• Between 1787 and 1853 the United States started its westward expansion, with the hope of achieving manifest destiny. Manifest Destiny is the term used by those who wanted the United States to take full advantage to occupy the available land from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans. In order to achieve manifest destiny the U.S. had to buy land from the Spanish and the French, many ordinances were put into place and treaties were signed with the British in addition to gaining lands from “the Mexican American War.” During the period of westward expansion, the United States also saw its population increase; this increase also made it important for the westward expansion to take place.

    After the constitution was ratified, the thirteen colonies became states between 1787 and 1790. Delaware was the first colony to become a state followed by Pennsylvania and New Jersey (1787), Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia and New York, (178 cool , North Carolina (1789), Rhode Island (1790). The first event to start expanding the U.S. west was the “Land Ordinance of 1785,” this ordinance set up a system for surveying and dividing western lands public lands in the western region of the country. The “Northwest Ordinance of 1787” was passed by the Congress to form a political system in the Northwest region. The Northwest Territory was created from these ordinances and they included the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. The Northwest Ordinance was a significant event in the fact that the area north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi was open for development unlike before when development of the area was forbidden.

    At the beginning of the 1800’s many settlers had begun moving westward because of the growth in population. The settlers began living in the Appalachian Mountain Range and the Mississippi River Valley. Around this time, Kentucky and Tennessee also joined the union. As the settlers began to depend more on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers for trading President Jefferson tried to find a way to keep the ports open there were located at the mouth of the Mississippi River. One of the most important ports on the Mississippi River was the port of New Orleans which was controlled by Spain who also controlled the Louisiana Territory. The Louisiana Territory went west from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains.

    President Jefferson’s problems grew when Spain closed the port of New Orleans and traded Louisiana to France in a secret treaty. In order to keep the economy going and the settlers in the area happy, President Jefferson asked the US Ambassador to France, Robert Livingston, to buy New Orleans from France. The ambassador was successful; he not only purchased New Orleans from France, they also offered to sell the entire Louisiana Territory to the U.S. in 1803 for $15 million. This purchase doubled the size of the United States and brought the country one step closer to achieving Manifest Destiny.

    Shortly after the Louisiana Purchase, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, where chosen by President Jefferson to explore the new territory. Lewis and Clark traveled along the Missouri River to learn more about the area. Zebulon Pike was also sent on an expedition to find the starting point of the Red River. This River was a part of the Louisiana Territory located along the western border of the Spanish territory.

    Between 1803 and 1837 the U.S. had officially admitted the states gained through the land ordinances’, the Louisiana Purchase and from the separation of New Hampshire and Maine.. The states included Louisiana (1812), Indiana (1816), Mississippi (1817), Illinois (181 cool , Alabama (1819), Maine (1820), Missouri (1821), and Arkansas (1836), Michigan (1837).

    The U.S. had gained Florida from a treaty signed with the Spanish in 1818. The U.S had border disputes with the Spanish about the border with Florida. The Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams, held meetings with the Spanish ambassador Luis de Onís to talk about these issues and about allowing Americans to settle there. When the new President James Monroe had come into office he had sent troops to guard the Floridian border with General Andrew Jackson. At the time of Monroe’s election conflicts started between the United States and Seminole Indians. The Seminoles had helped escaped slaves and had also raided U.S. settlements. In April 1819 Jackson had his troops invade Florida and capture Seminole Raiders.

    Texas was slowly about to become its own independent nation. Before it became an independent nation however, because Mexico didn’t want to lose this land Texas had to fight a war. In October 1835 the Texas revolution had started with their victory in the first battle. On March 2, 1836 the New Republic of Texas was created. Even though Texas had won the war hostility had created tension and forced upon another war. The Texans had fought two battles in this war the Battle of the Alamo and the Battle of San Jacinto. Texas had named it capital Houston after its war hero Sam Houston. Voters in Texas had elected Sam Houston as the President along with Stephen F. Austin as the Secretary of State.

    The U.S. had gained control of Oregon in 1846. When the Spanish and Russians gave up claims to land in Oregon Country the U.S. and Great Britain were the only two powers that had control of this land. The U.S> wanted to extend the b order north to the 54˚40’ north latitude. The U.S. had made up a slogan for where they wanted the border which was “Fifty-four forty of fight.” Since neither side wanted a war the U.S. and Great Britain signed a treaty which gave the U.S. the land of Oregon Country south of the 49th parallel. The treaty that was signed back then and still exist today which makes up that border. Oregon became an official state in 1859.

    The Gadsden Purchase was the last thing that had added land to the U.S. The Gadsden Purchase happened after the Mexican American war. The U.S. had to pay $10 million and as a result the U.S. received the land in the southern part of what is now Arizona and New Mexico. The treaty had also resolved the border problems and had created the current border today. New Mexico became an official State in January 1912 and Arizona became a State in February 1912.

    The U.S. vision for Manifest Destiny was coming into play piece by piece. If the U.S. didn’t have the choice to make these decisions the nation would be stuck on the east coast forced to build upward because of the population incline. Another consequence could be that current rural areas would be urban and would mess with agriculture. The growth in population would create the need for more hospitals and more funding in Fire Departments and Police Departments.

    Because the U.S. had this power they were able to achieve Manifest Destiny and also claim lands. Because of treaties and wars, land ceded to the U.S. and also bought land the U.S. took over the land from the east to the west. The U.S. had taken control of all land in the U.S., made political boundaries between each state and taken over other lands outside the contingent 48 states.