Robert Morgan There Is No True History Of Westward Expansion Summary

The author of “There is No True History of Westward Expansion,” Robert Morgan, believes that Westward Expansion was pursued by the common people of America, and the government followed the people. This belief is false due to the fact that the American government was the source of the idea of expanding to the West. The American government, specifically President Thomas Jefferson, was the main push for westward expansion.
President Thomas Jefferson aspired for the United States to reach from coast to coast. He believed that any American should be able to travel freely across the whole continent, and for the United States government to have full control of the lands in the West. An example of his view is from Thomas Jefferson’s America, 1801 where the author Stephen Ambrose states, “From the beginning of the revolution, he (Jefferson) thought of the United States as a nation stretching from sea to sea.” This proves that Jefferson wanted America to gain the Western lands, and the common people weren't the source of the ambition, proving Morgan’s claim wrong.
Jefferson sent out an expedition to explore the Western lands. Jefferson sent out this expedition because he wanted the American people to feel the excitement of gaining the Western lands, and hopefully help make people start moving out West. The expedition was fully documented and the findings
For example, “The historian John Buchanan has called the westward expansion, or Manifest Destiny, ‘the greatest folk movement of modern times, in which, for the most part, the people led and government followed.’” from the text There is No True History of Westward Expansion. Morgan brings up one man's belief that the people led and the government followed. This is incorrect, due to the fact the Jefferson was the cause of the expedition and therefore westward expansion, which is described by