The westward expansion, which contributed to the development of the U.S. and its citizens from the founding of the country in 1787 to the commencement of the Civil War, resulted from social, economic, and political influences. The major acquisitions of the new territory comprised of the Louisiana Purchase, the Florida Purchase, the Northwest Territory Treaty, Texas annexation, and the Mexican Cession. Concerning the Louisiana Purchase, for instance, farmers initially incurred huge costs when transporting their products across the Appalachians Mountains, leading Thomas Jefferson to inquire on purchasing the land surrounding New Orleans with the hope of assisting farmers needing to transport their goods along the Mississippi River to the New Orleans port owned of the French. In 1803, the French offered Jefferson the whole Louisiana area that covered the area based on the west of Mississippi River (Lassieur, 2016) . The Florida purchase emanated from the conflict that prevailed between the U.S. and Spain concerning Louisiana Purchase’s boundary lines. Additionally, the relationship with Native Americans influenced the desire of the U.S. for the land. In 1819, Spain sold Florida to the U.S., which led to the establishment of a clear border between New Spain and the Louisiana Territory (Mountjoy, 2009) .
On the Northwest Territory Treaty, the Americans were searching for economic opportunities for trading fur hence shifted to the region. The farmers following the traders of fur also wanted to be associated with the U.S. Based on the explorations of Clark and Lewis, the U.S. demanded the Oregon Territory (Lassieur, 2016) . The British also claimed the land. After tremendous negotiations, the treaty ended up serving as a compromise with Great Britain. Certain Americans wished to request the land to the 54 40 parallel, although the U.S. northern boundary was put at 49 th parallel. It comprises of today’s states of Oregon and Washington (Mountjoy, 2009) .
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The Texas Annexation emerged after the Independence War by Texas from Mexico. Before Texas realized independence, Americans from the south acknowledged the invitation for shifting to the Texas region. While these serves as planers of cotton, the supported the idea of serving as citizens of Mexico while following the law that governed Mexico to allow them access land that was fertile enough for growing cotton (Mountjoy, 2009) . Once a new tyrannical government took over Mexico, it instituted control toward Texas, such as through outlawing slavery, thereby leading Texas to rebel and engage in war to allow them attain their independence. The population of Mexico wished to be affiliated with the U.S. Initially, the U.S. Congress declined annexing Texas since it was believed that the move would end up destabilizing the free as well as the slave states. As such, Texas remained an independent state for nine years. After the assumption of office by President James K. Polk, while running on the Manifest Destiny’s platform, the Congress of U.S. annexed Texas (Lassieur, 2016) .
For the Mexican Cession, it is crucial to note that Mexico serves as a U.S. territory, which the country acquired once it won the Mexican War. The Mexican War emerged due to Manifest Destiny, which was driven by the urge for attaining the Pacific ports as well as annexing Texas. The U.S was in need of a Pacific coast port based in California’s Mexican territory. President Polk embarked on efforts aimed at purchasing the land although the Mexicans were unwilling to sell (Mountjoy, 2009) . Because the Mexicans refrained from selling, the annexation of Texas provided the U.S. with an avenue of sending its army to the region bordering Texas, which the government of Mexico argued to be theirs. After the firing of several shots, war commended. The U.S. attacked the present Mexico and overcame the Mexican troops. The treaty that led to the end of the war led to the surrendering what is presently Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, California, and Nevada to the U.S (Lassieur, 2016) . In this sense, it is apparent that various social, political, and economic forces contributed acquisition of major territories that facilitated the westward expansion of the U.S.
References
Lassieur, A. (2016). Westward expansion. Mankato: Capstone.
Mountjoy, S. (2009). Manifest Destiny: Westward expansion. New York: Infobase Publishing.
