Westward Expansion

Westward expansion was one of the most important episodes in American history. This expansion allowed the colonists to gain resources to grow and expand. After the colonists had gained their Independence from Britain, they were finally allowed to colonize westward. However, expansion caused conflict with the people who already lived there; the Native Americans. Even though Indians had been living in America for centuries, the colonists just attacked and forced them to leave. The Indians did resist expansion into their territory, "although these conflicts often slowed white settlement, they could not stop it, particularly as the whites usually had the backing of the federal government."America was a growing Nation and nothing could stop its expansion, especially because the Indians had no connections with the government of America. The president, Andrew Jackson, simply pushed the Indians aside far west and said stay there. He made reservations for them in order to stop conflicts, but it is still very unfair that the Native Americans had to leave from their own land. Soon, the reservations got smaller and smaller as the Americans gained more and more land and needed more because of overpopulation. As the Americans continued to take the land from the Native Americans, they use"manifest destiny, the drive to spread American culture and values across the continent" to justify their actions. The Americans believed they had a right to expand and force their culture upon others. They believed they were dominant over any other culture, but that is not fair at all. Each people should be able to do what they want and believe what they want and not have others taking their land or forcing their beliefs upon them. Then congress passed the Homestead Act which also encouraged westward expansion limiting the Indians' territory even more. Then gold was discovered in California which lead to even more migration. Once the transcontinental railroad was built, it was easy to expand and there wasn't much hope for the Native Americans.

"westward expansion." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 28 Jan. 2010. .