Impact of Westward Expansion in the United States Essay Example

Imagine going from a house in one state to the capital in a different state. It takes roughly a month to get there, now there is the steam engine, you could get to the capital in just a matter of days! Even more importantly all of the new states that the U.S bought in the Westward Expansion is about 75% of the U.S.A. This is essential because Westward Expansion was positive for the United States. There were numerous good things like gaining land, creating trails, and new inventions.

The first reason Westward Expansion was positive for the United States was because of the roads and trails that were made. One very critical passageway was the Cumberland Gap. In the book The United States: Making a New Nation, Michael Berson et al. states, "A private company hired Daniel Boone and about thirty others to widen the trail through the Cumberland Gap. The group built the Wilderness Road, which became the main route to the west" (427). This is significant because without this Gap it would have been a lot more problematic to expand west. This was a gap in the Appalachian Mountains that allowed the settlers to venture west. There was also the National road. This road was built so people could ship goods across the country. But walking and wagon trains were not very quick, so people built the Erie Canal. Berson et al. also states, "It cut the time and cost of shipping a ton of goods from Buffalo to New York City from 20 days to 8 days and from about $100 to less than $10" (453). In other words, this Canal is very vital to the economy. The canal connected the Hudson River to the Great Lakes, from there the boats could go down the Ohio River, down the Mississippi River, and into the Atlantic ocean.

The second reason Westward Expansion was positive for the United States was that the U.S. gained land. The U.S. gained the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 from the French. Berson et al. also expresses, "On April 30, 1803, the deal was made final. The sale, called the Louisiana Purchase, more than doubled the size of the United States” (429). This is consequential because the Louisiana Purchase not only doubled the size of the U.S. it was the whole middle part of the country! Lewis and Clark show that the land has immense natural resources. The U.S. also gained a couple more important pieces of land such as the Mexican Cession, the Annexing of Texas, and the Gadsden Purchase. This gave the U.S. California, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming, Texas, and Colorado. For example, Berson et al. states, "They believed in the Manifest destiny, the idea that the US was meant to stretch from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean" (448). This is noteworthy because in buying all of those states, the U.S.A. completed the Manifest destiny theory.

The third reason Westward Expansion was positive for the United States was because of the inventions that were made. One invention that was a big step in the inventor world was the telegraph, it helped people communicate so much faster. For instance, according to Berson et al., "Samuel F. Mordeninvented a faster way to communicate. His invention, called the telegraph, sent messages from one machine to another along a wire" (456). Another way to phrase it is, sending telegrams was so much faster than writing letters. Can you visualize going from your house to your sister's house, she lives far away so it takes you about a week to get there, now you have the steam engine, you could get to your sister's house in a matter of just days! For example, Berson et al. states, "In 1830, Peter Cooper built the first American locomotive, the Tom Thumb. Cooper proved that steam locomotives could pull cars over iron rails" (454). In other words, the steam train was probably the best invention yet.

However, there were some sinful things about the Westward Expansion. Some of those things include Indian removal. We slaughtered and forced Indians out of their homes so we could have more room to expand the country. Then there was slavery, we continued using it. Surprisingly people wanted more states to allow slavery. Berson et al., says, “Free blacks were often forced to wear special badges, pay extra taxes, and live separately from whites,” (184). This evidence suggests that blacks were not treated fairly even though they are “free”. Many have argued that slavery was good for the economy, and although this can be true in some cases, just because some people are a different color doesn't mean they get to be treated differently or poorly. 

In the thesis, Westward Expansion was a positive thing for the United States, there were numerous good things like gaining land, creating trails, and new inventions. These achievements were the basics of Westward Expansion, would the U.S.A. be the same without the Louisiana Purchase, the Mexican Cession, the Annexing of Texas, and the Gadsden Purchase?