Westward Expansion - U.S legislation and confrontations with the Native American people
By clcollins2
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The Westward expansion of the U.S began when President Thomas Jefferson purchased the Louisiana territories (828,000 sq. miles) from France for 15 million dollars. The purchase was prompted when the French acquired the land from the Spanish and closed port access to the Mississippi river. This acquisition was a historic moment in Jefferson's presidency and not only allowed for the use of the Mississippi river but prompted expeditions to explore the expanded Western border of the United States. -
The first expedition westward was led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark with the goal of extending the fur trade through a survey of the newly acquired land. On this journey they encountered multiple groups of Native Americans, many of which were friendly and showed great generosity and hospitality to the group. In November of 1805 Lewis and Clark arrived at the Pacific Ocean. -
Shawnee leader Tecumseh gathered support from other native tribes creating a Native American confederacy that could push back against the westward expansion of America. In 1811, Tecumseh negotiated in peace talks with Governor William Henry Harrison on behalf of the native confederacy. The threat of Tecumseh and the confederacy was respected by Harrison as he petitioned the U.S government for more soldiers. -
While Tecumseh traveled south in search of more allies Harrisons led his army to launch a surprise attack on Prophetstown the headquarters of the confederacy. Harrison and his troops were successful in their attack and burnt Prophetstown to the ground removing any chance of further peace negotiations. After returning to see the destruction of Prophetstown Tecumseh traveled north to ally with the British. -
This was the last battle of the Creek War and it ended Creek resistance to American advances into the southeast, opening up the Mississippi Territory for westward expansion. Jackson’s supplier numbers and armaments demolish the Creek defenses, slaughtering more than 800 warriors. After the battle, the Treaty of Fort Jackson was signed that made the Creeks cede more than 21 million acres of land to the United States helped Andrew Jackson get elected as president in 1828. -
Congress passed the Indian Removal Act forcing the relocation of Native Americans to the Indian Territory west of the Mississippi river which is modern day Oklahoma. The passing of the Indian Removal Act was opposed by some politicians such as Tennessee's representative Davey Crockett for the fear that it would incite war with the native Americans. Regardless, the bill passed as it had the support of voting Americans as it made 25 million acres of coveted farmland available for use. -
In the wake of the Indian removal act the U.S army forcibly evicted around 100,000 Wastern Woodland Indians people from their homelands in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. The given name of this journey comes from the collective suffering experienced by the native Americans as approximately 15,000 died due to weather, famine, and disease. -
This act allocated funds to move western tribes onto reservations that were protected and enclosed by the US government. According to the federal government, these reservations were created in order to protect Native Americans from the growing encroachment of whites moving westward. This act and reservations set the precedent for modern-day Native American reservations. -
This act authorized the President of the United States the ability to divide Native American tribal land into allotments for individual Native Americans. The goal of this act was to force Native Americans to assume a capitalist and proprietary relationship with property. This act also broke up tribes as a social unit and encouraged individual initiatives. -
In 1890, the head of the U.S Census announced that the country’s settlement had been completed. Throughout the century of expansion, the frontier now has a multitude of farms and popular cities were beginning to become established. By the end of this settlement, many Native Americans had been removed from their native land often in a violent manner. They were placed in reservations, mostly in present day Oklahoma and given the opportunity to apply for American citizenship. -