Westward Expansion Research Paper

In the Jacksonian age people were steadily pouring westward for various reasons. The panic of 1837 brought financial unrest, and created many poor who sought a new chance out on the frontier. Others moved west from the Great Awakening that stirred a race to convert the Indians to Protestantism before the Catholics got to them first (Allen and Schweikart).

Westward Expansion had significant political, economic, and social effects on the United States. While it brought economic growth and new opportunities, it also led to significant economic upbringings with women and the assimilation of Native Americans. Most political issues tied in with some of the other effects, economic and social. Firstly, white people thought that one of the only ways to stop future conflicts with Native Americans was with assimilation (Doc B). White settlers believed that the Native American way of life was unethical and that it’s lower and worse than their culture (Doc B).

Few families had the resources to even start farming. “The Homestead Act (May 20, 1862) set in motion a program of public land grants to small farmers”(History.com) They say that the transcontinental railroad was literally the transportation of traveling to the West. Removing the main barrier of to expansion and settlement. It may have improved moving to the west a lot easier, but it doesn 't mean that the farmers and free men were wanting to go to the west just because there was transportation.

The late 19th century was a time of exploration, innovation, and continued westward expansion. The West, however, was not as glorified as people today like to think it was. Westward expansion had many benefits, the main being lots of new land for both the Americans and immigrants, but many ideas of the West have been altered throughout the years. The West was romanticized in many ways, people moved to the West in the pursuit of happiness, but today many hardships of westward expansion have been ignored. Cowboys and homesteads are two major concepts that have been romanticized today about the West.

In conclusion, the westward expansion was one of the most important times in American history but one of the hardest for those who made the journey. The settlers had to go through a lot of hardships to get a new life in the west. The Gold Rush helped bring people to the west and populate California so it became a state. People such as Sacagawea helped Lewis and Clark helped explore the new terrain and make maps so people could live there. Even though the pioneers got diseases, had conflicts with the Native Americans, and had to travel for long periods of time in a ship or covered wagon, they never gave up hope.

The Settlement of the West During the last half of the nineteenth century the federal government snatched land from the Indians with one hand and gave huge allotments of land to the railroads with the other . Pushing the Indians into little reservations and then later into individual properties, the Federal government freed up land that Americans in the East wanted. Meanwhile railroad lines started to crisscross the nation, cutting travel time significantly. The governments Indian policies and the railroad overbuilding encouraged and enabled Americans to rush to the West.

People were drawn to the West because it was scene as the last resort to make a living when all else failed in the East. Communication with friends and family who had moved west led these pioneers to believe the journey would be easy and the reward for getting west would be best. And the greatly available land was the strongest pulling factor to people interested in adventuring west. Migration was a personal choice that depended on several key factors, “Age of the head of household; economic status; personal attitudes; and projected costs and benefits of the resettlement.” Most historians agree that the majority of the people who migrated west were middle class and mostly immigrants to the US.

Traveling hundreds of thousands of miles through dangerous paths American pioneers took on hardships as they sought westward in hopes of a better life. The journey westward began in the early 1800s when the US exploded with new territory’s nearly tripling the US’s size. It all started in 1803 when the US bought the Louisiana Territory from France. Quickly, many farmers picked up their belongings and headed out west to the rich, fertile land for a fresh start. Next, Andrew Jackson invaded Florida claiming it for the US which was also another opportunity for settlers to begin a new life.

These men worked hard herding, branding, and tending to cattle from sun up until sun down. However, over the years the image of the cowboy has been blurred by media. Often times when someone thinks of cowboys they think of a vicious gunslinger who is always looking for a fight. In reality, many cowboys could not even afford a gun. Regardless, throughout Kelton’s novel, The Day the Cowboys Quit, he was able to effectively portray the correct speech patterns, distinguishing characteristics, and lifestyle of the Texas

There were several kinds of hardships and motivations for moving west in this time. Settlers had a lot to see and find in the westward expansion period including gold and land. They were mostly drawn by those very two aspects. The railroad systems also allowed for people to travel west easier, making for a perfect situation to travel westward. Although the end of the journey was most desirable, the in between presented a lot of hardships.

That is just one of many reasons there was Westward Expansion. Overpopulation, new inventions of transportation methods, and new opportunities. These are three of many reasons why Americans in the 1800’s felt urged to move west. Some may claim that Westward expansion was not right for America to do because of the conflicts that were aroused afterward.

The westward expansion is a movement of settlers promoted by the federal government that pushed west to get things that benefit them. Such as gold, land, financial reasons, and religious freedom. During this time, America was going through Indian removal acts, economic issues and so much more. The westward expansion occurred due to gold and cheaper land resulting in Native Americans being forced off their own land. To begin, One of the reasons for the westward expansion was gold.

The families came together to form what was called a wagon train in May 1846. Another reason for the Americans movement westward, was the belief in manifest destiny. Manifest destiny was the belief of the United States expanding towards the California coast. It was also because the views on religious freedom, were nowhere near as strict as they wear on the East

The Day the Cowboys Quit is novel by Elmer Kelton rooted on the proceedings of the strike that happened at old Tascosa in the state of Texas Panhandle during 1883. In this Novel, Kelton sketches in a very exceptional and appealing fashion the political, public, and financial transformations that were happening in the years previous to and subsequent to the great Civil War in Texas. The cowboys as depicted in this novel have been long symbolized and cherished as their liberty. The story mentioned in the book takes place in the year 1883 but it is significant to comprehend how cowboy and ranches clans led their life before the sequence of events.

The song exhibits the idea that because the cowboys were provided with bad-quality food, they were not able to continue working through the harsh