Westward Expansion Before the Civil War

Mrs. Maimone

The country grew by expanding westward. Early Americans believed it was our country’s Manifest Destiny to spread from the Atlantic to the Pacific

(East Coast all the way to the West Coast).

Manifest Destiny & Westward Expansion

• Manifest Destiny was the belief that the United States was blessed with liberty and, therefore, had a right and duty to expand from sea to sea. Americans traveled west to spread this idea of liberty and for:

• Opportunities (jobs, land, & a fresh start)• Adventure• Wealth• Religious Freedom

Who am I?

• I loved adventure!• I was adopted • I traveled across the Appalachian Mountains,

found a trail, cleared the path, and returned home safely, two years later.

• Because I returned safely, others were encouraged to venture west into the unknown wilderness.

Yes, I am Daniel Boone.

Who am I?• I was a member of the Shoshone tribe.• I was captured as a child by the Hidatsa tribe, our

enemies. • I married a French fur trapper named Charbonneau

when I was 15.• I guided Lewis and Clark through the wilderness,

showing them the paths and which plants were edible and non-edible.

• I acted as a translator for them when we met other Native Americans.

• I brought my newborn son on the expedition with me.

Yes, I am Sacajawea.

Who am I?

• I was the main author of the Declaration of Independence.

• I was America’s third president.• They nicknamed me “The Red Fox.”• I sent Lewis and Clark on their expedition to

map the Louisiana Territory and to keep journals about what they found.

Yes, I am Thomas Jefferson.

Who am I?

• I led an expedition into the wilderness to explore the Louisiana Territory.

• This territory was purchased, from France, in 1803.

• William Clark, a soldier, came with me.• We also brought along Sacajawea and others.• We left from St. Louis, Missouri.• We made it all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

I am Meriwether Lewis and, as you can see, we began our journey in St. Louis, Missouri, where the

Missouri River branches off from the Mississippi River, and headed west over the Rocky Mountains

and the Continental Divide, going all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

Here is a picture of me, Meriwether Lewis, with William Clark. I am on the

left, and Clark is on the right.

Indian Removal Acts

• There were lots of treaties between the U.S Government and Native Americans.

• However, some of those treaties were not honored.

• Some of those treaties were dissolved when Congress authorized the Indian Removal Acts, forcing Indians off of their land and onto reservations.

Who am I?• I was a Shawnee chief.• I visited the other tribes.• I tried to convince them to unite.• That was the only way we would be strong

enough to fight against the American settlers. • My brother, Tenskwatawa , thought he was a

prophet. He did something very foolish, telling my people that bullets would not hurt them.

• My people were killed at the Battle of Tippecanoe, near the Ohio River.

Yes, I am Tecumseh, and I tried to get the other tribes to unite and

fight together.

Who am I?

• I was from a Cherokee tribe.• I wrote an alphabet, or writing system, for

my people, using symbols to represent the 85 syllables that we spoke.

• My people even wrote a constitution.

I am Sequoyah.

Who am I?

• I was an Indian fighter.• I was the seventh president of the U.S.A.• Some people called me a hero.• The U.S. Supreme Court told me I needed to honor

the 1791 land treaty with the Cherokee Indians.• I ignored the Supreme Court and forced those

Cherokee to move west-to a reservation in Oklahoma.

• You might know that event as the “Trail of Tears.” Thousands of Cherokee died on that march westward to Oklahoma.

Yes, I am Andrew Jackson.

Who am I?

• I brought lots of settlers with me to Texas.• We made three promises to the Mexican

government: • a. We would become Catholic. • b. We would become Mexican citizens.• c. We would free our slaves.• We broke those promises and talked about

making Texas independent from Mexico.

I am Stephen Austin and I am known as the “Father of Texas.”

Who am I?

• I fought against the Mexican president, Antonio Lopez de’ Santa Anna, and won the war against Mexico. I did it by very careful planning and we surprised Santa Anna at San Jacinto.

• After capturing Santa Anna, we made him sign a statement that gave Texas to the United States.

• Later, Texas elected me to be their president.

I am Sam Houston, and Houston, Texas, is named for me!

Who am I?• I was a Seminole leader.• I tried to hide in Florida, but when Florida

became part of the United States, my people were told to move west, onto reservations. I did not think we should leave Florida, and so I was a leader in the Seminole Wars against the U.S.

• I was captured by U.S. Government officials, even though I waved a white flag of peace, and they put me in prison.

• I died in St. Augustine, Florida, where I was imprisoned at the Castillo de San Marcos.

Yes, I am Osceola, a Seminole leader.

Who am I?

• I fought against Tecumseh when I was a young man.

• I was the governor of the Indiana Territory where I fought against the Native Americans.

• I became the ninth U.S President, but I died from pneumonia after only one month as president.

Yes, I am William Harrison.

Who are we?

• We took our stand in an abandoned mission church in Texas known as the Alamo.

• We fought bravely, even though we were badly outnumbered.

• We had fewer than two hundred men on our side.

• Our soldiers killed 1,500 Mexican soldiers at the Alamo.

We are Davey Crockett, Jim Bowie, and William Travis (our commander)

Who am I?• As a child in North Carolina, I was very ill until I had

my gall bladder removed.• I was the eleventh president of the U.S.A.• I believed in America’s Manifest Destiny, and was

determined to make California, with its vast coastline, part of the United States.

• In order to avoid another war, I made a compromise with Great Britain to divide Oregon Country at the 54 degrees, 40’ latitude line.

• I lied to the American people about American soldiers getting shot on American soil, but I firmly believed the disputed territory should belong to the United States.

I am James Polk.

What am I?

• I was a good road, and my owner could charge a fee for you to travel on me.• I am a turnpike.

What am I?

• Governor DeWitt Clinton thought I would be a good idea and that I would help transport people and goods across the state of New York.

• I am 363 miles long and connected Albany to Buffalo.

• I helped improve New York State’s economy. So, other states began to build their own canals.

• I am the Erie Canal.

What am I?

• I could go upstream!!!• I am a steamboat.

What am I?

• You could use me to travel over and around mountains, even during the wintertime, and I could be used to travel across places where there is no water.• I am a railroad.

Why was it hard for Americans to travel during the 1700s?

• The roads were bad and there were not many forms of transportation.

Why did the Native Americans resent the American settlers?

• The Native Americans were being forced off of their land and onto reservations.

What did Oregon have that was so valuable?

• Oregon had lots of furry animals and traders wanted to sell the fur to people in Europeans.

Why wasn’t Texas allowed to become a state right away, when they asked?• Texas allowed slavery and the U.S.

Government was nervous about allowing another slave state into the union.

What land areas did President Polk hope to gain by going to war with

Mexico?• He hoped to gain California for its coasts and

ports, and New Mexico for its important trading center of Santa Fe.

Why did the Mormons go West?

• They traveled west for religious freedom and to avoid religious persecution.

What happened during the California Gold Rush of 1849?

• More than 80,000 people went to California.• Few miners got rich off of prospecting for

gold.• Many merchants, like Levi Strauss, became

wealthy selling their goods to the miners.• Many people gave up mining because it was

too hard.