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Westward Expansion and Manifest Destiny (OpenStax 17.x)

Westward Expansion and the Mid-19th Century West

  • Introduction and context (mid-1800s): farmers in the Old West learned of opportunities in the New West across the Allegheny Mountains into the West of the Mississippi. The federal government actively encouraged this migration.
  • Manifest Destiny: Americans increasingly felt compelled to fulfill a divinely sanctioned expansion across the continent and to spread predominantly American values to the frontier. The phrase was tied to God-given land and democratic ideals, though it ignored or marginalized Native American communities already living there.
  • Motivations for migration: openness of lands, economic opportunity, and a democratic vision associated with Thomas Jefferson; migration followed major trails to the Oregon, California, and Santa Fe regions.
  • Public perception and reality: settlers believed in a largely empty frontier waiting to be exploited; in reality, Indigenous tribes and other groups already inhabited the region.
  • The “pioneering spirit” emerges: the westward movement helps birth the American pioneer ethos.

17.1 Westward Spirit and Manifest Destiny – Key Concepts

  • The mid-19th century marks a shift from viewing the West as barren to perceiving it as a land of opportunity.
  • The Oregon Trail, California Trail, and Santa Fe Trail become the main conduits for large-scale migration; the Oregon Trail is the most famous.
  • Size and scope of travel:
    • The Oregon Trail is roughly 2000 miles long. By the 1840s, wagon trains are common.
    • Between 1845 and 1870, over 400000 settlers followed this path west from Missouri.
  • Native and racial dynamics: settlers imagined a free, democratic West, but Indigenous peoples, Hispanics, and Asian immigrants already lived across these territories and faced dispossession and violence.
  • John O'Sullivan and the phrase manifest destiny (1848):

"Our manifest destiny overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our multiplying millions."

  • Coined in The United States Magazine and Democratic Review to advocate expansion into Texas and later the broader West.
  • The idea was adopted by land developers, railroad magnates, and government policy to justify expansion.
  • The concept was used to rationalize American expansion while often excusing or obscuring the treatment of Native peoples.
    • The broader ideological frame: expansion was tied to civilizing missions (Protestant influence, railroads, telegraphs) and to the spread of democratic institutions, even as it entailed dispossession and conflict with various groups.
    • Quotations and rhetoric: the text juxtaposes slogans about destiny and progress with the brutal realities faced by Indigenous communities and other minorities.

17.1 – Connections to earlier lectures / real-world relevance

  • Historical antecedents: the concept echoes earlier westward expansion and removal policies, including the Indian Removal Act (1830) and the Trail of Tears, setting a precedent for later mixed motives (economic opportunity, national security, cultural assimilation).
  • Policy alignment: manifest destiny rhetoric helped justify federal support for western settlement in the Civil War era and beyond.

Federal incentives to promote migration – Legislation and infrastructure

  • Homestead Act of 1862: public land policy to spur settlement by small farmers.
    • Eligibility: any head of household or individual over 21 (including unmarried women).
    • Land grant: 160 acres of public land for a nominal filing fee.
    • Requirements: must improve the land within five years (minimal standards).
    • Outcome: the government transferred over 170000000 acres of public domain to private citizens.
  • Pacific Railway Act (1862): federal backing for transcontinental railroad construction.
    • Objective: speed settlement and facilitate movement of agricultural products, cattle, and mining outputs.
    • Route designations: Union Pacific Railroad to build west from Omaha; Central Pacific Railroad to build east from Sacramento.
    • Land grants: each company received ownership of all public lands within 200 feet on either side of the track, plus additional land grants and government bonds based on terrain difficulty.
    • Outcome: the first transcontinental railroad completed when the two lines connected at Promontory, Utah, in 1869; a broader network followed.
  • Government forts and presence: the federal government built forts across the West to aid migration, trade, and conflict management with Indigenous groups.
    • Fort Laramie (Wyoming) established in 1834; Fort Apache (Arizona) established 1870.
    • Forts in Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, Nebraska, the Dakotas served as trade hubs and relief posts.
    • Coastal forts supported military protection and Pacific trade routes.
  • Economic backdrop: while government incentives reduced some risks, the move west remained financially challenging for many families; wider access to credit and markets gradually reduced some barriers.

17.1 – Who were the settlers?

