WESTWARD EXPANSION

Admission of States b/w 1790-1829: During this period expansion

continued in the west and the settlers moved rapidly to the regions due
to which a number of new states were admitted to the union. They
were:
1. Vermont 1791: It was the 1st state to be admitted to the union
after the formation of US. In 1777 Vermont adopted a
constitution and applied for statehood but could not be admitted
into the union because this territory was under dispute between
NY and New Hampshire. The people of Vermont held the territory
and maintained their separate entity. After 14 years of struggle it
was finally admitted into the union on March 4 1791 as the 14th
state.
2. Kentucky 1792: The settlers who had moved from the north east
to the western region of Virginia known as Kentucky territory
established their own government. The number of these settlers
increased gradually and by 1790 there were 73k settlers. They
qualified for statehood and asked for admission to the union. By
this time Virginia had agreed to the demand of the people to
remain a separate state and so the territory was given the status
of state and admitted to the union in 1790 as the 15th state.
3. Tennessee 1796: To the south of Kentucky lay valleys of
mountains, hills and many fertile valleys known as Tennessee. It
was the extension of North Carolina in the western region. The
settlement in this region began in 1769. The number of settlers
soon increased and they fought against the Indians to protect
themselves. The people of this territory felt that they were not
being protected by the US and formed a separate unit called the
state of Franklin in 1784. The state of Carolina objected to this
 step and Tennessee had to fight for its cause. Ultimately
Tennessee was admitted to the union as the 16th state in 1796.
4. Ohio 1803: It was admitted to the union in 1803. The territory
was carved out as a state by ordinance of 1787. This territory was
not cleared out from Indians due to which regular warfare went
on. The efforts to take possession of the region were foiled by the
Indians. It was only after the treaty of Greenville 1795 that the
settlement of Americans in this region could be encouraged. This
territory soon converted itself into a township. The settlers from
Massachusetts were the first to inhabit this land. Ultimately Ohio
was added to the union as a state in 1803.
5. Louisiana 1812: The pressing need of the settlers on the west of
Appalachians for a water route compelled Jefferson’s government
to purchase this territory. He was even ready to go to war with
Spain for this territory but due to the efforts of Livingstone and
Monroe he succeeded in purchasing that tract of rich and fertile
land by a treaty in 1803. The land was transferred to America by
Spain in 1800 as a result of secret treaty of San Ildefonso. With it
acquisition the west ward movement was further encouraged.
6. Alabama and Mississippi: They were disputed territories lying
west of Georgia. Early plans to develop this region could not
materialize. This territory was owned by Georgia and claimed it
as their colonial part however US claimed it as a part of the
nation. The Indian tribes too occupied much of the area. The
legislature of Georgia granted this area to 4 companies however
in 1796 this grant was nullified by the new legislature of Georgia.
The land companies refuted the right of Georgia’s legislature to
invalidate the grant of 1796 and appealed to the congress. After
years of debate congress granted these companies money as a
source of compensation in 1814. In the meantime in 1810 the
 Supreme Court had given a decision in Fletcher vs Peck case that
the original grant by Georgia legislature in 1796 was a contract
which could not be violated or impaired by the legislature.
Troubled by all of this Georgia entered into an agreement with
the US in 1812 which provided for cession of Georgia’s western
lands to federal government on several conditions chief condition
of which was the removal of Indians from the region and
payment of 1250k $ by US. Later on the region was converted
into states of Mississippi and Alabama. Both were admitted to the
union as slave states on 1817 and 1819 respectively.
7. Indiana and Illinois: The next state to be admitted to the union
after Louisiana was that of Indiana. The movement into this
territory had started when William Henry Harrison the governor
of Indiana had got the Land law of 1800 passed by the congress.
Soon after the war of 1812 the people of east moved further
west. As it was felt that Indiana would soon become congested
the territory further west of Indiana was organized as Illinois and
the settlement continued. The people from east and south poured
in the new territory and purchased lands and made their houses.
