The Westward
Expansion of the
United States
Why do you think people in the United States felt a need
to expand further to the west?
Manifest destiny idea that the United States was
ordained to expand to the Pacific Ocean. Some
proponents of the idea even suggested that the
country should absorb Canada, Mexico, and the
nations of Central America and the Caribbean.
The concept justified
rapidly expanding white
settlement throughout the
mid to late 19th century.
How does this painting represent the concept of Manifest Destiny?
U.S. Government
Encourages Westward
Expansion
During and after the Civil
War, Americans and
immigrants, with the help of
the government, continued a
push westward, occupying
the Great Plains, the Pacific
Northwest and the
Southwest.
Pacific Railway Act (1862): U.S. government
provided for the construction of a
transcontinental railroad through land grants.
Transcontinental Railroad: a railroad line
linking the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the
U.S., 1st line completed in 1869.
Land Grants: land was given to railroad
companies to encourage construction.
•Competing railroad companies
competed to get as much land from
the government as possible.
•Railroads sold excess land to settlers,
real estate agencies and other
businesses to pay for the cost of
constructing the lines.
Impact of Railroad Expansion
2.
industryincreased
stimulated
other
areas to
of new
economy
1. Railroad
Product markets
due
to access
areas.by
increasing need for steel, coal and timber.
Transcontinental Railroad
Nobody Move!!
I lost a contact.
Where do you see the majority of towns appearing?
Railroad Consolidation
In early 1800s, most railroads served local needs but a
desire to connect local lines arose.
Cornelius Vanderbilt: Among first to consolidate lines;
merged three short New York railroads to form New York
Central in 1869; became first to offer direct service from
New York to Chicago.
Railroad Consolidation
As railroad lines grew in length, time zones were
implemented to improve safety and reliability.
How would time zones improve safety and reliability?
Impact of Railroad Consolidation
1. Increased efficiency for businesses using railroads.
How?
2. Decreased time spent in long distance travel.
How would this impact westward expansion?
3. United Americans from different regions.
In what ways would Americans become more united?
Morrill Land Grant Acts (1862 & 1890):
enacted to help create agricultural colleges by
giving federal lands to states.
Can you see any
evidence of these
acts today?
Homestead Act (1862): provided 160 acres in the West to
any citizen or intended citizen who was head of a
household and would cultivate the land for five years;
much of the land given to settlers had been reserved for
Native Americans through treaties.
Quick Review!
In what ways did the U.S. government encourage
westward expansion?
How did the growth and consolidation of railroads
impact the country?
Do you think westward expansion would have
occurred if the belief in Manifest Destiny did not
exist?
What groups were hurt by the westward expansion
of the United States?
Government Policy On Native Americans
How does this drawing represent the artist’s perception of
the relationship between Native Americans and settlers?
Formative or Treaty Era: the first period of U.S.
government policy toward Native Americans; lasted from
about 1789 to 1871 and overlapped the “Removal Era.”
It was a period during which Congress dealt with Indian
nations through:
Treaties
Statutes; laws
Meeting of tribal
leaders and U.S.
Army
representatives to
form treaty.
The Formative Era ended with Congress banning the
further signing of treaties with Native Americans in 1871.
Removal Era: spanned over four decades and was
characterized not only by the forced relocation of whole
Indian nations, but also by a shift in federal policy toward
the "management" of Native American populations on
reservations.
Beginning in 1830
with the Indian
Removal Act,
Native American
tribes in the East
were subjected to
a systematic effort
by the federal
government to
move them
westward.
Indian Removal Act: Enacted on May 28, 1830, it
proceeded to shift most of the nations of Indian
tribes in the eastern United States to reservations in
what was deemed Indian territory in present-day
Oklahoma.
Reservation:
Indian
Territory:
a tract
an of
area
public
of land
landset
setaside
asidefor
bymembers
the
of
the Five Civilized
government
for use
Tribes
by Native Americans.
Take notice of the
types of structures that
exist on this
reservation. Why are
there some
differences?
