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Westward Expansion

Westward Expansion. Essential Questions. Why did Americans of European descent feel so compelled to expand the country westward? What might 19th-century Native Americans have said about Manifest Destiny? Why would they have taken this perspective?

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Westward Expansion

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  1. Westward Expansion

  2. Essential Questions • Why did Americans of European descent feel so compelled to expand the country westward? • What might 19th-century Native Americans have said about Manifest Destiny? Why would they have taken this perspective? • How might the country have developed differently if no gold or other precious minerals had been discovered in the West? • What would it have been like to walk in the shoes of a 19th-century settler in the West? • What did 19th-century federal legislation and military activity reveal about the government’s attitude toward westward expansion? • In what ways did westward expansion rely on immigration?

  3. Defining the West • The definition of the West has changed • “Old West” in colonial times • Northwest (present-day Midwest) • West of the Missouri River A 1794 map showing the Western Territory of the U.S., a region including present-day Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio (among other states)

  4. The Myth of “Discovery” • Native Americans already lived on the land that white explorers claimed to have “discovered” • An extremely diverse set of cultures inhabited North America before Europeans arrived As this map shows, dozens of tribes speaking nearly 20 different languages existed in America before the Europeans came

  5. The Northwest Ordinance Passed in 1787 Paved the way for future expansion Promised property rights for Native Americans Settlers ultimately allowed to stay on Native American land The Northwest Ordinance gave the government control over the area in green

  6. The Louisiana Purchase and Lewis & Clark U.S. purchased Louisiana Territory in 1803 from France for $15 million Lewis and Clark expedition, 1803–1805 Elicited the help of Native Americans, including Sacagawea

  7. Results of the Lewis & Clark Expedition Did not discover a “northwest passage” Collected much new valuable information United States claimed Oregon Country Sparked increasing interest in the West Lewis and Clark meet with Native Americans in an illustration by a member of the expedition

  8. Other Expeditions Zebulon Pike explored the Southwest and gathered information while in Spanish custody Fur traders explored and mapped western territory Zebulon Pike

  9. “Mountain Men” • Western fur traders • A multicultural group • Most worked for fur companies • Changing fashions diminished the fur trade A fur trader on horseback hunting in shallow water

  10. Discussion Questions What were some of the lasting results of the Lewis and Clark expedition? What factors and developments in the late 18th and early 19th centuries facilitated westward movement? Why do you think Easterners would have wanted to travel west, despite the hazards and difficulties of leaving home?

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