Background
Essay:
“From its earliest years, the United Sates set its sights on expanding toward the West. The prospect of new commercial and trade opportunities, coupled with the idea of spreading America’s democratic principles, led to many governmental decisions that would make it easier for people to head west. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 established official governmental control over the Northwest Territory (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin). Settlers soon headed into this territory, which was located north of the Ohio River and west of Pennsylvania to the Mississippi River. They established towns and farms in this region and paved the way for future westward expansion. In 1803, the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million. President Jefferson had already planned to send an expedition to explore the far western region of the continent, and the Louisiana Purchase gave him even more incentive to do so. Jefferson wanted to find a “northwest passage” (an all water route across North America) that would serve as a trade route between the Missouri River and the Pacific Ocean. He sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to lead the “Corps of Discovery” on this exploratory mission. The group traveled to the headwaters of the Missouri, over the Bitterroot Mountains in present-day Montana and Idaho, and along the Snake and Columbia Rivers to the Pacific. They found the trip to be much more difficult than they’d expected and were unable to locate a “northwest passage.” Still, the Lewis and Clark Expedition provided a great deal of new information about the continent’s Native Americans, animals, plants, and terrain. As Americans increasingly turned their sights westward, the concept of Manifest Destiny became a popular rallying cry. Coined by John O’Sullivan in 1845, the term “Manifest Destiny” referred to the belief that God had destined the United States to expand all the way to the Pacific, spreading its democratic value system across the continent. Manifest Destiny became a major justification for the westward expansion into Indian and Mexican territories during the 19th century.
“From its earliest years, the United Sates set its sights on expanding toward the West. The prospect of new commercial and trade opportunities, coupled with the idea of spreading America’s democratic principles, led to many governmental decisions that would make it easier for people to head west. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 established official governmental control over the Northwest Territory (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin). Settlers soon headed into this territory, which was located north of the Ohio River and west of Pennsylvania to the Mississippi River. They established towns and farms in this region and paved the way for future westward expansion. In 1803, the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million. President Jefferson had already planned to send an expedition to explore the far western region of the continent, and the Louisiana Purchase gave him even more incentive to do so. Jefferson wanted to find a “northwest passage” (an all water route across North America) that would serve as a trade route between the Missouri River and the Pacific Ocean. He sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to lead the “Corps of Discovery” on this exploratory mission. The group traveled to the headwaters of the Missouri, over the Bitterroot Mountains in present-day Montana and Idaho, and along the Snake and Columbia Rivers to the Pacific. They found the trip to be much more difficult than they’d expected and were unable to locate a “northwest passage.” Still, the Lewis and Clark Expedition provided a great deal of new information about the continent’s Native Americans, animals, plants, and terrain. As Americans increasingly turned their sights westward, the concept of Manifest Destiny became a popular rallying cry. Coined by John O’Sullivan in 1845, the term “Manifest Destiny” referred to the belief that God had destined the United States to expand all the way to the Pacific, spreading its democratic value system across the continent. Manifest Destiny became a major justification for the westward expansion into Indian and Mexican territories during the 19th century.