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westward expansion

            The American Westward Expansion era was a time of uncertainty and turmoil. As Americans, the American Dream represents that all are a free and equal people. During the 1860's this vision was lost. Many innocent human beings were treated harshly and without equality while our dream was replaced by selfishness and the humane urge to control territory. Two main examples of how Westward Expansion did not follow this American dream are the Battle of Wounded Knee and the way in which the immigrants were treated.
             As Americans moved west, a major obstacle was the Native Americans. Instead of coming up with a peaceful solution to deal with his "road block" the settlers simply killed every Native American in sight. A man known by Colonel Chivington was famous for killing women and children along with unnecessary torture towards the Native Americans. A historic battle called Wounded Knee is an example of this cruelty. An officers account of one of these massacres goes as follows: " in going over the battleground the next day I did not see a body of a man, women, or child but was scalped and in many instances their bodies were mutilated in the most horrible manner-. These occurrences were accounted many times throughout the Westward Expansion which proves the American Dream was not followed in this era.
             The second example as to why this Westward expansion was not done in the American way was how the immigrants were treated and welcomed in our country. Most immigrants were immediately put to work on the construction of the Railroad. An act was passed called the Chinese Exclusion Act which limited Chinese immigrants to certain jobs which were usually all manual labor jobs. There were not sufficient supportive jobs for the new immigrants. Not only were jobs a problem for the Chinese immigrants, but the hate towards them from white men. Most Chinese men were treated with little or no respect and they were usually shot or robbed or both without any guilt from the perpetrator.


Essays Related to westward expansion

1. Westward Expansion

... the shores of the nearby rivers. Nevertheless, as the population kept growing, adventurers, trappers and many mores, started to move west, farther from waterways and from the Atlantic coast. Early westward expansion began However, it is in the first half of the 19th century that the United Sates gained most of its lands, sometimes buying them to their original owners, sometimes simply ... direct and practical water in communication across the continent, for the purpose of commerce" . Jefferson could not have been clearer in his directions. He believed that for American commercial intere...

  • Word Count: 1989
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

2. Westward Expansion

... than a person of average patriotic and historic beliefs would have expected. What was and is our belief about ourselves as we examine the westward expansion are both as enlightening as it is painful. This, of course depends on whose historical perspective it is. The proud history widely recognized ... fight for independence from England. However, from the perspective of the black slaves or Native Americans, the story of our heritage and the subsequent expansion west is much less than heroic. It is a story of man's inhumanity to his fellow beings.1 During the nineteenth century just after...

  • Word Count: 1682
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

3. Westward Expansion

... than a person of average patriotic and historic beliefs would have expected. What was and is our belief about ourselves as we examine the westward expansion are both as enlightening as it is painful. This, of course depends on whose historical perspective it is. The proud history widely recognized ... fight for independence from England. However, from the perspective of the black slaves or Native Americans, the story of our heritage and the subsequent expansion west is much less than heroic. It is a story of man's inhumanity to his fellow beings.1 During the nineteenth century just after...

  • Word Count: 1727
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

4. The Westward Expansion of America

Following the Civil War, the American people set out inhabit and settle on land in central United States. This vast new land to be cultivated was known as the Great Plains, or "The Great American Desert." Several problems stood in the way of these settlers including the lack of Americans present there already and inhabiting Native Americans. United States government was very interested in having its citizens inhabit the area. The government's policies to persuade people to move westward were seemingly strong and effective; however they were only just to a certain degree. Policies successfully ...

  • Word Count: 1148
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

5. Expansion

... United States we have been faced with the challenge of expansion and how to achieve it. As people started to move to the U.S., the U.S. started to get bigger as well land wise and were moving westward. People were able to move westward because the government made decisions to buy and win ... land. But as time went on things started to shift from what they use to be. During the late 1800's and early 1900's America expanded and improved their already existing way of expansion ... for the Philippines. Along with Mahan, Senator Albert J. Beveridge in a speech to Congress in the Congression...

  • Word Count: 1315
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

6. Westward Expansion

... the settlers and Indians could not peacefully assimilate. Although there is a debate over whether Indian removal was necessary for westward expansion, I believe that due to the mind set of white settlers and other prominent American figures, such as Andrew Jackson ... , expansion would not, and could not have taken place without the removal of Native Americans. As expansion began, many tribes tried to adopt Anglo-American practices. These attempts only ignited feelings of hostility and ... with the white settlers, one method was to try to adopt the practices of the colonist. The southwes...

  • Word Count: 1188
  • Approx Pages: 5

7. Slavery and Expansion

The united states had a policy of westward expansion, while mexico had a policy of self protection. What the americans had was actually the idea of manifest destiny. Manifest destiny was the belief that the US had the right to expand westward. Evidence of US expansion is seen with the independence of texas from mexico. The strongest evidence of US expansion goals is with the Mexican-American War ... . Slavery was also a big issue during the 1830's and 40's. The settlement of Texas played into the united States expansion plans. In the 1830's Texas was still within ... the land he also aroused ...

  • Word Count: 725
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

8. Women In Westward Expansion

From the early 1840's to the late 1860's, an era of westward expansion took place. Over this period of time, pioneers from all across the "Old World" decided to embark on a journey to the "New Country", a land of unending farmland, furs, and rivers ... pioneers wanted to explore their "manifest destiny", or their belief that they had rights to expand across North America (Faragher & Stansell, 310). Most of the men who decided to expand westward did so because they were farmers looking for new land to cultivate. With reports of lush, fertile lands to the west and the looming depression in 183...

  • Word Count: 811
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

9. The Expansion Of The Meaning Of Freedom In America

... what the notion of freedom means to each individual. Each change that America took was towards finding its identity, which thus leads to the expansion and definition of the term, freedom. According to Thomas Paine, the author of Common Sense, each man has his natural rights including his ... to be hard won from there. Foner's three elements are territorial expansion, political democratization, and the spread of market relations, which were influenced and encouraged by their interpretation of the concept of freedom. The first included the westward movement whereby America adopted the noti...

  • Word Count: 1973
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

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