  • Early wave: relatively prosperous, mostly white, native-born farming families from the East; migration required costly relocation and time to establish viable farms.
  • By 1870, the Homestead and railroad infrastructure opened the West to Americans of more modest means; the flow shifted from a trickle to a steady stream.
  • Demographic shifts by 1870s-1890s:
    • Nearly 400000 settlers reached the West at the peak of migration around 1870.
    • Men comprised the majority; families participated as conditions allowed.
    • Immigrants from Northern Europe and Canada contributed significantly (e.g., Germans, Scandinavians, Irish).
    • Scandinavian immigrants grew from about 18,000 in 1850 to over 1,100,000 by 1900; German-born population rose from 584,000 to about 2,700,000; Irish-born increased from 961,000 to 1,600,000.
    • In the Midwest, by 1900, over one third of Minnesota and Wisconsin populations were foreign-born; North Dakota reached 45% foreign-born around 1900.
  • African American migration: exodusters moved west after the Civil War to escape racial violence in the South; numbers: > 25000 in Kansas during 1879–1880; by 1890, over 500000 Black people lived west of the Mississippi.
    • Some exodusters worked as farmers; others joined cattle drives or served as buffalo soldiers in western conflicts.
  • Asian and Hispanic migrations also shaped the West:
    • Chinese Americans: > 200000 arrivals between 1876 and 1890; many worked on the transcontinental railroad; by 1880, California housed the majority of Chinese Americans (over 300000 total in the US by 1880).
    • Hispanics in the Southwest: many had become US citizens by the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo but remained culturally distinct and faced second-class status; land dispossession and discrimination followed.

17.2 The Homesteading Era: Dreams and Realities

  • Homestead life: the bulk of settlers were homesteaders; many faced brutal conditions (drought, pests, insects, harsh weather).
  • Economic hurdles: despite “free land,” costs for tools, livestock, seeds, and supplies were significant; railroads charged high rates for shipping, and banks charged high interest.
  • Outcomes for farming:
    • Some farms failed; others grew into bonanza farms that employed migrant labor and achieved economies of scale (large-scale operations).
    • By late 19th century, farms that produced more with larger inputs began dominating Western agriculture.
  • Technological and agricultural innovations:
    • John Deere’s steel-faced plow (already available by 1838) improved farming in tough soils; James Oliver improved the chilled plow in the late 1860s for shallow grass roots and rocky soils, boosting efficiency.
    • Bonanza farms: Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota saw large-scale wheat operations (> 20000 acres) and hired migrant laborers.
  • Economic adjustments and the labor market:
    • Despite large land availability, many settlers were forced into wage labor on others’ lands due to lack of capital.
    • Population growth and supply-demand dynamics pushed prices for crops down even as land values rose.
  • Infrastructure and supply chains:
    • Railroads eventually reduced some costs by delivering lumber, tools, and machinery; helped integrate farming economies with eastern markets.
  • Women and family life on the frontier:
    • Women often faced long hours and hard labor; some taught, cooked, sewed, or worked in local towns; many could not own property or vote until later reform movements.
    • Some pioneer women acted as farm managers when widowed; Pacific Northwest and Upper Midwest enabled earlier women’s rights movements due to women’s significant frontier contributions.
  • Cultural reflection:
    • Popular culture (Little House on the Prairie) reflects frontier life, family values, and the Pioneer experience, though it has faced critiques for its portrayal of Indigenous peoples and racial dynamics.
  • Primary voices and letters:
    • Mary Carpenter (1873) letters to an aunt describe perseverance: a faith-based resolve in the face of hardship and duty.

17.3 Western Mining and Cattle: Industries that Shaped the West

  • Mining as a rapid path to wealth:
    • Initial California Gold Rush at Sutter’s Mill (Mid-1840s onward) spurred a rush of prospectors, followed by camp followers (saloonkeepers, merchants, criminals) who profited from the influx.
    • The pattern repeated in Colorado and Nevada over the next decade.
  • The Comstock Lode (Nevada):
    • Henry T. P. Comstock began gold mining in 1859 and soon discovered a major silver deposit—the Comstock Lode.
    • By the end of the 19th century, the Comstock Lode yielded more than 300000000 in silver and gold, fueling regional growth.
  • Copper mining and the rise of centralized mining operations:
    • Copper discoveries in the West complemented gold and silver, reducing the reliance on purely artisanal mining.
    • The discovery and expansion of copper deposits contributed to the growth of electricity and telegraph infrastructure.
  • Dangers and living conditions for miners:
    • By the 1860s–1870s, mining shifted from individual prospecting to large-scale operations requiring substantial capital and machinery.
    • Miners faced extreme heat (shafts above 100°F), poor ventilation, fires, explosions, and cave-ins; an estimated thousands perished or were severely injured in mining towns.
    • Labor organizing occurred but often faced suppression by state militias.
  • Urban and regional development:
    • Mining growth led to permanent settlements (e.g., Denver, Colorado) that served as bases for ongoing extraction and commerce.
  • State-building through mining:
    • The mining era catalyzed U.S. government efforts to bring law and order to the West to enable resource extraction and long-term growth.
  • Nevada and Colorado statehood:
    • Nevada admitted in 1864; Colorado in 1866; then North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Washington in 1889; Idaho and Wyoming in 1890.

