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The Louisiana purchase in 1803, was an event that made the size of the United states double, when President Thomas Jefferson made this purchase for about 15 million dollars. This included the states Louisiana, Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and South Dakota, with the majority of the land in Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, and Wyoming. -
The Lewis and Clark Expedition was when President Thomas Jefferson sent out Meriwether Lewis and William Clark out on and Expedition to explore the area of the Mississippi River. They traveled on the Louisiana purchase, and made their way out to the Pacific ocean. They made maps along the way and finally returned back to report their findings in 1806. -
The Oregon trail was a huge event in which close to 1,000 people traveled along it, it was a 2,000 mile long journey, and included many hardships, like getting through rocky mountains, and the weather conditions and even sicknesses. Eventually, they all made it to Oregon country. -
During his Presidency, James K. Polk accomplished the Annexation of Texas. The process took over 10 years, because of the cause of slavery concerns, and with the Mexican-American war. -
When Gold was discovered in Northern California, thousands of people traveled to get their hands on it. In the beginning of 1848, around 1,000 people populated the area, but nearing the end of 1849, over 100,000 people lived there. This was because of all the gold. The gold rush ended in 1857. -
Just after two years after being ceded to the United states by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, California joins the U.S as a state. Unlike all other states, California was granted statehood without first having been a territory. -
After being ceded to the United states by England from the Oregon Treaty. Oregon Country becomes apart of the United States. -
The Homestead Act allowed people to claim up to 160 acres of land in the west. After making improvements on the land for around five years, many saw this opportunity and took it to establish a homestead. 500 million acres were given to those who made claims under this law from 1862 to 1904. -
Colonel George Armstrong Custer went and led an expedition which led to the discovery of gold in the Black hills, part of Dakota. This created a new gold rush, and attracted more people to the area. Within the span of two years, 10,000 people had moved to find gold.
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With the rapid westward expansion of the United states, head of the U.S Census declared that the country's settlement had been completed, which marked the end of the Westward Expansion Timeline.
