Westward Expansion

By: Alexander Papazov

How did it start?
President Jefferson started the
Westward Expansion. He was our third
president, formerly serving under John
Adams as Vice President. He wanted to
explore this “great frontier”. Explorers Lewis
and Lark embarked on the expedition. It
turned out there was twice as much land to be
discovered, than they already knew about!
Why did they want
more land?
In 1700 there were only
250,000 colonists living in the
American colonies. However, this
number dramatically increased to
2.5 million in 1775. Because of this
dramatic population increase, more
people needed farmland, and
hunting territory.
Early Expansion
In the early years of expansion,
people started moving away from the
Appalachian mountain range. They first
settled in present day Indiana, Ohio,
Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois. However,
early expansion was not enough for the
Americans. They needed even more land!
The Louisiana
Purchase
In 1803, Thomas Jefferson
decided to purchase land. He
bought the Louisiana Territory from
the French. It cost him 15 million
dollars, but he got an enormous
chunk of land. The land laying
beyond the Mississippi River, was
about as much land as they already
had from early expansion!
The Manifest
Destiny
Many people in the United
States at that time believed in
destiny. They thought that the US
was destined to expand towards the
west. That belief became known as
the Manifest Destiny.
Florida
The first person to go to Florida is
Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon in 1513.
In 1821 the Adams- Onis treaty was signed.
That meant we bought the Florida territory
from Spain. Unfortunately, Florida was
admitted as a slave state. The United States
did not want another slave state however, so
there was a bit of conflict there. They decided
that Iowa was to become a free state, and so
Florida was admitted into the US.
Texas Annexation
In 1519 the Spanish arrived
in Texas. They started settling in
Texas in the 1600 hundreds.
Eventually, Texas became
independent, it was its own country.
Some people in Texas wanted to join
the US, but the others wanted to
stay independent. Finally, we
convinced that Texas would benefit
by joining our nation. We granted
them protection from Mexico and
that we would become trade
partners.
The Mexican-
American War
The Mexican-American was
a conflict between Mexico and
America. When America was
expanding westward, they came
across Mexican Territory. The
Americans wanted the land, and
then the war started. Our country
won and we got California, most of
Arizona, and part of New Mexico.
The Treaty of
Guadalupe-Hidalgo
Now that you are familiar
with the Mexican-American War,
this is how it ended. General
Zachary Taylor led the US to victory,
and a treaty was signed. The
Guadalupe-Hidalgo treaty was
signed in 1848. After getting
California and parts of Arizona and
New Mexico, we got the other parts
of the two states.
The Oregon Treaty
The Oregon Treaty of 1846
set the boarder between Canada
and the United States. Great Britain
handed the Oregon Territory over to
the US. The senate established the
treaty, confirming the 49th parallel
boundary afterwards. On July the 1st
1867, Canada declares
independence, making that the
boarder between the US and
Canada.
Alaska
In 1728 a Danish explorer
named Vitus Bering came across
Alaska. He discovered the strait
between Asia and the Americas, so
we call that strait the Bering Strait.
The Russians were the first
Europeans/ Asians to establish
permanent settlements in what is
now Alaska. The US then purchased
Alaska on August 1st, 1867 for 7.2
million dollars. That is only two
cents per acre! It was worth it,
because of all the gold found there.
Hawaii
The Polynesians are the
first people to arrive at the Hawaiian
Islands. After a long long time, the
Kingdom of Hawaii was overthrown,
and the Republic of Hawaii became
a territory of the United States. A
few years later, Hawaii became US
territory in 1898. Over the next
several years the US built military
bases on Hawaii’s island.
  https://www.ducksters.com/
 https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-
releases/oregon-treaty-1846
 Here is present day America:

Sources
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