Indiana was admitted to the union in 1816 as a free state. At that
time there was no apparent struggle over the question of free vs
slave state which came to surface over the question of admission
of Missouri territory. Illinois too had become organized into a
territory with sufficient population and their own government
hence it was too admitted to the union as a free state in 1818.
8. Maine and Missouri: Since Missouri was a slave state much
trouble arose over its admission. Earlier while admitting states to
the union the trend had been to admit the Free State first and
soon after the slave states were admitted. However this time it
was the slave state which had applied for admission and there
 was no free state as an applicant for admission. As a result a lot
of tension was created in the congress and ultimately a
compromise had to be made. A new state was created out of
Massachusetts and was admitted to the union along with
Missouri as per terms of the Clay’s compromise formula. In
keeping with the earlier practice Maine was admitted to the
union first as a free state and a year later Missouri was admitted
as a slave state. This admission gave rise to a conflict between
the free states of the north and slave states of the south. As a
result of this controversy in future whenever a new territory was
to be admitted to the union there was great trouble. Thus the
Missouri compromise on the basis of which the 2 states were
admitted to the union was not the end of the conflict but the
beginning.
Significance of Westward Movement: Turner advocated that the
westward movement was the central factor among others which
contributed towards the evolution of the American culture and was also
one of the most important reason for the differences between America
and Europe. He also said that each part of the US had passed through a
formation stage of development, primitive conditions and every time
the frontier area started afresh its ways of society, a new society of
frontiersmen developed with its own social norms and they went on
giving up their European heritage and resulted in the emergence of the
American culture. Turner criticized this pointing out its dangers.
However despite all this westward movement has significant
importance:
1. Freedom and democracy: It gave rise to equality among the
immigrants and the settlers. There was no hierarchy in their
society and all were equal. The people who felt oppressed and
unfree in their state got rid of this bondage by moving away to
 new frontiers/borders. All the decisions regarding their problem
and administration were also taken by the inhabitants. This
helped in the evolution of democracy based on equality.
2. Freedom from exploitation: The people who migrated to these
territories were not to work as laborers and owned their own free
tracts of land and could realize their dreams thus whenever the
opportunity came they moved away from the industrial towns.
3. Easy Leadership: Westward movement also gave a chance to the
people who had been dreaming about becoming leaders but could
not become one by remaining in the east. The lawyers and
journalists moved along the frontier and soon won popularity and
emerged as leaders in the new states.
4. National Unity: It also promoted national unity among the
people. The regional, linguistic and interests were not cared for
any more. People coming from different regions settled down on
the same territory and felt as one. Thus the state and regional
loyalties were broken and national unity was established. The
continuous mobile nature of the population did not permit the
feeling of separatism to grow and in turn believed that a strong
national government could protect their rights.
5. Emergence of new culture: After the occupation of the new area
the people established their democratic government elected by
the people, their own law courts, their churches, schools etc.
6. Growth in population: In 1790 the number of states was only 13
while in 1890 they rose to 24. The population of the country
increased from 3 million to 12 million out of which 4 million lived
in the new areas. The settlers had come from eastern region as
well as from Europe and they could have 2 things i.e. the land with
which they could begin their new life and freedom for which they
 had left their homes and countries. Since the land was very cheap
and fertile it attracted most of the settlers.
7. Improvement programs: It led to immediate improvement in the
means of transportation and communication. The Cumberland
road was built and many other projects for canals were taken up
and funds were allocated. In 1790 Lancaster-Turnpikes road was
built in Pennsylvania. In 1808 money for Cumberland pike was
granted.
8. Improvement of geographical information: Under the impact of
westward movement and the desire for trade with the west as
well as for the purpose of establishment of good relations with the
Indians expeditions were undertaken. Jefferson had probably an
eye on the west and had thus ventured these projects. These
expeditions provided a lot of valuable geographic information and
improved trade with the west.