Westward Expansion
Three motives for going west
- The desire for access to natural and mineral resources and the hope of many settlers for economic opportunities or religious refuge led to an increased migration to and settlement in the West.
- Three motives in one sentence: resources, economic opportunity, and religious refuge.
- The third is easy to forget and is the CED's own — some movement west was flight, not enterprise.
Select all three motives the CED names.
The third is easy to forget and is the CED's own.
An argument, and its consequence
- Advocates of annexing western lands argued that Manifest Destiny and the superiority of American institutions compelled the United States to expand its borders westward to the Pacific Ocean; however, this frequently provoked competition and violent conflict.
- The CED reports the argument as what advocates argued, and then states the result with however.
- Frequently provoked competition and violent conflict is the CED's own assessment, placed in the same sentence.
The CED presents Manifest Destiny as...
Then states the result with 'however'.
Legislation accelerated it
- Westward migration was boosted during and after the Civil War by the passage of new legislation promoting western transportation and economic development.
- So the war did not pause expansion; it accelerated it, and the federal government was the accelerator.
- That connects the unit's first thread to the third: a stronger wartime state used its strength on the frontier.
A motive, an argument, or an accelerator?
Sort each element of westward expansion.
During and after the Civil War, westward migration was...
The federal government was the accelerator.
The CED reports Manifest Destiny as what advocates argued, then states the result with however. Advocates said American institutions compelled expansion to the Pacific; the CED's own assessment is that this frequently provoked competition and violent conflict — both halves belong in an answer.
Select all three kinds of initiative toward Asia.
So this is not only commerce.
And expansion reached the Pacific and beyond
- U.S. interest in expanding trade led to economic, diplomatic, and cultural initiatives to create more ties with Asia.
- Three kinds of initiative — economic, diplomatic, and cultural — so this is not only commerce.
- 4.4's two aims, territory and trade, are still the frame; the Pacific coast makes the second one reachable.
The CED's own assessment is that expansion frequently provoked competition and violent ____.
Placed in the same sentence as the argument.
Causes and effects
- The objective is the causes and effects of westward expansion from 1844 to 1877.
- Causes: resources, opportunity, refuge, an ideological argument, and federal legislation.
- Effects: settlement, competition and violent conflict, ties with Asia, and — via 5.3 — territorial questions about slavery.
A claim that a country is destined to reach an ocean does not tell you who currently lives between it and the water. The claim and the people are in the same sentence only because the CED put them there.
The desire for access to natural and mineral resources and the hope of many settlers for economic opportunities or religious refuge led to an increased migration to and settlement in the West. Advocates... argued that Manifest Destiny and the superiority of American institutions compelled the United States to expand... however, this frequently provoked competition and violent conflict. New legislation promoting western transportation and economic development boosted migration during and after the war, and U.S. interest in expanding trade led to economic, diplomatic, and cultural initiatives to create more ties with Asia.