
The Federal government responded with measures (Homestead Act, transcontinental railroad) and military campaigns designed to encourage settlement, solidify Union control of the trans-Mississippi West, and further marginalize the physical and cultural presence of tribes native to the West.
How did the federal government respond to the westward expansion?
The Federal government's response included The Homestead Act and the construction of the transcontinental railroad. The goal was to encourage settlement, solidify Union control of the trans-Mississippi West, and further marginalize the physical and cultural presence of tribes native to the West. Loading results...
How did the United States government encourage white settlement in the west?
By war's end, federal actions to encourage white settlement in the West and more tightly bind the western territories to the Union were institutionalized and gathering momentum.
How did the transcontinental railroad encourage settlers to settle the west?
Another reason is the Transcontinental Railroad, which allowed settlers to travel much faster than wagons. Q: How did the federal government help encourage the settlement of the West?
How did the US Government's perceptions of protection affect the west?
Mirroring Emanuel Leutze's mural study, the federal government's perceptions of protection had already helped redefine and accelerate the Western Movement and shape the region's future for decades to come. By the end of the war, the foundation for a distinctly different West had been laid.

Why did the Federal government encourage westward migration and settlement?
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE Born largely out of President Abraham Lincoln's growing concern that a potential Union defeat in the early stages of the Civil War might result in the expansion of slavery westward, Lincoln hoped that such laws would encourage the expansion of a “free soil” mentality across the West.
How did the Federal government facilitate expansion of the United States into the western regions of the continent?
Answer to Review Question To encourage this process, Congress passed the Homestead Act and the Pacific Railway Act in 1862. The government also constructed and maintained forts that assisted in the process of westward expansion.
What helped spur westward expansion?
The California Gold Rush was a major factor in expansion west of the Mississippi. That westward expansion was greatly aided by the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869, and passage of the Homestead Act in 1862.
What action did the US government take to increase Western settlement in the 1800s?
The 1862 Homestead Act accelerated settlement of U.S. western territory by allowing any American, including freed slaves, to put in a claim for up to 160 free acres of federal land.
What was one way that the United States government encouraged western settlement quizlet?
To further encourage western settlement, Congress passed the Morrill Land-Grant Act of 1862. It gave state governments millions of acres of western lands, which the states could then sell to raise money for the creation of "land grant" colleges specializing in agriculture and mechanical arts.
What was the biggest impact of Westward Expansion?
Westward Expansion had the biggest impact on the economy and there were several positive outcomes as a result of Manifest Destiny. First, Westward Expansion led to the creation of many new technologies including steamboats, canals and the transcontinental railroads.
How was the westward expansion successful?
The canal and railroad systems, which grew up in the North, facilitated a much larger volume of trade and manufacturing while reducing costs a great deal. Great cities sprang up throughout the North and Northwest, bolstered by the improvement in transportation.
What caused westward expansion?
A significant push toward the west coast of North America began in the 1810s. It was intensified by the belief in manifest destiny, federally issued Indian removal acts, and economic promise. Pioneers traveled to Oregon and California using a network of trails leading west.
Which three factors were key to westward movement?
Gold rush and mining opportunities (silver in Nevada) The opportunity to work in the cattle industry; to be a “cowboy” Faster travel to the West by railroad; availability of supplies due to the railroad. The opportunity to own land cheaply under the Homestead Act.
What was a priority of the government to help westward expansion?
The large number of Americans living west of the Appalachians made the management of westward migration a top priority for the new federal government, which hoped to peaceably maintain political authority over its western citizens and allow the settlers to extend the political boundaries of the young nation with their ...
How did actions by the Federal government make it easier for settlers to move west during this time quizlet?
1st : new technologies such as canals and railroads made it easier for individuals to travel. 2nd : the federal government passed laws that enticed individuals and business to develop the West. 3rd : the lure of silver and gold brought American fortune seekers West .
Why did the United States government encourage people to settle the Northwest Territory and other Western lands?
Why do you think that the federal government encouraged the settlement of the Northwest Territory and other western lands? The federal government may have wanted to make sure that it could prevent other countries from trying to take the lands away from the United States by making sure the area was settled.
Which is a step taken by federal government during the Civil War to help create a national economy quizlet?
Which is a step taken by the federal government during the Civil War to help create a national economy? authorized federal government to issue paper money.
What was the purpose of the Homestead Act of 1862 quizlet?
US Congress made the Homestead act in 1862. The purpose was to encourage settlement in the west. It offered migrators free title to public land if they built a home and improved the property for 5 years.
What did Jefferson believe about the Westward Expansion?
To Jefferson, westward expansion was the key to the nation’s health: He believed that a republic depended on an independent, virtuous citizenry for its survival, and that independence and virtue went hand in hand with land ownership, especially the ownership of small farms.
