Westward Expansion Represents as Much

Westward Expansion represents as much an ideology as a historical pattern of migration. By the nineteenth century, the concept of Manifest Destiny had taken root in the American public consciousness. The frontier loomed as a challenge, nearly as an obligation to spread the ideological pillars upon which the new nation stood. Westward Expansion meant the proliferation of freedom, liberty, democracy and the pursuit of happiness and prosperity.

Many Americans were lured West largely by the prospect for expanded wealth and by increasing opportunities for landownership. "Attracted by the hope of economic betterment or the chance for adventure," Westward expansion represents the birth of the American Dream (Billington and Ridge p. 2). Part and parcel of the budding American Dream, land ownership could become conceived of as a right -- not just as a privilege enjoyed by wealthier Americans. With the prospect of gold, the expansion of Americans in the frontier land was inevitable.

As much as frontier consciousness has been glorified in textbooks and television Westerns, Westward expansion gave rise to some of the most tragic events in American history. The policies of exterminating or forcibly removing Native Americans from their lands can be considered genocidal in nature. Surely racist, the policies that Americans of European descent would have lingering effects on the Native populations -- and indeed the entire populace. A sense of entitlement permeates stories of Westward expansion, showing how and why the Americans of European descent had no qualms about unethical dealings with the indigenous populations upon whose land they were encroaching. The result has been not only the tragic loss of valuable cultures, languages, and civilizations but also a loss of integrity. After all, the United States was far from being a land in which all persons are created equal.

The effects of Westward expansion reverberated throughout American history, too. Gold was discovered, sure, leading to the railroad boom and the settlements that are now some of America's richest regions such as California. Yet with Westward expansion came contact with Mexico and subsequent war. Moreover, Westward expansion also meant putting off the resolution of slavery. Slavery continued in the United States until the 1860s. In fact, Westward expansion was one of the issues that gave rise to the deep rifts between north and south, between free and slave states. How to address slavery in newly acquired territories became one of the most poignant political and social issues in nineteenth century America. Yet another consequence of Westward expansion was a population explosion due not just to rising birthrates among the population but also the increased room for immigrants. The first waves of Asian immigrants arrived to work on American railroads in the new Western territories and later waves of Eastern and Southern Europeans arrived to the land of opportunity. Like the Native American populations whose land had been stolen, the non-white residents of Western territories rarely had stakes in any wealth generated by the gold rush.