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westward expansion timeline
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northwest ordinance of 1787
New York: s.n., 1787.
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The Northwest Ordinance, officially titled "An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States North West of the River Ohio," was adopted by the Confederation Congress -
louisiana purchase
Citation: Louisiana Purchase Treaty, April 30, 1803; General Records of the U.S. Government; Record Group 11; National Archives. In this transaction with France, signed on April 30, 1803, the United States purchased 828,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River for $15 million. -
Lewis and clark Expedtition
Having started upstream on the Missouri River from their St. Louis-area camp—where they had been preparing for the expedition since fall 1803—on May 14, William Clark and nearly four dozen other men met up with Meriwether Lewis on May 20. -
the war of 1812 (connection to westward expansion)
The War of 1812 was a military conflict, lasting for two and a half years, fought by the United States of America against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, its North American colonies and its Native American allies. -
purchase of florida from spain
The colonies of East Florida and West Florida remained loyal to the British during the war for American independence, but by the Treaty of Paris in 1783 they returned to Spanish control. After 1783, Americans immigrants moved into West Florida. -
Missouri Comprimise
Finally, a compromise was reached. On March 3, 1820, Congress passed a bill granting Missouri statehood as a slave state under the condition that slavery was to be forever prohibited in the rest of the Louisiana Purchase north of the 36th parallel, which runs approximately along the southern border of Missouri. -
Eerie canal
After more than two years of digging, the 425-mile Erie Canal was opened on October 26, 1825, by Governor Clinton. As Clinton left Buffalo in the Seneca Chief, an ingenious method of communication was used to inform New York City of the historic occasion. -
indian Removal act
The Indian Removal Act was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830, authorizing the president to grant unsettled lands west of the Mississippi in exchange for Indian lands within existing state borders. A few tribes went peacefully, but many resisted the relocation policy. -
Annexation Of Texas
The annexation of Texas to the United States became a topic of political and diplomatic discussion after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and became a matter of international concern between 1836 and 1845, when Texas was a repuplic. -
Mormon Movement
The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement or LDS restorationist movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian primitivist movement founded by Joseph Smith in the late 1820s. Collectively, these churches have over 15 million members. -
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush was a period in American history which began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. -
Treaty Of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed by the United States and Mexico on February 2, 1848, ending the Mexican War and extending the boundaries of the United States by over 525,000 square miles. -
Oregon Territory
The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Oregon. -
Gadsden Purchase
Meeting in Mexico City on December 30, 1853, James Gadsden, U.S. Minister to Mexico, and General Antonio López de Santa Anna, president of Mexico, signed the Gadsden Purchase. -
Kansas-nebraska act
Antislavery supporters were outraged because, under the terms of the Missouri Compromise of 1820, slavery would have been outlawed in both territories. After months of debate, the Kansas-Nebraska Act passed on -
Trail of tears
In 1838 and 1839, as part of Andrew Jackson's Indian removal policy, the Cherokee nation was forced to give up its lands east of the Mississippi River and to migrate to an area in present-day Oklahoma. The Cherokee people called this journey the "Trail of Tears," because of its devastating effects. -
homestead act
The Homestead Act of 1860 did pass in Congress, but it was vetoed by President James Buchanan, a Democrat. After the Southern states seceded from the Union in 1861 (and their representatives had left Congress), the bill passed and was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln -
Transcontinental Railroad
Opened for through traffic on May 10, 1869 with the ceremonial driving of the "Last Spike" (later often called the "Golden Spike") with a silver hammer at Promontory Summit,[4][5] the road established a mechanized transcontinental transportation network that revolutionized the settlement and economy of the American West by bringing these western states and territories firmly and profitably into the "Union" and making goods and transportation much quicker, cheaper, and more flexible from coast to -
The Dawes Act
The Dawes Act of 1887, adopted by Congress in 1887, authorized the President of the United States to survey American Indian tribal land and divide it into allotments for individual Indians. -
Spanish-American war
After the Spanish-American War, the United States gained the territories of Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam.
