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Westward expansion and Native American removal, 1803 to 49

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In less than fifty years, the United States grew from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific, at great cost to Native Americans.

Expansion

Louisiana Purchase (1803): Jefferson bought a vast territory from France, doubling the country's size.
Transcontinental Treaty (1819): Spain gave up Florida and agreed a border to the Pacific.
Texas was annexed in 1845, and war with Mexico (1846 to 48) brought California and the South West.
Manifest Destiny: the belief that Americans were destined to spread across the continent.

Slavery and the Missouri Compromise

Every new state raised the question: slave or free?
The Missouri Compromise (1820) admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, and banned slavery north of a line across the Louisiana territory.

Native American removal

The Indian Removal Act (1830), under President Jackson, forced Native American nations to move west of the Mississippi.
On the Trail of Tears (1838 to 39), the Cherokee were forced to march west; thousands died.
The California Gold Rush (from 1848) brought huge numbers of settlers west.
Worked example

Explain why the Missouri Compromise was needed.

  1. New states could be slave or free.
  2. Adding Missouri as a slave state would upset the balance in the Senate.
  3. So Maine was added as a free state, and a line was drawn for the future.

Answer: To keep the balance between slave and free states as the country expanded.

Key idea

Louisiana Purchase (1803), Transcontinental Treaty (1819), Texas (1845) and the Mexican War expanded the USA, justified by Manifest Destiny. The Missouri Compromise (1820) balanced slave and free states. The Indian Removal Act (1830) led to the Trail of Tears. The Gold Rush (1848) drew settlers west.

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