17.3 – The Cattle Frontier and Barbed Wire

  • The cattle kingdom:
    • After the Civil War, as many as 5000000 longhorn steers roamed Texas, creating opportunities for ranchers to exploit rail links to the East.
    • Cowboys drove cattle via the Chisholm Trail to railheads in Abilene, Wichita, and Dodge City, Kansas.
    • The cattle boom created a climate of wealth and risk, with large rewards for successful drives and losses for failed ventures.
  • Cowboys and cattle towns:
    • Men, about in their twenties, dominated the cattle drives; roughly one third were Hispanic or African American.
    • Abilene, promoted by Joseph G. McCoy, became a hub for cattle drives with stockyards, hotels, and banking.
  • The end of the open range:
    • The era of free-range cattle began to end with the expansion of fences and fencing technology.
    • Barbed wire (the “devil’s rope”) transformed land use and access.
    • Joseph Glidden’s 1873 patent popularized barbed wire; it enabled large ranchers to enclose land and restrict open grazing.
  • Consequences of barbed wire and enclosure:
    • The open range era ended; land conflicts intensified as fences restricted access to water and grass on public lands.
    • Cultural shifts included a transformation of the Western way of life and contributed to tensions with Indigenous communities and smaller ranchers.
  • Violence and conflict around cattle, fences, and land:
    • Fence-cutting wars (e.g., Clay County, Texas, 1883–1884) involved clashes between ranchers and rustlers, sometimes resulting in deaths and prompting state laws to curb fence cutting and to regulate land use.
    • In Johnson County, Wyoming (1891–1892), a lynching incident against rustlers illustrated the violent conflicts between large ranchers and smaller farmers.
    • Federal intervention and later legal changes constrained frontier violence, marking a transition to government-led order.
  • Cultural echoes:
    • The barbed wire era is memorialized in songs (e.g., Cole Porter’s later “Don’t Fence Me In”), signaling a shift from open-range myth to a more fenced, regulated landscape.

17.4 The Assault on Native Life and Culture – Americanization Policy

  • The Native peoples and Western settlement:
    • As settlers moved west, conflicts with diverse tribes escalated; the population in the Great Plains before expansion was around 250000 Native Americans from various tribes.
  • Removal and reservation era groundwork:
    • Indian Removal Act (1830) laid groundwork for the displacement that continued into the Westward era.
    • Fort Laramie agreements (1851 and 1865) sought to move tribes off the path of white settlement, creating defined tribal borders and reservations.
    • Annuities and promises often failed due to corruption; some tribes faced destitution on reservations as the pace of settlement accelerated.
  • Dakota War of 1862 and mass executions:
    • Dakota Uprising in Minnesota (Dakota War) led to mass violence; over 1000 settlers were attacked; Lincoln intervened, executing 38 Dakota in the largest mass execution in U.S. history.
  • The Sand Creek Massacre (1864):
    • Colonel John Chivington led a militia attack on a peaceful Cheyenne camp led by Black Kettle; ~100 mostly women and children were killed.
  • Treaties and ongoing displacement:
    • Second Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) and Medicine Lodge Creek Treaty (1867) moved Lakota and Cheyenne/Arapaho/Kiowa/Comanche to remote reservations, but gold in the Black Hills drew settlers back in despite treaty protections.
    • By 1875, thousands of miners illegally entered the Black Hills; conflict escalated as tribes resisted encroachment.
  • The Great Sioux War and Little Bighorn (1876):
    • Sitting Bull urged a coalition of tribes to defend their lands; the US Army’s Seventh Cavalry under Custer was defeated at the Little Bighorn River; Custer and 262 others were killed.
  • Aftermath and continued resistance:
    • Despite the victory at Little Bighorn, Plains tribes did not sustain armed resistance; U.S. troops intensified campaigns against encampments and forced relocation.
    • Sitting Bull fled to Canada but later returned; various tribes faced forced removal and confinement to reservations.
  • Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce:
    • Led a 1500+ mile retreat toward Canada in 1877, eventually captured near the border; his surrender speech, “From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever,” remains a poignant symbol of displacement and loss.
  • Americanization policy and reform movement:
    • By the 1880s, reformers (clergy, government officials, social workers) argued for assimilation of Native Americans through the Americanization program.
    • Key components: individual land ownership (Dawes-style reform), Christian worship, and schooling for children.
    • Boarding schools (e.g., Carlisle Indian School) removed Native children from families to substitute Euro-American cultural practices and vocational/ domestic education.
  • Dawes Severalty Act (1887):
    • A reform act that divided tribal lands into parcels and granted 160 acres to heads of families (or 320 acres for grazing), with lands held in trust for 25 years before full title and citizenship were granted.
    • The act aimed to erode communal tribal landholding and increase individual land ownership, but resulted in the loss of up to 80000000 acres of Native American land to white settlers.
  • Citizenship and rights:
    • Formal citizenship for Native Americans would not arrive until 1924, long after the act redefined land tenure and governance.

