The document discusses the various motivations and factors that drove United States expansion westward in the 19th century. Key reasons included the spread of American beliefs and civilization through missionary work; the need for access to ports on the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of Mexico for trade; the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution creating demand for resources and farmland; and a belief in "Manifest Destiny" that America was destined to expand across the continent. Critics argued that this expansion displaced Native Americans and was often justified through racist ideologies.

2. Introduction to Westward Expansion & America’s “Manifest Destiny”

7. John Gast American Progress (c. 1872) Who’s in this picture? What are they doing?

17. Trails Westward

18. How’d they get there? The Conestoga Wagon

19. The Santa Fe Trail

26. The Oregon Trail – Albert Bierstadt, 1869

28. The Doomed Donner Party April, 1846 – April, 1847 CANNIBALISM ! !

32. Maine Boundary Settlement, 1842