states for settlement and repealed the Missuori compromise of 1820. -
Homestead Act
The Homestead Act allowed anyone 21 or older who did not take up arms against the U.S. to apply for federal land. -
Transcontinental Railroad
The World's First Continental Railroad was built between 1863 and 1869 to join the eastern and western halves of the United States. -
The Dawes Act
The Dawes Act is an act to provide the allotment of lands in severalty to Indians on the various reservations. It also extends the protection of the laws of the United States and the territories over the Indians. -
Spanis-American War
The Spanis-American war was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States. Cuba technically gained its independence after the war ended. The United States gained Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines.
