1. American Exploration and Settlement of the West, 1810- 1850

2. Questions for Today… How do we define “the West?” Why did American settlers push westward? How did this settlement process affect native peoples?

3. What is “The West?”

4. Main Reasons for Emigrating West Manifest Destiny

5. Definition of Manifest Destiny It is “the fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions…[and] for the development of the great experiment of liberty and federative self-government entrusted to us.” John O’Sullivan, 1845

6. Main Reasons for Emigrating West Manifest Destiny Hunger for Land

7. Oregon Territory

8. James K. Polk 11 th President of the United States

9. Oregon Territory

10. The Oregon Trail

11. Independence, Missouri

12. The Oregon Trail

13. Main Reasons for Emigrating West Manifest Destiny Hunger for Land Gold!

14. California and Oregon Trails

15. Gold Rush Miners

16. Gold Madness “The whole country from San Francisco to Los Angeles, and from the seashore to the base of the Sierra Nevada, resounds to the sordid cry gold ! Gold! GOLD ! While the field is left half planted, the house half built, and everything neglected but the manufacture of shovels and pickaxes.” San Francisco Californian

17. Main Reasons for Emigrating West Manifest Destiny Hunger for Land Gold! The Expansion of Slavery

18. Status of Slavery in 1800

19. Cotton Plantation

20. Ft. Laramie in the 1840s

21. Summary 1.There were different motivations for westward migration, and to some extent these varied depending on the region 2.Turner’s thesis can partially explain American expansion, but from the white American perspective only 3.This expansion would led to direct conflict between native peoples and white Americans