Westward Expansion A Changing America

Background By the 1820’s the US had expanded beyond the original 13 colonies It now extended far west toward Oregon and what would eventually become Texas In 1784 congress passed the Northwest Ordinance which allowed Americans to buy 640-acre chunks of land Americans had once seen this land as a colony but now the new settlers could organize into states These settlers were not leaving the US, they were expanding it Access to new lands led and more Americans to move West

US as of 1819

Major Land Acquisitions In 1803 Thomas Jefferson made the Louisiana Purchase for 15 million US dollars and doubled the size of the United States This gave the US control of key port cities like New Orleans In 1819 the US gained Florida from Spain in the Adams-Onis Treaty which was signed after General Andrew Jackson invaded in 1818 This land was originally occupied by native Seminole tribes

Major Land Acquisitions In 1848 US annexed Texas, which had been an independent republic after declaring independence from Mexico Americans had been living in this area for decades by this time In 1848 Mexico conceded (gave up) the territory that is now California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah This was the last major addition to the continental United States

A New Economy for New Lands Most American settlers traveling west traveled by river or by covered waggon As the nation grew new modes of transportation were invented Steamboats, canals, and railroads This new technology made it easier to move people and good across the expanding country