Where did the American settlers move to?
Thousands of people crossed the Rockies to the Oregon Territory, which belonged to Great Britain, and thousands more moved into the Mexican territories of California, New Mexico and Texas. In 1837, American settlers in Texas joined with their Tejano neighbors (Texans of Spanish origin) and won independence from Mexico.
Why was the Mexican American war so unpopular?
That same month, Polk declared war against Mexico, claiming (falsely) that the Mexican army had “invaded our territory and shed American blood on American soil.” The Mexican-American War proved to be relatively unpopular, in part because many Northerners objected to what they saw as a war to expand the “slaveocracy.” In 1846, Pennsylvania Congressman David Wilmot attached a proviso to a war-appropriations bill declaring that slavery should not be permitted in any part of the Mexican territory that the U.S. might acquire. Wilmot’s measure failed to pass, but it made explicit once again the sectional conflict that haunted the process of westward expansion.
What was the Missouri compromise?
The acquisition of this land re-opened the question that the Missouri Compromise had ostensibly settled: What would be the status of slavery in new American territories? After two years of increasingly volatile debate over the issue, Kentucky Senator Henry Clay proposed another compromise. It had four parts: first, California would enter the Union as a free state; second, the status of slavery in the rest of the Mexican territory would be decided by the people who lived there; third, the slave trade (but not slavery) would be abolished in Washington, D.C.; and fourth, a new Fugitive Slave Act would enable Southerners to reclaim runaway slaves who had escaped to Northern states where slavery was not allowed.
What was the Westward Expansion and the Compromise of 1850?
Westward Expansion and the Compromise of 1850. Bleeding Kansas. In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson purchased the territory of Louisiana from the French government for $15 million. The Louisiana Purchase stretched from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from Canada to New Orleans, and it doubled the size of the United States.
What was the Westward Migration?
Westward migration was an essential part of the republican project , he argued, and it was Americans’ “ manifest destiny ” to carry the “great experiment of liberty” to the edge of the continent: to “overspread and to possess the whole of the [land] which Providence has given us,” O’Sullivan wrote.
How many square miles did the Gadsden Purchase add to the United States?
Did you know? In 1853, the Gadsden Purchase added about 30,000 square miles of Mexican territory to the United States and fixed the boundaries of the “lower 48” where they are today.
What exemplified the American zeal for the American debate?
Debating societies exemplified the American zeal for
What were the New Farms in the West?
New farms in the West were adding crops that easily reached the market with improved transportation.
What did merchants barred from export by the Embargo Act do?
Merchants barred from export by the Embargo Act directed their capital into western agriculture.
What was the response of the AME Church to white imposed segregation and discrimination?
Their response to white imposed segregation and discrimination was to build their own separate institutions, such as the AME church.
What did Andrew Jackson say about Marshall?
Andrew Jackson's remark, "John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it," refers to the president's intention to
Where was the National Road built?
It built the National Road from Cumberland, Maryland, to Vandalia, Illinois.
What was the Federal Land Policy that governed the expansion westward?
Federal land policy governing the expansion westward proceeded without clear direction throughout the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. The Ordinance of 1785 initially laid out the orderly protocol by which the western territories were to be settled and incorporated into townships.
Who believed that small farmers should control the West?
Thomas Jefferson quickly set about reversing this trend once the Republicans came to power. Jefferson believed that small farmers should control the West. The Land Law of 1800 reduced the minimum individual purchase of land in the West to 320 acres.
What was the purpose of the preemption laws?
Congress, mindful of the disadvantages of small farmers and squatters due to speculation, responded by passing special "preemption" laws that allowed squatters to pay minimum price for their land in some areas. Finally, in 1841, Congress passed a general preemption law.
What was the plan of the Federalists in the 1790s?
However, they saw that the West could be a great source of revenue. The plan under the Ordinance of 1785 was for groups of farmers to join together to purchase townships. This system threatened to draw many in the Northeast to the West and would not maximize government profits. To solve this problem, the Federalists encouraged the purchase of land by wealthy speculators, who not only would drive up prices, and thereby profits, but also would stem the flow of westward expansion from North and South.
What was the minimum land purchase in 1832?
By 1832, the minimum land purchase was set at 40 acres, and the minimum price per acre had steadily fallen off to about a dollar per acre. Despite these efforts, speculation remained an influential aspect of westward expansion. Agricultural prices soared after 1815, and state banks were chartered for the express purpose ...
What was the plan of the Ordinance of 1785?
The plan under the Ordinance of 1785 was for groups of farmers to join together to purchase townships. This system threatened to draw many in the Northeast to the West and would not maximize government profits.
