How America expanded 1789-1900

Question 1

Lousiana Purchase

Answer 1

1803 - bought from France and it added 530 million acres of land to America
- Encouraged westward migration as there was more land to settle on
- It gave the US control of the Mississippi River which was important for trade

Question 2

Louis and Clark

Answer 2

1803 - Thomas Jefferson authorised an expedition to the North West of America to discover routes to the North West. find out more about America Wilderness and to fend off interest by European nations.
- Potentially open up trade routes on the West Coast to Asian Markets.

Question 3

Why did White American settlers want to expand westwards?

Answer 3

-Believed it was America’s duty to expand westwards.
- Better Transport links which connect farmers who moved to the West with markets in the East which provided them with profit opportunities.
- New technology; attracted settlers and made farming profitable. In 1831, the mechanical grain was invented and so now farmer could farm much more efficiently.

Question 4

Cotton Gin (Slavery and Cotton Plantations)

Answer 4

1793 - Eli Whitney - Cotton Gin ( separated cotton fibres from the seeds and made cotton farming more profitable and so many plantations in the South Est began to grow it. By 1838, America was producing one million bales of cotton per year.
- Now Slave owners needed more labour to pick the cotton and so now plantation owners purchased more African slaves and by 1838. there were 2 million slaves in the Deep South (Southern States.)

Question 5

Indian Removal Act

Answer 5

• 1830 passed by Andrew Jackson
  as part of this, the US government passed the Permanent Indian Frontier (it granted tribes land on The Great Plains in exchange for land in the east)
  By doing this, the Native Americans wouldn’t seem like an irritation to white settlers who wanted the land for growing cotton
  White Americans didn’t see the Plains as fit to live on due to the lack of water and harsh climate .