Westward

Expansion
Essential Question
How did the United States expand
its territories between 1800 and
1860?
Credit
s

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In the late 1700s, many Americans felt that land in the east was too
crowded. They set out west, hoping to find more space and new land
to settle on. Slowly, the United States acquired more land and grew
into
theon
country
knowto
today.
Click
each we
button
learn more about the history of that
region.
Oregon
Trail

Californi
a Gold
Rush

Louisian
a
Purchas
e

The
Mexican
War

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e

Rea
your dy to sh
ow
teac
h
e
you
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learn what
ed?
Click
here
!

Map image obtained from The National Atlas of the United States. Work is in
the public domain.

In 1800, Thomas
Jefferson was elected
president. At this
time, the French
controlled a large area
of land west of the
Mississippi River. This
was a danger to
American farmers
Ne
because they
Orl w
ean
s
depended on using
the port in New
Orleans to trade their
Ask yourself... What might happen to the farmers if the
goods.
French
decided to close the New Orleans port to American
Image used with permission under GNU Free
Documentation License.

farmers?
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Thomas Jefferson
wanted to protect the
farmers. In 1803, he
sent representatives to
France to speak with
Napoleon Bonaparte.
Their goal was to
convince Bonaparte to
agree that U.S. farmers
could trade through
New Orleans.
Image obtained from Wikimedia Commons. Work is in the
public domain.

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The United States was very surprised when

the French offered to SELL the land to the
United States. It turns out, the French
needed money for a war against Great
Britain.

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e

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Jefferson was excited to add this huge area

of land to the United States, so he bought it
for $15 million dollars that is less than 4
cents an acre! The Louisiana Purchase
doubled the size of the country, added about
828,000 square miles.

Image used with permission from Microsoft

PowerPoint Clip Art.

Ask yourself... Do you think the Louisiana Purchase was a

good business deal for the United States?
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e

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Jefferson had always been interested in science and

nature. He wanted to learn more about the new
territory and beyond, so he sent a special expedition to
explore it.
Meriwether Lewis and
William Clark were sent
to...
1. Gather information about
the landforms, plants,
animals, and climates of
the West
2. Study the cultures of the
western Native
Americans
3. Explore the Missouri and
Columbia rivers in hopes
Hom
Next
of finding a water route
e
Image obtained from Wikimedia Commons. Work is in the
public domain.

Check Your Understanding

The Louisiana Purchase was important
because it
A
Doubled the size of the United States
B
Was land claimed by the Spanish king
C
Was won in a war against the French
D
Led to the War of 1812 against Britain

Youre Right! Nice Job!

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PowerPoint Clip Art.

Hom
e

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Oops... Thats not right!

Jefferson was excited to add this huge area
of land to the United States, so he bought it
for $15 million dollars that is less than 4
cents an acre! The Louisiana Purchase
doubled the size of the country, added about
828,000 square miles.

Hom
e

Image used with permission from Microsoft

PowerPoint Clip Art.

Try
Agai
n

Check Your Understanding

What did Jefferson ask Lewis and Clark to do?
Aexplore the source of the Mississippi River
Bexplore Western land and Native American
cultures
C
meet with the French ruler, Napoleon
Bonaparte
D
stop the British from claiming land in

Youre Right! Nice Job!

Image used with permission from Microsoft

PowerPoint Clip Art.

Hom
e

Oops... Thats not right!

Image obtained from Wikimedia Commons. Work is in the

public domain.

Hom
e

Meriwether Lewis and

William Clark were sent
to...
1. Gather information about
the landforms, plants,
animals, and climates of
the West
2. Study the cultures of the
western Native
Americans
3. Explore the Missouri and
Try
Columbia rivers in hopes
Agai
of finding a water route
n

In 1821, the first settlers

from the United States
arrived in Texas in
search of inexpensive
land. Texas was then a
part of Mexico. Within
ten years, there were
more Americans than
Mexicans in Texas!
Hom
e

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Image used with permission from Microsoft

PowerPoint Clip Art.

Hom
e

The new settlers did not

always obey Mexican
laws. They were most
upset that slavery was
illegal in Mexico,
because many settlers
brought slaves with
them from the United
States. Because of these
differences, American
settlers wanted to break
away from Mexico.
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In 1836, Texans rebelled against Mexico to win

independence. The president of Mexico sent a
large army to stop the rebellion. His goal was to
capture the Alamo, an old mission that Texans
were using as a military fort. Less than 200
Americans defended the Alamo. Most of them
were killed during the Battle of the Alamo.

Hom
e

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But the Texans remembered this important battle.

Texans later launched a surprise attack on the
Mexicans at San Jacinto, shouting

REMEMBE
R THE
ALAMO!

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PowerPoint Clip Art.

while they defeated Mexican troops and captured

the Mexican president. After this, Mexico agreed
to give Texas its independence.
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Now that they were free from Mexico, Texans

wanted to be annexed by the United States.
Annexation is the act of joining two countries or
pieces of land together. In 1845, Congress voted
to annex Texas.

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PowerPoint Clip Art.

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After Texas joined the

United States, Mexico
wanted the border
between Texas and
Mexico to be at the
Nueces River. The
United States wanted
the boundary to be
the Rio Grande river.
Make a prediction based on
where the present-day
border between Mexico and
Texas is, who do you think
won this conflict?
Image obtained from Wikimedia
Commons.