What was the biggest obstacle to speculation in 1819?
A principle obstacle to speculation was the presence of squatters, who had settled on western lands without purchasing them.
What did New England invest in?
New England invested in factories and machines, while the South invested in land and slaves.
What did merchants barred from export by the Embargo Act do?
Merchants barred from export by the Embargo Act directed their capital into western agriculture.
How long did coal heavers strike?
When coal heavers in Philadelphia struck for a ten-hour day.
What is true of Irish immigrants in the 1840s?
All of the following is true of Irish immigrants in the 1840s, except. They quickly came to staff the majority of police posts in the city of New York. The African Methodist Episcopal Church became a center for all of the following, except. the emigration of freed slaves to Africa.
What was the response of the AME Church to white imposed segregation and discrimination?
Their response to white imposed segregation and discrimination was to build their own separate institutions, such as the AME church.
Who ran for president in 1828?
Andrew Jackson ran for president in 1828 as a member of which party?
Where was the National Road built?
It built the National Road from Cumberland, Maryland, to Vandalia, Illinois.
How did the federal government encourage western expansion?
Most prominently, soldiers had been promised western lands in return for enlisting in the American army during the War of 1812. A total of six million acres were dealt in this manner as "military bounties," and many soldiers moved west at their earliest convenience to find arable land for farming after the war's end in 1814. Furthermore, in 1816, Congress authorized the appropriation of funds for the formerly postponed project of construction of a National Road, which by 1838 reached Vandalis, Illinois, and was widely used as a connection to western lands.
Why did the pioneers settle in the West?
Settlers of the west, called pioneers, usually migrated as families and settled along the rivers of the West in order to facilitate trade. Pioneers often settled among others who hailed from the same areas of the East, or shared similar customs or religion.
What was the identity of the West?
There was a measure of rivalry between East and West, which was ever-present in the minds of many western settlers. Easterners thought westerners were primitive and uncouth, and westerners in turn chided the East for its soft and luxurious lifestyle. The identity of the West grew up around the ideals of simplicity, openness, and honesty. This identity was universally known throughout the settlements, and the westerners strove to support it with actions, consistently trying to demonstrate their simplistic sophistication to easterners and the eastern press, which painted the west as the domain of the unintelligent and backwards.
What did Lewis and Clark explore?
The Lewis and Clark explored laand in the Far West. Both of these expeditions returned East with maps of the explored territory and stories that quickly became exaggerated into the legend of the West, which enticed many an easterner to risk the uncertain journey to the little known territory.
What is the West's identity?
The identity of the West grew up around the ideals of simplicity, openness, and honesty. This identity was universally known throughout the settlements, and the westerners strove to support it with actions, consistently trying to demonstrate their simplistic sophistication to easterners and the eastern press, which painted the west as the domain ...
What states were part of the Westward Movement?
The first began early in the nation's history, resulting in the statehood of Vermont, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio, all of which were admitted to the Union between 1791 and 1803. With the Louisiana Purchase the US doubled in size, opening up new regions to exploration and settlement. Once the War of 1812 ended, expansion began in earnest. The government was eager to enlarge the Union, and, accordingly, six new states joined the Union between 1816 and 1821: Indiana, Mississippi, Illinois, Alabama, Maine, and Missouri.
What states joined the Union in 1821?
The government was eager to enlarge the Union, and, accordingly, six new states joined the Union between 1816 and 1821: Indiana, Mississippi, Illinois, Alabama, Maine, and Missouri. Settlers of the west, called pioneers, usually migrated as families and settled along the rivers ...
What was the purpose of the war and the Westward Expansion?
With Federal resources focused on waging the war farther east, both native tribes and the Confederacy attempted to claim or reclaim lands west of the Mississippi. The Federal government responded with measures (Homestead Act, transcontinental railroad) and military campaigns designed to encourage settlement, ...
What was the goal of the Westward Movement?
The Federal government's response included The Homestead Act and the construction of the transcontinental railroad. The goal was to encourage settlement, solidify ...
What was the purpose of the Homestead Act?
Signed into law by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War, the Homestead Act encouraged westward migration and settlement by providing 160-acre tracts of land west of the Mississippi at little cost, in return for a promise to improve the land . Homestead National Historical Park.
What was Abraham Lincoln's role in the American West?
Though best known for guiding the nation through the tumultuous four years of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln also played an instrumental role in encouraging settlement and expansion of the American West.
When did the violence escalate in Kansas?
Violence escalated in the Kansas Territory from 1854-1858 as anti-slavery Free-Staters and pro-slavery Border Ruffians battled to determine whether Kansas would enter the Union as a slave or free state. Tags: civil war westward expansion. Previous.
