Recent Event Highlights: Spanish American War, Mexican American War, and 9 more...
Created by chiemenz on Dec 2, 2010
Last updated: 12/03/10 at 06:39 AM
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The United States government spent 26 billion dollars in the manufacture of the interstate highway system. The highway expanded new opportunities for businesses to sell their goods to new consumers. Since the businesses could sell more things, the cost of goods dropped in price drastically on top of the price of shipping when down. The highway expanded where people live because they can take the highway to get to the city from rural places. The highway being built affected industrialization because it was more technologically advanced than the railroads and it opened new jobs for people because the highways had to be built. "MD Rt. 200 Intercounty Connector Construction Site In Maryland." UPI Photo Collection. United Press International, 2010. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 1 Dec. 2010.
The first color television was created by CBS. This single new expansion of technology connected every person in the United States because the majority of the population went out and bought a color television. The color television had an impact on economic expansion because there was a large demand for the new televisions, so lots were made forcing the economy to develop and expand. The color television also had an impact on industrialization because new technology was made to create the televisions in color. The color also led to more commercials and advertisements which made people see what was out there to buy. "Family watching television." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 1 Dec. 2010. "Television (1940s)." American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 2 Dec. 2010.
The first functioning car to be made was the Ford Model T which was made by Henry Ford. The Model T was “an inexpensive, durable car” (Ford, Henry 1863-1947) which was sold over seventeen million times over the course of it being on the market for nineteen years. The Model T had two major impacts on expansion and industrialization, one being the car was the first efficient way of transportation other than horse or a train. The car started a new technology that is still being used today. Also, the car had an economic impact on the sale and production of oil and gas, because of the large demand for gasoline after all of the cars were sold which greatly expanded the United States economy. The second way the Model T impacted expansion and industrialization was the first car had a huge impact on the way businesses used the assembly line because all of the Ford Model Ts were made by an assembly line which revolutionized how things were mass produced in the United States and the rest of the world. "Ford, Henry 1863-1947." American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Vol. 3: 1920-1929. Detroit: Gale, 2001. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 2 Dec. 2010. "This production assembly line puts together Fords Model T, a car affordable enough for most..." U*X*L Encyclopedia of U.S. History. Sonia Benson, Daniel E. Brannen, Jr., and Rebecca Valentine. Ed. Lawrence W. Baker and Sarah Hermsen. Vol. 1. Detroit: UXL, 2009. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 2 Dec. 2010.
The Panama Canal was first in control by Columbia. The United States asked Columbia to build a canal through Panama, but Columbia rejected and Panama soon fought, and got their independence from Columbia with the support from the United States. Since the United States supported Panama’s independence, Panama built a canal through their country for the United States. The canal impacted expansion and industrialization because the United States could now easily trade throughout South America without taking extreme roundabout ways to get there. This led to the gaining of lots of money and the expansion of the United States economy. The canal also served as a great way of defense by the United States navy because they could pass through Panama to get to other countries much faster. "The S.S. Ancon Journeys Through the Panama Canal." American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 2 Dec. 2010.
The Spanish American War began by the United States sending over a naval ship to Cuba with the intention of supporting United States citizens living in Cuba with goods. The Spanish did not like how there was an American ship sitting at one of their colonies’ ports, Cuba, so they attacked and blew up the American ship sitting there. As a result, the United States declared Cuba an independent country from Spain, and the United States used American troops to force Spanish troop out of Cuba. The Spanish American War had a large impact on expansion and industrialization because the United States received Guam, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. This lead to an expansion of land and resources that the United States had not had before, which in turn lead to the expansion of the United States economy. "Roosevelt and Riders." U*X*L Biographies. Detroit: U*X*L, 2010. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 2 Dec. 2010.
The Pacific Railway Act granted railroad companies free public land to build railroads. The government granted the companies ten miles on both sides of the track which made them very rich because they could sell the land they did not need and make lots of money. Native Americans objected to this idea because they were losing land because their land was being given to the railroad companies and the Indians had no chance to ever win a war because troops could now be moved so quickly by train if there ever was one. The significance the Pacific Railway Act had on expansion was the railroad made it very easy for goods to be shipped creating the economy to expand, and people could now easily move further West expanding where people lived in the country. The significance the Pacific Railway Act had on industrialization was the railroad was first form of transportation other than horse on land. Also, all of the materials to make the trains and tracks were American made creating a larger industry of companies making train supplies. "Directors of the Union Pacific Railroad on the 100th Meridian." Westward Expansion. Woodbridge, CT: Primary Source Media, 2010. American Journey. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 1 Dec. 2010.
