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Northwest Ordinance
The American Government created the Northwest Territory out of land gained by Great Britain. This expanded the US to the west and allowed for the creation of more states to the west. The northwest ordinance also set the precedent for which slaves would be free and which states would be slave states. -
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Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny was the idea that the US should expand from 'sea to shining sea'. Manifest destiny was the driving factor for most of the westward expansion that went on from 1812-1860. If it weren't for manifest destiny, the US probably wouldn't have expanded as far west as it did. -
Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail was a route from the east to the west, which many people used to move out west. the Oregon Trail allowed for a big increase of population in the west and allowed for the further expansion and creation of states out west. -
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Pre Civil War Westward Expansion
Westward Expansion Before the Civil War -
Texas becomes a U.S. State
Texas was added to the US after being an independent country. The addition of Texas added a large amount of land to the US. It entered as a slave state, which was contested by the North. The addition of Texas also caused border issues with Mexico -
Mexican-American War
America went to war with Mexico over border disputes in Texas. America eventually won the war and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was created, which gave the US 525,000 square miles of Mexican territory and the Rio Grande was recognized as the southern border of Texas. -
Oregon Treaty
The border of Oregon was contested between Great Britain and the US. Polk was coined the phrase "54-40 or Fight", which showed he was willing to go to war with Great Britain to get all of Oregon Country. Instead of Fighting, the US government came up with the Oregon Treaty and gave the northern part to Great Britain. -
California Gold Rush
Gold was discovered in California. A lot of people migrated to California in hopes of finding gold. This lead to a huge increase of population in California -
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 added California as a free state and Texas lost its land in the New Mexican territory in exchange for there being no slave restrictions on Utah and New Mexico. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas Nebraska act added both Kansas and Nebraska as states, and allowed for them to choose if they wanted to be free or slave states. This led to Bleeding Kansas, which was kind of a small pre-civil war. -
Gadsden Purchase
The Gadsden Purchase was when the US paid Mexico $15 million for 29,000 square miles of territory that would become the southern parts of Arizona and New Mexico. This is still the present day border between the US and Mexico.
