Essay On Westward Expansion

Historians have debated over the years from the date of start of the history of United States. Despite debating for many years, these historians have not agreed on the issue but one thing is for sure, and that is America has a very rich history. History suggests that westward expansion was the key to the nation’s health and it was effective between 1803 and 1861. Between these years, both individuals and institutions in the country expanded to Oklahoma. This expansion was characterized by the rise of manufacturing in New England and increasing mobility throughout the nation making it different from earlier ones. Moreover, the descendants of the founding father encouraged the desire for expansion into west territories through the use of laws
The Wild West refers to the largely lawless nature of much of the pattern of the settlement ensued immediately after the Louisiana purchase opening the frontier west of the Mississippi River to settlers. It is worth noting that both the central and federal governments played an important part in ensuring that this expansion process was successful. Some of the notable contributions of the federal government include:
Provision of protection against Indians – considering that the Indians could not give up their land easily, the government had to provide protection in the form of the army to ensure that the settlers faced minimal resistance from the initial inhabitants of these lands. As a matter of fact, these Indians owners of the vast land were forced out of their homes into reserves and given just a small piece of land for their personal use. Any resistance was met with full force.
Gave huge land grants to the railroads to get them push westward¬- the presence of transportation infrastructures was very essentials in ensuring that the expansion plans were successful. The railroads were to be used to transport farm products from the farms to the markets as well as transporting farm inputs from the market to the farms. As a result, the government was forced to give large track of lands to be used for railroad
Historians have gone forth to give different accounts on the frontier, but most of the accounts given focus in the 19th century west of the Mississippi River. Turner developed a thesis stating that American democracy was formed by the American Frontier as the process of moving the frontiers line and the impact it had con the ancestors contributed to democracy and the freedom that is enjoyed by most American citizens. The American frontier comprises of the geography, history and cultural expression of life in the forward wave of Americans in the West. The Turner thesis shaped the American history for almost two centuries, but some of the historians have disagreed with his views. Notably, Henry Nash Smith disputed tuners findings as he examined many of the heroic photos examined by Turner, but rather he treated them less the American west and the process through which individuals of European descent settled there. Moreover, Francis Parkman developed classic American literature disputing Turner’s opinion. He went forth to explain turners assumption in another new perspective thus shaping the way and perceptive of later generation concerning West and its