Once the Natives
were removed,
what happened to
their former
lands?
Trail of Tears: name given to forced march of Cherokee
Indians from their lands in the southeastern U.S. to Indian
Territory during 1838-1839.
Thousands of people died during the journey and the
Trail of Tears has become synonymous with the U.S.
government’s harsh treatment of Native Americans.
The term is sometimes used to refer to the eviction of
Where’s
Oprah??
tribes
as
well.
Howother
does the
artist
portray the
hardships of the march?
Bureau of Indian Affairs: government agency
established in 1824 to help manage American
Indian issues; still in existence today.
Indian agents: men who
served as representatives of
the U.S. government in its
dealings with Native
Americans, particularly
with Indians living on
reservations; worked under
the supervision of the
Bureau of Indian Affairs
and were responsible for
providing tribes with food,
clothing, and other supplies
and were expected to
promote "civilization"
among the Indians.
Indian agents remained a powerful factor in Native American lives
until the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934.
Assimilation and Allotment Era: 1871 to 1928;
involved ending tribal influence, was designed to
integrate Native Americans into white American life;
it ended with the passage of the Indian Reorganization
Act in 1934.
Indian Training
School
Chemawa, Oregon
Allotment: the apportioning out of reservation lands to
individual Native American tribes, became official
government policy with passage of the General Allotment
Act (Dawes Severalty Act) of 1887. The federal
government believed that allotment would aid in process of
assimilating Native Americans to U.S. society, as they
would learn benefits of owning and cultivating property.
Federal Department
Regional Office
“Homestead”
Between 1887 and 1934, Native Americans lost
approximately
million
acresWhat
of land
Use this deed as90
a primary
source.
can it through
tell you
about this allotment of land?
allotment.
Assimilation: process whereby individuals or groups of
differing ethnic heritage are absorbed into the dominant of
a society. In the late 19th century and early 20th century,
the official U.S. government policy of assimilation in
regard to Native Americans was a failure.
Tonto, the Lone
Ranger’s trusted
sidekick, portrays an
image of a Native
American that
adopted many aspects
of the white culture
while maintaining
some of the Native
American culture.
Acculturation refers to the conscious effort made by the United
States to conform Native Americans to the ways of U.S. society. By
the end of the 19th century, the process of acculturation was actively
funded and supported by such federal policies as:
- the allotment of
land to individual
Native Americans.
- the education of
Native American
children in
government
schools.
- the granting of
U.S. citizenship.
BeforeCitizenship Act, June
After
Indian
2, 1924
An act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior
to issue certificates of citizenship to Indians.
Be it enacted…, That all non-citizen Indians
born within the territorial limits of the United
States be, and they are hereby, declared to be
citizens of the United States Provided, That the
granting of such citizenship shall not in any
manner impair or otherwise affect the right of
any Indian to tribal or other property.
What’s the difference between assimilation or acculturation?
Acculturation as government policy ended when the Indian
Reorganization Act of 1934 allowed Native Americans once again
to practice the tenets of their tribal beliefs.
Indian
Its
mainReorganization
provisions were
Act:
to restore
landmark
to Native
federal
Americans
legislation
management
of
June 18, 1934
of their
that officially
assets (mostly
endedland);
the government's
to prevent
furtherofdepletion
policy
allotmentofand
reservation
advocated
resources;
tribal organization
to build a sound
on
economic foundation
reservations
as a formula
for the
for people
the improvement
of the reservations;
of Indian
and to return to the Native Americans local selflife.
government on a tribal basis.
•www.historyonthenet.com/.../ manifest_destiny.htm
•www.cyberbee.com/manifest_ destiny/destiny.html
•whitemountainart.com/.../ chocorua_ab_002.htm
•www.historyteacher.net/ AHAP/AHAPTopicSheets.htm
•www.pbs.org/wgbh/ aia/part4/4narr4.html
•www.sd4history.com/ Unit7/crowcreek.htm