Term Paper on "Westward Expansion"

Term Paper 12 pages (4448 words) Sources: 4 Style: Turabian

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Westward Expansion and Manifest Destiny

At the time of the signing of Treaty of Paris (1783), which formally ended the American Revolutionary War, the United States of America consisted of thirteen former British colonies concentrated in the east of the North American continent and hemmed in by the rugged Appalachian region to the west. Within a relatively short period, however, the newly formed country started to expand westward and by mid nineteenth century encompassed a huge mass of territory extending from the Atlantic coast right down to the Pacific coast in the west -- transforming the United States of America into one of the biggest and most powerful nations in the world. This remarkable Westward Expansion is a fascinating story of adventurous 'mountain men,' pioneering farmers, diplomatic statesmanship, military conquest, and brutal subjugation of the Native Americans. It is also the subject of this research paper which takes a look at various phases in the westward movement including the initial forays in the west by fur-traders, land speculators and farmers; the Louisiana Purchase from the French in 1803 that added a huge mass of mid-western territory in the U.S.; the Texas Annexation of 1845; the Mexican-American War of 1846-48 that resulted in the Mexican Cession of 1849 and extension of the U.S. borders to the Californian coast, and the Treaty of 1846 with the British for the Oregon territory. The paper also discusses the reasons for the westward expansion, including the underlying philosophy behind the movement called Manifest Destiny.

Manifest Destiny

Although the phrase, 'Manifest Destiny' itself was coined much later in 1845 by an influential New York journalist named John O'Sullivan, the philosophy behind the term, i.e., the supposedly divine right, nay duty, of the American nation to extend its founding charter of liberty, democracy, and freedom (albeit, for the 'white men' only) across the North American continent, goes back much further. Benjamin Franklin, for example, had predicted in 1767 (even before the country had gained its independence) that "America, an immense territory, favored by nature...will...be able to shake off shackles that may be imposed on her and perhaps place them on the imposers"

The Americans, therefore, seemed to have believed from the beginning that they were not only different from the rest of the world but their form of government and the land they possessed was superior to others -- beliefs from which the theory of 'American Exceptionlism' evolved. The theory, in turn, had its roots in the philosophy of John Winthrop who wanted the Puritan community of New England to serve as a model community -- the metaphorical "City upon a Hill" -- for the rest of the world. When the idealism of the nations's revolutionary beginnings, romantic nationalism, and a sense of Anglo-Saxon superiority, were added to the feelings of 'American Exceptionalism' it gave rise to a heady mix that came to be called the Manifest Destiny. People like John O' Sullivan provided the moral justification for the expansion by arguing that it was God who had provided a unique opportunity for the American people for the development of "the great experiment of liberty and federated self-government" and urged the American people to reject any limitations that history or law may have placed in their nation's supposedly divine mission to possess the entire North American continent. Manifest Destiny thus became the torch that lit the way for American expansion in the west.

The expansion that was propogated by Manifest Destiny was not necessarily aimed to be achieved through the use of violence because most Americans were convinced that people inhabiting other areas of North America (including Canada) would ultimately prefer to join their Union. Moreover, the sole reason for the westward movement was not aimed at spreading the American 'virtue'; the prospect of economic gain was, arguably, a greater incentive that convinced the individual Americans as well as their government to look to the west.

The Initial Pioneers and Trail-blazers to the West

Most of the early immigrants to North America in the 16th century had come from England and other parts of Europe, settling on the east coast in settlements that were within 100 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. The Appalachian mountains with its tortuous terrain and dense forests in the west provided a natural barrier that prevented westward expansion of the British colonies for over a century. The Indian tribes that inahabited the land beyond the Appalachian mountains were a further deterrent to settlements in the west since they defended such encroachments by attacking the white settlers who tried to move further west. Some enterprising individuals, however, lured by the promise of adventure and prospects of trade dared to cross the barrier -- mainly through the Cumberland Gap -- and became the trail-blazers for the westward movement that gathered pace after the American Independence. These early pioneers who ventured into the American west, also known as "mountain men," were mainly individual hunters and fur trappers. Unlike the permanent white settlers who followed later, these single, roving individuals did not upset the Native Indians too much and some even traded and learned survival techniques from them.

One of the famous early pioneers who blazed the "wilderness trail" into the west was the legendary figure, Daniel Boone. Born into a large Quaker family that had immigrated to Pennsylvannia from England, Boone had learned to hunt and became familiar with the ways of the Indians at an early age since several Indian tribes lived near the Boones homestead in Oley Valley at the edge of the Pennsylvannia frontier. Having heard stories of the fertile land and abundant game in Kentucky that lay beyond the forbidding Appalachian Mountains, Daniel Boone often set out in the wilderness to explore the land and to hunt for beaver-skin that was much in demand in Europe. His familiarity with the region prompted Judge Richard Henderson of North Carolina, who had purchased land from the Cherokee Indians in Kentucky and formed the Transylvania Company in 1774, to hire him for widening the 'wilderness road' through the Cumberland Gap in the Appalachian Mountains into Kentucky. Daniel Boone employed 35 axmen to cut through the thick forest and widen the path and made it usable for wagons. Although the path remained treacherous for travel due to attacks by Indians, rough terrain and mud, thousands of pioneers braved the journey to reach the frontiers of Kentucky and Tennessee. One of the reasons for the unrelenting western movement of the pioneers and settlers despite the hazardous journey was that after 1770, there had been a surge of over 400,000 Scots-Irish immigrants into North America to escape the poor harvests, high rents and religious prosecution in their own country; significant number of immigrants from Germany and Denmarks also followed. Since the better lands had already been taken by early European settlers, these new immigrants had little choice but to press westwards looking for new farm and grazing lands and a better life. The rate of immigration to the West picked up pace so rapidly after the establishment of the 'Wilderness Road' that from a population of virtually zero in 1774, the number of permenant white settlers in Kentucky swelled to over 200,000 by 1800.

The pioneer farmers who moved west for economic reasons, lived a vastly different life than the 'mountain men' -- the fur-traders and the animal trappers. They had brought along their families and livestock; cleared the land for farming and cut down trees for building houses. These activities annoyed the Indians, who themselves lived in harmony with nature, disliked such activities, and became hostile to the white settlers leading to Indian Wars on the frontier. The pioneering farmers were inevitably followed by a support group: the storekeepers, preachers, blacksmiths, carpenters, lawyers, and doctors who came to provide services for the farming community and settled permanently in towns and villages. In time, these settlers built other necessities required in a permanent community such as schools, churches, and roads, and some of the towns grew into cities.

As the population of the areas in the west where these new communities were coming up grew, new states were added to the Union; the rule being that when a particular area reached 60,000, it officially became a state. Hence, Kentucky became a state in 1792, followed by Tennessee in 1796, and Ohio in 1803.

The Louisiana Purchase

Simultaneous to the exploration and settlement of the western frontier in the late eighteenth century by the 'mountain men' and pioneering farmers, other political developments were taking place at the governmental level that would have even greater ramifications for the Westward Expansion. Not all American politicians were convinced about the virtues of following an expansionist policy in the early days of the country's independence. Some were of the opinion that the newly formed country already had enough land and further acquisitions would weaken rather than strengthen a fragile republican federation. The accepted theory of political science at the time formulated by the French philosopher Montesquieu (1748) taught that "the republican form of… READ MORE

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