What factors spurred westward expansion?

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Figure false: Pioneer Family on the Trail West
Figure false: In 1860, W. G. Chamberlain photographed these unidentified travelers momentarily at rest by the upper Arkansas River in Colorado. We do not know their fates, but we can only hope that they fared better than the Sager family. In 1844, Henry and Naomi Sager and their children set out from Missouri to Oregon. Still far from Oregon, Henry Sager died of fever. Twenty-six days later, Naomi died, leaving seven children. The Sager children, under the care of other families in the wagon train, pressed on. After traveling two thousand miles, they arrived in Oregon, where Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, whose own daughter had drowned, adopted all seven of the Sager children. Denver Public Library, Western History Division # F3226.
Figure false: VISUAL ACTIVITY
Figure false: READING THE IMAGE: Based on this photograph, what were some of the difficulties faced by pioneers traveling west?
Figure false: CONNECTIONS: How did wagon trains change the western United States?

BEGINNING IN THE 1840s, the nation’s swelling population, booming economy, and boundless confidence propelled a new era of rapid westward migration. Under the banner of manifest destiny, American migrants encountered Native Americans who inhabited the plains, deserts, and rugged coasts of the West; the British, who claimed the Oregon Country; and Mexicans, whose flag flew over the vast expanse of the Southwest. Nevertheless, by 1850 the United States stretched to the Pacific, and the nation had more than doubled its size.

The human cost of aggressive expansionism was high. The young Mexican nation lost a war and half of its territory. Two centuries of Indian wars, which ended east of the Mississippi during the 1830s, continued for another half century in the West.

CHRONOLOGY

1836

  • – Battle of the Alamo.
  • – Texas declares independence from Mexico.

1841

  • – First wagon trains head west on Oregon Trail.

1845

  • – Term manifest destiny is coined.

1846

  • – Bear Flag Revolt.

1847

  • – Mormons settle in Utah.

1850

  • – Utah Territory is annexed.

1851

  • – Fort Laramie conference marks the beginning of Indian concentration.

1857

  • – Mormon War.