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The United States and Mexico

went to war over this
disagreement. Eventually,
U.S. soldiers captured Mexico
City in September 1847.
Mexico's leaders agreed to
sign the Treaty of
Guadalupe Hidalgo, a peace
treaty that set the Rio Grande
as the border between Mexico
and Texas. Mexico was also
forced to turn over a large
area of land called the
Mexican Cession.

Image obtained from Wikimedia Commons. Work is in the

public domain.

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Check Your Understanding

The Mexican law that most angered Americans
living in Texas was that they could not
Amove west
Bform an army
Cfarm the land
Down slaves

Youre Right! Nice Job!

Image used with permission from Microsoft

PowerPoint Clip Art.

Hom
e

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Oops... Thats not right!

Image used with permission from Microsoft

PowerPoint Clip Art.

Hom
e

The new settlers did not

always obey Mexican
laws. They were most
upset that slavery was
illegal in Mexico,
because many settlers
brought slaves with
them from the United
States. Because of these
differences, American
Try
settlers wanted to break
Agai
away from Mexico. n

Check Your Understanding

What caused the Mexican War?
AThe U.S. wanted to take over Mexico City
BMexico invaded the United States
CMexico was angry that the U.S. allowed
slavery
D
Mexico and the United States could not
agree on the border between the two

Youre Right! Nice Job!

Image used with permission from Microsoft

PowerPoint Clip Art.

Hom
e

Oops... Thats not right!

After Texas joined the
United States, Mexico
wanted the border
between Texas and
Mexico to be at the
Nueces River. The
United States wanted
the boundary to be
the Rio Grande river.

Hom
e

Image obtained from Wikimedia

Commons.

Try
Agai
n

In the 1840s, settlers began hearing exciting

things about the West and decided to move there.
They often traveled on the Oregon Trail. It was
about 2,000 miles long and stretched from
Missouri, across the Rocky Mountains, to presentday Oregon.

Image used with permission under GNU Free

Documentation License.

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e

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Image used with permission from Microsoft

PowerPoint Clip Art.

People traveled in large groups of wagons called

wagon trains. Oxen, mules, or horses pulled
each wagon. Travelers on the Oregon Trial faced
injuries, diseases, and bad weather. Lack of food
and water were problems, too.
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e

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To Move or Not to Move...

Reasons to Move

Some people felt land in

the east was too crowded
Mormons wanted religious
freedom
Inexpensive or free land
The draw of gold
Adventure
Manifest Destiny - The
belief that it was Americas
destiny, or purpose, to
control all land from the
Atlantic to the Pacific

Hom
e

Reasons NOT to Move

Long journey
Many dangers
Traveling by wagon
was difficult bumpy,
cramped, equipment
often broke
Weather was a
challenge
Many challenging
landforms to cross
mountains, rivers,
bitter cold plains
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Check Your Understanding

Which of the following is NOT one of the
reasons settlers moved westward?
ALand in the east was crowded with farms
and cities.
B
Traveling in a covered wagon was fast and
easy.
C
DPeople were in search of free or inexpensive
land.

Youre Right! Nice Job!

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PowerPoint Clip Art.

Hom
e

Oops... Thats not right!

Reasons to Move

Some people felt land in the

east was too crowded
Mormons wanted religious
freedom
Inexpensive or free land
The draw of gold
Adventure
Manifest Destiny - The
belief that it was Americas
destiny, or purpose, to
control all land from the
Atlantic to the Pacific

Hom
e

Reasons NOT to
Move
Long journey

Many dangers
Traveling by wagon was
difficult bumpy,
cramped, equipment
often broke
Weather was a challenge
Many challenging
landforms to cross
mountains, rivers, bitter
cold plains

Try
Agai
n

In the 1800s, gold was

discovered in California.
Thousands of people from
the United States, Mexico,
Chine, Europe and South
America rushed to
California to dig for gold.
These people became
known as forty-niners,
because they went to
California around 1849.

Image obtained from Wikimedia Commons. Work is in the

public domain.

Hom
e

Make an Inference Look at

the photograph. What do you
think the life of a forty-niner
was like?
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During the California

Gold Rush, more than
250,000 people moved
to California.
Boomtowns sprang up
near the gold mines.
Boomtowns are towns
whose population
booms, or grows, very
quickly.
Hom
e

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PowerPoint Clip Art.

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The Gold Rush lasted only about five years.

Though a few miners found gold, but most did
not. Some forty-niners went back home, but
most stayed and settled in California. As a result,
California was changed forever. Miners and
farmers killed Native Americans and took over
their land. Californian cities grew, and soon
California had enough people
to become a state.
len
Chal
ge

Visit this website and imagine

that you traveled to California
during the Gold Rush. Write a
summary about some of the
decisions you needed to make
during your move.
Hom
e

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PowerPoint Clip Art.

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Check Your Understanding

A major result of the California Gold Rush was
that
A
All the people became rich from finding
gold.
B
CMost of the people returned back east.
DCalifornia had enough people to become a
state.

Youre Right! Nice Job!

Image used with permission from Microsoft

PowerPoint Clip Art.

Hom
e

Oops... Thats not right!

The Gold Rush lasted only about five years. Though a
few miners found gold, but most did not. Some fortyniners went back home, but most stayed and settled in
California. As a result, California was changed forever.
Miners and farmers killed Native Americans and took
over their land. Californian cities grew, and soon
California had enough people to become a state.

Hom
e

Image used with permission from Microsoft

Try
Agai
n