USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Westward expansion began in earnest in 1803. Thomas Jefferson negotiated a treaty with France in which the United States paid France $15 million for the Louisiana Territory – 828, 000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River – effectively doubling the size of the young nation.

Detailed explanation-2: -Expansion of the United States moved steadily westward from the late 18th to the mid 19th centuries. This territorial movement displaced most of the Native American peoples who lived in those lands for thousands of years before the arrival of European colonists.

Detailed explanation-3: -A significant push toward the west coast of North America began in the 1810s. It was intensified by the belief in manifest destiny, federally issued Indian removal acts, and economic promise. Pioneers traveled to Oregon and California using a network of trails leading west.

Detailed explanation-4: -Gold rush and mining opportunities (silver in Nevada) The opportunity to work in the cattle industry; to be a “cowboy” Faster travel to the West by railroad; availability of supplies due to the railroad. The opportunity to own land cheaply under the Homestead Act.

Detailed explanation-5: -President Thomas Jefferson spearheaded westward expansion when the United States acquired the Louisiana territory from France in 1803 and sponsored Lewis and Clark’s expedition (1805–1807).