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When the American Revolution ended in 1783, the territory of the United States was entirely east of the Mississippi River. Much of this land was still unsettled by white Americans.
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Nothing Happened
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In the 1800s, many Americans were farmers. Many dreamed of starting farms in the West.
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As a result of these changes, the population of the West grew rapidly. In 1900 more than twice as many people lived in the West as in 1880, just 20 years earlier.
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In 1803 President Thomas Jefferson purchased the vast Louisiana Territory from France
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Nothing happened
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By the 1830s, some Americans had come to believe in the idea of Manifest Destiny. According to this concept, the United States had a right to extend its boundaries to the Pacific Ocean
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in 1845 the United States annexed, or taking control of, Texas
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In the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848), Mexico gave the United States a vast area that later formed all of California, Utah, and Nevada and parts of Colorado, Arizona, Wyoming, and New Mexico.
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In the 1800s, many Americans were farmers. Many dreamed of starting farms in the West. In 1862 Congress made that easier by bypassing the Homestead Act.
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The first line from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean was completed in 1869.