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Louisiana Purchase
As France was in need of money because of the war they were involved in, they were willing to sell this land to the United States. This doubled the size of the U.S. (Video-territorial expansion). Westward expansion was inevitable as America was now doubled in side spreading west, with access to more land and more water ways for trade and settlement. -
The Spanish Cession
West Florida was renounced by Spain as a part of the deal made by Secretary Adams and Minister Onis and backs up to the mouth of the Mississippi River. The United States was now in control of its fate and expansion. -
The Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a non-slave state at the same time in an effort to keep the balance and not stir up a fight about slavery. It also outlawed slavery above the line of the Louisiana Purchase. The whole issue here was how to deal with the spread of slavery into western states so clearly westward expansion was inevitable. -
The Trail of Tears
The Trail of Tears removed Native Americans including, Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole tribes from their ancestral homelands( Ch. 6, Lesson 1). This made it inevitable that white Americans could expand west. -
Manifest Destiny-
Manifest Destiny was the idea that it was necessary to expand the American nation westward. In 1845, a magazine editor named O’Sullivan declared it was “Manifest Destiny” of the American people as dictated by God/divine power to settle the continent and prosper (Ch. 7, Lesson 1). Westward expansion was inevitable as America was a country of god-loving and impressionable people. -
The Oregon Territory Treaty
The Oregon Treaty defined the boundary of the northwestern part of the United States. Britain and the United States had owned it jointly and agree to split it equally. The treaty divided the land on the 49th parallel which borders between the US and Canada. The US now had the land that stretched from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. The United states went from coast to coast. (Video:Territorial Expansion). -
California Gold Rush
The 49ers headed to California in 1848. By the end of 1849 more than 80,000 49ers arrived to look for gold. The rise in population even enabled CA to apply for statehood (Ch. 8. Lesson 1). Westward expansion was inevitable because as the 49ers arrived to look for gold, they would bring their families with them to settle.