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Period: to
Westward Expansion
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Louisiana Purchase
The United States purchases from France more than 800,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River for $15 million. The Louisiana Purchase doubles the size of the United States. -
Indian Removal Act
Indian Removal Act granted President Andrew Jackson funds and authority to remove the Indians by force if necessary. He pursued a determined effort to force the Indians off of their tribal lands. -
Indian Territory Established
Congress establishes Indian Territory, which covers parts of the present-day states of Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Kansas, much smaller than the "all lands west of the Mississippi" that the
whites had once promised. This land would soon become even smaller. -
Oregon Trail
The first wagon trail traverses the Oregon Trail. This opens the floodgates for a total of approximately 400,000 people to eventually use it. -
Trail of Tears
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 the new Indian territory. The Indians called this journey the "Trail of Tears" because of its devastating effects. -
"Manifest Destiny" Term Coined
Journalist John L. O'Sullivan coined the phrase "Manifest Destiny". He wrote: "Our manifest destiny to overspread and to possess the whole of our continent which Providence has given us for the development of the great experiment of liberty." Manifest Destiny referred to many American's belief that it was the American's destiny to settle westward and conquer North America. -
Gold Discovered in California
James Marshall discovers gold at Sutter's Mill in California, beginning the California Gold Rush. Within the next year, an estimated 32,000 people have taken the overland routes to California, most in search of gold. -
Pony Express Opens
The Pony Express opens, providing the first rapid overland mail service to the Pacific coast. This now that all walks of the country have a fast form of communication (for the time.) -
Homestead Act
The Homestead Act provided that any adult citizen who headed a family could qualify for a grant of 160 acres of public land by paying a small registration fee and living on the land continuously for five years. Nearly 470,000 homesteaders apply for homesteads in the next eighteen years. -
Pacific Railway Act
Congress passed the Pacific Railway Act. This established that the Union Pacific Railroad Company was to build west from Omaha, Nebraska and the Central Pacific Railroad Company was to build
east from Sacramento, California. It also provided for a telegraph line to be built adjacent to the railroad.
