westward expansion

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The Westward Expansion

The first British colonialists first arrived in Virginia in the 17th century . They were amazed by vastness of America . They saw a lot of potentials with the unexplored land . Throughout the succeeding centuries by means of procurements and treaties , the United States would expand from the Atlantic region to the pacific region (Westward Expansion 2007

They use the mountains and rivers as a demarcation for American territories . The British expansion in the 1800s through the Appalachians was opposed

by the Native American Indians . To protect the British territory in America , the Proclamation of 1763 was issued to protect the lands of the American colonies in these areas (Westward Expansion 2007

However , when the American War for Independence took place , the name for these lands where changed . England agreed to surrender its land west of Mississippi to the New American nation through the Treaty of Paris in 1783 (Westward Expansion , 2007

Going to the West meant moving past the Appalachian Mountains where most Native Americans were located these include the Cherokees Chickasaws and the Choctaws . The early settlers were not yet interested in the acquisition of California and the Rocky Mountains in that period (Westward Expansion , 2007

Some American territories were still under France , Russia , Spain and Britain when Thomas Jefferson became the third president of the new American nation . Jefferson wants to get a hold of New Orleans which was controlled by France because of its proximity to Mississippi . The trade and commerce of the new American nation was also affected through its route going to Canada and Mexico (Westward Expansion , 2007

It was a tumultuous time for Napoleon in that period where he wanted to gain more control of the French colonies in America . Napoleon engaged in many battles . He lost a great number of soldiers while fighting in a slave revolt in Haiti . France was also in conflict with Britain . Thus the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 came into being (Westward Expansion 2007

Thomas Jefferson asked Merriweather Lewis and Lewis Clark who were both in the army to look at the possibility of expanding the American nation from Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains . They saw that there is a great promise in these regions (Westward Expansion , 2007

In 1817-1825 , the political climate in the American nation is termed as an Era of Good Feelings under James Monroe . There was a decline of partisan politics . The Democratic and Republican parties emerge in victory over the Federalist Party . James Monroe also sponsored the Monroe Doctrine in 1823 which stated that America should be free from European rule and meddling with the affairs of the states (MacroHistory 2003

In 1828 , Andrew Jackson was elected as president of the United States Jackson was the founding-father of democracy . In the same year , voter turn-out was remarkable . As a member of the Union , Vermont was permitted to vote . Tennessee has allowed its taxpayers to exercise their freedom to take part in the election . In 1830 , the...