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Louisiana Purchase
President Thomas Jefferson purchased land west of the Mississippi river. This land doubled the size of the United States and kicked off its Westward expansion. This event shows why America's Westward expansion was inevitable because in order for America to grow they would have to move west. Furthermore, the Louisiana purchase was the start of this expansion. -
Annexation of Texas
Texas won their independence from Mexico and wanted to become a part of the United States. At first the United States did not accept Texas due to an unwanted war with Mexico. Eventually, Texas did become a US state. Texas joining the United States was also inevitable since many Texans feared Mexico would try to regain their oppressive rule over Texas. -
Oregon Territory
Many people were using the Oregon trail to the territories for a better life. In 1846, the United States signed an agreement with Britain to make the Oregon territories part of the United States. This was inevitable because Americans were already traveling west to get to these territories prior to them becoming part of the United States. -
Mexican-American war
Mexico and America had many conflicts that eventually led to a war. The main conflict was over Texas being a state of the US. After the war, the United States got new land in the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The land obtained from this event was inevitable because ever since the annexation of Texas, Mexico and the United States were going to fight for land. -
Gadsden Purchase
The Gadsden purchase was an agreement between the United States and Mexico where the United States agreed to pay 10 million for land that became Arizona and New Mexico. This was an inevitable event since at this point the United States controlled most of North America and they just wanted to claim all of it. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
At the time slavery was a big issue in the United States. The Kansas-Nebraska Act allowed for each new territory to vote on whether slavery was allowed. Therefore, people inevitably started to move west into these states to be able to change how slavery was viewed in the US. -
Transcontinental Railroad Completion
In 1869, the transcontinental railroad was completed. The railroad connected the east and west coasts of North America by joining two huge railroads. As a result, traveling from coast to coast was much faster. Furthermore, more people were able to travel west.