Download Western Expansion

1. What states did the United States ultimately gain by
acquiring the Northwest Territory?
2. Explain at least one reason this land could be useful
to the United States based on physical geographic
features.
 Northwest Territory (1787)
 The Northwest Territory was
created by Congress in 1787 to
encompass the region west
 of Pennsylvania, north of the
Ohio River, east of the
Mississippi River, and south of
the Great Lakes. Land policy
and territorial government were
established by the Northwest
Ordinances of 1785 and 1787.
Ultimately, five states—Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and
Wisconsin—were organized
from the territory, and a small
part, was incorporated into
Minnesota.
3. Provide at least TWO reasons the Louisiana Purchase
helped to strengthen the United States.
4. List at least three resources that can be found in the
Rocky Mountains that would be useful to the United
States.
On April 30, 1803, one of the greatest real
estate deals in history took place. The United
States purchased the Louisiana Territory from
France. The territory included 828,000 square
miles, for which the United States paid $15
million—less than three cents an acre!
Exploration and Westward Expansion
Acquisition of the Louisiana Territory doubled
the size of the United States. It greatly
strengthened the country economically and
strategically. And it provided a powerful
impetus for westward expansion. The first
American exploration of the vast Louisiana
Territory was made by the Lewis and Clark
Expedition of 1804-1806. Interestingly enough,
the expedition had been planned and
organized long before the purchase was made.
Jefferson had challenged Meriwether Lewis
and William Clark to find a water route
connecting the Mississippi River with the
Pacific Ocean. In the end, they proved that the
theory of a Northwest Passage was a myth.
More important though, they brought back
valuable information to fill in a huge blank
space on the map of North America.
4. List at least three resources that can be found in the
Rocky Mountains that would be useful to the United
States.
 A Vast, Rich Territory
 The Rocky Mountains were considered to be the
western boundary of the Louisiana Territory, and the
Mississippi River was accepted as the eastern
boundary. It was discovered that much of the territory
contained rich mineral resources, productive soil,
valuable grazing land, forests, and wildlife resources of
inestimable value. Within its boundaries lie today's
states of Louisiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, North
Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Oklahoma, as
well as parts of Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana,
New Mexico, and Minnesota.
5. What are two reasons that the United States went to
war with Mexico?
 The cause or causes of the Mexican-
American War are still a matter of
historical dispute. Many maintain that
Mexico began the war because the U.S.
government approved the annexation
of Texas, even though Texas had
declared its independence from Mexico
10 years earlier in 1836. Others argue
that the United States provoked the war
by stationing armed troops at the
mouth of the Rio Grande River, an area
both Texas and Mexico claimed. They
believe that President James K. Polk
saw a war as the most expedient way to
gain vast Mexican territories in the
West. And a few advance yet another
reason: Mexico had failed to pay claims
for losses sustained by U.S. citizens
during the Mexican War of
Independence, and the United States
wanted those claims settled
 6. Explain why the Annexation of Texas was so
controversial.
Texas’ application for annexation had caused several years of political
debate in the United States and indeed, was successfully blocked for a
time by antislavery forces, who feared that several new slave states would
be created from the Texas territory. Nevertheless, the annexation of Texas
was approved by a joint congressional resolution in February 1845. But
there was still controversy. The boundary between Texas and Mexico had
been a long-standing source of dispute. The Republic of Texas claimed
the Rio Grande River as its southern boundary, while the Mexican state of
Tamaulipas claimed the area north of the Rio Grande to the Nueces River.
In fact, there was a strong political faction in Mexico that believed Mexico
owned all of Texas and did not recognize Texas as an independent
republic.
Following the annexation vote, President Polk ordered American
troops to the mouth of the Rio Grande to defend Texas from invasion.
Mexico saw this as an act of defiance and issued a declaration of war on
April 23, 1846. Mexican troops crossed the Rio Grande on April 25, 1846
and attacked the American troops. The war had started. America officially
declared war on Mexico on May 13.
 7. List the modern states the U.S. acquired as aresult of
the Mexican-American War?
 In the midst of all this, President Polk sent diplomat
John Slidell to Mexico in December 1845 to negotiate
for the payment of claims owed to American citizens
incurred during the Mexican War for Independence.
When the Mexican government learned that Slidell
was also authorized to purchase California and New
Mexico and to settle the Texas boundary dispute, it
refused to meet with him. This gave President Polk
one more reason to order troops to the Rio Grande.
 Conclusions: Write a paragraph (5 to 8 sentences)
that explains how the United States grew in land mass
overtime. To conclude address the following questionwhy was it important that the U.S. expand to become a
more powerful nation?