Westward Expansion Section 1 The West What cultures

Westward Expansion

Section 1: The West What cultures and ideas influenced the development of the

Standards 8. 58 Describe the concept of Manifest Destiny and its impact on the developing character of the American nation, including the purpose, challenges and economic incentives for westward expansion. 8. 60 Analyze the reasons, outcome and legacy of groups

Objectives • Identify the destinations of settlers heading west in the early 1800 s. • Describe the unique culture of the Southwest. • Explain the meaning of Manifest Destiny.

Terms and People • frontier – the land that forms the farthest extent of a nation’s settled regions • land grant – a government gift of land • ranchero – owner of a ranch

What cultures and ideas influenced the development the had Since colonial times, of settlers been moving westward and West? encountering Native Americans and Mexicans. The mixing of these cultures affected the development of the West and the entire United States.

Early Americans had thought of the area between the Appalachian Mountains and However, by the Mississippi 1820 s, River asmuch the of that landfrontier. had western been settled, and Americans began

Between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains are the Greatin. Plains. Settlers the early 1800 s were not attracted to this region because they

For many settlers in the early 1800 s, the Great Plains were simply a route to the Far West. • Some were attracted to the area known as Oregon Country in the Northwest. • Others were interested in the Mexican lands of the Southwest.

In the Northwest, settlers were attracted to the fertile land of present-day U. S. states Oregon and Washington

Southwestern Mexican settlements were another major destination for settlers. Together with Mexico, the Spanish borderlands had been claimed for Spain in the 1500 s.

The Southwest included • Arizona • New present-day: Mexico • California • Half of Colorado • Utah • Texas • Nevada Ruled first by Spain and then by Mexico, these lands had a culture and history very different from that of the

Over the years, many peninsulares (Spanish settlers) had children who were called creoles. Native Americans, Peninsulares, and Africans also intermarried and had children called mestizos. By the 1800 s, this combination of ethnic groups had created a distinct Southwestern

Cultural Exchange Spanish • The Spanish brought their to Native language, religion, and laws to the American Southwest. s Native • Native Americans introduced the American Spanish to foods such as beans s to and squash. Spanish • The Spanish adopted Native American clothing, such as ponchos and moccasins. A • The general style of Southwestern

Spanish missionaries wanted to convert Native Americans to Catholicism. Many Native Americans in the borderlands were forced to live and work at missions, At they missions, where learnedthousands of Nativethe Americans about Catholic died from

When Mexico became independent from Spain in 1821, • Under Spanish rule, land its land was redistributed. grants had been given to only a few peninsulares, but Mexico • made Mexico ended church control of many grants to individual missions and gave their lands to rancheros. and a few American • rancheros Native Americans raided settlers. ranches to protest theft of their land, but they were soon

Mexico’s independence changed the region’s • Previously, Spain the relationship withhad thefollowed United mercantilist system, so New Spain States. had only been permitted to trade with • After it won its independence, Mexico Spain. allowed its people to trade with other countries, including the United States. New Spain Me xico Spain United States and other countries

By the 1840 s, many people supported Manifest Destiny, the belief that the United States was destined to extend from the The American drive for westward Atlantic to the Pacific. expansion was partly responsible for the Native Americans’ By 1850, theplight. Native American population in the Southwest had dropped drastically.