The Homestead Act gave up to 160 acres of land to people somewhere West in the Louisiana Purchase land. To get the land, the people had to be willing to move there and work the land for five years. The people had to irrigate the land, build a home, be an American citizen, farm the land, build a well, and fence the land in their area. The purpose of the government giving away land was to get people who could work to the Midwest with the idea that the Midwest would quickly develop. The South was against this idea because they wanted to be slave states, but the migrants who moved into the Midwest would make the states non-slave states because they were from the North making the land free. This has to do with expansion and industrialization because people began to expand to the Midwest and create a new industry by building new houses and creating new jobs. "This family stands with their wagon, in Loup Valley, Nebraska, on their way to their new homestead,..." U*X*L Encyclopedia of U.S. History. Sonia Benson, Daniel E. Brannen, Jr., and Rebecca Valentine. Ed. Lawrence W. Baker and Sarah Hermsen. Vol. 4. Detroit: UXL, 2009. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 1 Dec. 2010.
James W. Marshal was the first person to find gold in California Sacramento Valley. Less than a year later, 80,000 men arrived in California to look for gold and only half were American. The result of so many people coming to California to find gold was the gold rush turned a sleeping California into a wild, ethnically diverse, violent place where there were over a thousand murders and only one person was convicted. Larger machinery mining companies soon drove out the miners in California. The significance of the gold rush on expansion was many people expanded from where they lived in the United States and moved West to California. The new mining machinery created new industrialization in the United States because they were the first major machines to be used to make lots of money which in turn expanded the economy. "African American gold miner in Auburn Ravine, California, 1852." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 1 Dec. 2010.
The Mexican American War was started because of the Texas and American pioneers moving into Mexican land and California. The United States believed the border between Mexico and the United States was the Rio Grande, and Mexico believed the Nueces River was the border and a Mexican Calvary crossed the Rio Grande and attacked a small group of American soldiers on April 25 1846, which led to congress’s declaration of war. The war ended when Santa Anna's army was defeated at San Jacinto, and he was forced to sign a treaty acknowledging Texas as a sovereign state resulting in Texas being admitted into the United States. This has to do with expansion because the United States gained Texas from Mexico and expanded the country by another state. This expanded the economy again because more food could be grown and more industry could be developed in the new state of Texas. "General Winfield Scott's capture of Mexico City in the Mexican-American War ended the conflict and paved the way for the United States to achieve its vision of Manifest Destiny." Hispanic American Almanac: A Reference Work on Hispanics in the United States. Ed. Sonia Benson. 3rd ed. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 1 Dec. 2010.
The Monroe Doctrine was the speech by President Monroe where he addresses the independent colonies from Europe saying America is willing to help other new countries, Western Powers do not support colonization in Western countries, and America’s treatment of Europe will not change. He continues to go on and say if Europe tries to create a colony in the Western hemisphere, the United States will see them as an enemy and a threat and will defend themselves. As a result, it is impossible for Europe to get involved in North and South America without upsetting the United States and if they do, the United States will have to get involved. This is significant for the future of expansion because the United States wants the resources in South America and they can get them and economically expand if no European countries have control there. This opens up West of the Hemisphere for the United States and America can now explore what's west of their border now and expand their territory because there is very little influence from Europe to stop them. "Leaders discuss the Monroe Doctrine, which declared the Western Hemisphere to be free of further European expansion or ideology." Hispanic American Almanac: A Reference Work on Hispanics in the United States. Ed. Sonia Benson. 3rd ed. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 1 Dec. 2010.
The Louisiana Purchase was the gaining by the United States of America of 828,800 square miles of France's claim to the territory of Louisiana in 1803. The United States paid a total of 15 million dollars to acquire the land from France. This is significant to expansion because the United States of America expanded by 16 states after they bought the land. This gave the people in the United States more opportunity to grow new foods on the new land. A result of the expansion of the new states caused the new basis of the economy to expand and made more money for the new colonies of the United States. This also led to the expansion of where people lived because there was new land for them to live on after the Purchase. "Map of the area encompassing the Louisiana Purchase." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 1 Dec. 2010.
The Lewis and Clark expedition was when Thomas Jefferson asked Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to be the first people to explore the new parts of the Louisiana Purchase. The expedition's goal was to gain an accurate sense of the resources being exchanged in the Louisiana Purchase. The expedition laid much of the groundwork for the westward expansion of the United States. This is because it led to the expansion of trade throughout a larger area of the United States between many more people, therefore expanding the economy. The government was also expanding their ideas because the exploration was the government’s first idea to send a group to explore their new land. Lewis and Clark were important because until they went West to explore, no one had known what was past their colonies. "Lewis and Clark Holding Council with Indians." Westward Expansion. Woodbridge, CT: Primary Source Media, 2010. American Journey. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 1 Dec. 2010.
The French and Indian war was a war between the colonies and British vs. the French and Native Americans. The end result of the war was the colonies win the war and the Spanish and English take over America to the Mississippi River and divide the land. The colonies think that they can expand all the way to the Mississippi River, but can’t because of the Proclamation of 1763 where the King drew a line that separated the Native Americans and colonists, giving the Native Americans an Indian Reserve. This is significant to expansion and industrialization because this is the first time the colonies have had any land for themselves from the French making them independent. This is the start to the United States and the first small step for expansion and industrialization for the country and many things to come. "Execution of an Onondaga Warrior by French and Indians." The Native American Experience. Woodbridge, CT: Primary Source Media, 2010. American Journey. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 1 Dec. 2010.
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