Created by jkautenburger on Dec 1, 2010
Last updated: 12/02/10 at 12:14 PM
Expansion in the United States has no followers yet. Be the first one to follow.
In 1959 the Isles of Hawaii were annexed to the United States as the newest of the 50 US states. Reasons for the expansion to Hawaii were economic and military interests and cultural superiority. The United States were also afraid that Europe could expand to Hawaii and would be closer to the United States. Hawaii is important for the United States, to be a port for ships bound for Asia. The annexation was criticized because Hawaii is far away from the mainland, but it was new land for people to expand and to live. Hawaii was becoming more important as a commercial export resource and as a strategic location for defense in the Pacific region.
http://www.users.muohio.edu/shermarc/p412/haw97cult.shtml
Theodore Roosevelt announced an addition to the Monroe Doctrine: The Roosevelt Corollary. He stated, in referring to South and Central America, that the United States had the right and the need to intervene in the internal affairs of states in the Western hemisphere if they did not get their own affairs in order. The United States made them self to act like “policemen” wherever they think they were needed. This addition made the United States more powerful and showed independence from Europe. It also showed that the United Stated grew to one nation and as part of expansion they communicate and interact with other countries and nations.
http://www.historycentral.com/WStage/RooseveltCorollary.html
In 1867, the US purchased Alaska for $7.2 million from the Russian Empire to gain land. The United States gained 586, 412 square miles of new territory. The value of the Alaska purchase was much criticized, but it turned out to be many times greater than the United States had paid for it. The land turned out to be rich in gold and oil and also provided the USA an advantage in the Cold War. The Purchase of Alaska made the USA way bigger and people expanded. Reasons for the expansion were military and economic interests and cultural superiority.
http://www.robinsonlibrary.com/america/uslocal/pacific/alaska/history/purchase.htm
The Homestead Act was an American law to Purchase country. It allowed every person that was older than 21 years to settle down on a piece of land where nobody lived and to farm it. After five years, the settler could own the piece of land he had farmed. The idea of owning a free piece of land made many people expand westward where nobody lived. The Homestead Act supported Expansion. The settlers in the new land made the West grow stronger and became more independent by the Homestead Act.
http://www.robinsonlibrary.com/america/uslocal/pacific/alaska/history/purchase.htm
When gold was found by James W. Marshall in January 1848 at Sutter’s Mill in California, the Gold Rush began. The news of the gold discovery brought more than 300,000 people from the rest of the United States and from abroad to California. This had big effects on the population in California: San Francisco grew from a small settlement to a big town. This event made more people come to the United states and pushed the population. Also a lot of people from the East expanded to the West. All in all, the California Gold Rush led to more Expansion by people who moved and new discoveries.
http://www.history-for-kids.com/california-gold-rush.html
In 1835 is a conflict between the Americans that have settled in Texas and the Mexicans. The Mexicans want them to become their citizens and to accept their religion and the Americans agree, but continue to do their own thing. The pioneers, that wanted land, annexed Texas to the USA and Texas gains independence from Mexico. The American annexation of Texas whose independence the Mexican had never fully accepted made war with Mexico inevitable. When the Mexicans refused to meet with a US envoy, President Polk ordered American forces to maneuver close to the Mexican border in disputed territory. The Mexicans attacked and the war was on. The Wilmot Proviso wanted to abolish all slavery for all the new annexed states in the South after the Mexican war. The Mexican war led to more land, what means more Expansion for the United States. The whole war was justified by Manifest Destiny, which was the 19th century belief, that God wanted the people to expand.
http://www.uswardocs.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=90
The Indian Removal Act, which was signed in 1830 by Andrew Jackson, authorized the president to have trials with the Natives and to move them into the land that was acquired in the Louisiana Purchase Act and that was not organized in states or territories yet. By the Indians this movement was called “The Trail of Tears” because of its devastating effects. The migrants suffered from hunger, disease and exhaustion on the forced march. Many Indians died. The reason for the removal was the wish for new land by the settlers. The removal of the Indians to the West gave them new land for people to live and gave them room to expand. It also shows the growing power of the settlers in the United States, that now no longer have to trade for food with the natives, and that they get independent.
http://www.cabrillo.edu/~crsmith/noamer_soeast.html
The Monroe Doctrine, that was introduced 1823 by the United States, was a policy that stated that any further try of Europeans that want to colonize in the United States would be viewed as an act of aggression against the United States. The Monroe Doctrine was introduced, because the United States feared that European countries could fight them and that they could lose power. With this policy, the US tried to gain independence from other countries and to become its own nation. The Doctrine made it possible to expand without European countries to disturb them and made the United states independent. Another reason for the Expansion was, because the US feared the powerful Europe, and wanted to bring more room between them.The doctrine became an important part of US foreign policy. It was used to justify many US actions in the Western Hemisphere.
http://deskofbrian.com/2010/11/james-monroe-monroe-doctrine/
In May, 1804, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark set out on an amazing expedition across the Louisiana Territory. The faced unknown people, harsh conditions and unexplored lands to secure a place in history as two of the world's greatest explorers. One of the expedition's stops along the way was near present-day Yankton, South Dakota, and the Yankton Area Chamber of Commerce along with the Yankton Daily Press. This expedition was a big step for expansion, because they discovered new places and learned about new cultures and landscapes. Lewis and Clark showed the people how to expand and how to gain new land which made them more powerful. The expansion of new land, is also an expansion of the peoples mind and the learned new things and made a first step for our today’s life, especially in trading and communicating.
http://blog.pegasuscom.com/Leverage-Points-Blog/bid/28182/The-Courage-to-Explore-Lessons-from-the-Lewis-and-Clark-Expedition
In 1803 the United States paid France $15 million for the Louisiana Territory--828,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River. The Louisiana Purchase has been described as the greatest real estate deal in history and has nearly doubled the size of the United States, making it one of the largest nations in the world. Thirteen states were carved from the Louisiana Territory. After the Englishmen settled at the coast, more and more people came and they needed more land so they started to expand westwards. The Louisiana Purchase helped the United States to enlarge and helped the US to become the major power it is today.
http://storiesofusa.com/american-expansion-marbury-madison-thomas-jefferson-louisiana-purchase-lewis-clark-journey-war-1812-missouri-compromise-monroe-doctrine-indian-removal-act-battle-alamo-mexican-american-war-1803-1853/
The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 put the world on notice not only that the land north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi would be settled but that it would eventually become part of the United States, which were until then temporarily forbidden to development. Increasing numbers of settlers and land speculators were attracted to what are now the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. The banning of slavery in the territory had the effect of establishing the Ohio River as the border between free and slave territory. The ordinance allowed more settlement, what led to more people and more expansion. The division also helped the Act to balance between free and slave states.
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Northwest_Ordinance
In 1607 English colonists came to Jamestown hoping to find profit and the opportunity to own more land. They had to fight diseases, starvation and wars with the Indians. For Jamestown and its colonists it seemed unlikely to survive, but it grew into a successful colony and became the first permanent English settlement. Jamestown is very important for expansion, because the English settlers wanted to stay in the new country, and did not just go there for gold. They were the first ones, who immigrated and settled the land from Europe and started with Jamestown the Westward Expansion in the United States.
http://www.mce.k12tn.net/colonial_america/jamestown.htm
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