17.5 The Impact on Chinese Immigrants and Hispanic Citizens

  • Chinese immigrants and anti-immigrant sentiment:
    • Chinese laborers arrived in large numbers during the California Gold Rush and then largely built the Transcontinental Railroad.
    • Initial arrival: as little as 650 in 1849; by 1852 more than 20000 Chinese immigrants had arrived; by 1880, the Chinese population in the United States neared 300000.
    • Discrimination and violence:
    • White leagues (anti-Coolie clubs) organized boycotts and lobbied for anti-Chinese laws; 1885 violence in Rock Springs, Wyoming killed and injured many Chinese immigrants.
    • The California constitution of 1879 denied naturalized Chinese citizens the right to vote or hold state employment.
    • The Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) barred further Chinese immigration for ten years; it was extended and renewed several times until its repeal in 1943.
    • Chinese community responses: building benevolent associations to provide social services, education, health facilities, and religious life.
  • Labor, labor conflicts, and cultural life:
    • Chinese workers faced lower wages and discrimination compared to white workers in California cities; they were often relegated to the lowest-paying and most dangerous jobs.
    • The OpenStax text urges us to consider the broader context of immigrant labor and xenophobia, not as a monolith but as collective experiences of diverse individuals.
  • Mexican Americans and Hispanics in the Southwest:
    • Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) promised citizenship to roughly 75,000 Hispanics residing in territories gained from Mexico; about 90% accepted the offer and remained in the United States.
    • Despite formal citizenship, many Hispanic landowners faced dispossession through force, legal manipulation, or expensive legal processes.
    • The California and Southwest social order often relegated Hispanics to subservient economic roles and politics that favored white settlers.
    • Cultural persistence and backlash: Sunday laws targeted Hispanic cultural practices (e.g., bullfights) and vagrancy laws (Greaser laws) restricted economic and social rights.
    • Grassroots resistance: Las Gorras Blancas (White Caps) in 1889–1890 used raids to reclaim land or deter encroachment; some political gains followed, but significant structural change remained limited.
  • Contemporary reflections:
    • The intertwined legacies of displacement, discrimination, and economic inequality shaped policy and social life in the American Southwest and broader Western expansion.
  • OpenStax perspective and moral questions:
    • The transcript invites critical reflection on the ethical, philosophical, and practical implications of expansion, including how laws and cultures favored some groups over others and the long-term impacts on Indigenous peoples, Chinese Americans, and Hispanic communities.

17.4 The Indian Wars and Americanization – Key Episodes and Policies

  • Summary of policy shifts:
    • Early strategy relied on treaties and reservations to separate tribes from expanding settlements, but mounting pressure to access resources and land led to forced removals and conflicts.
    • The U.S. government eventually pursued Americanization (assimilation) as a policy to incorporate Native peoples into Euro-American society.
  • Major events and figures:
    • Dakota War (1862) and subsequent executions and banishments reveal the violent methods used to quell resistance.
    • The Sand Creek Massacre (1864) exemplifies the brutality that accompanied expansion.
    • The Little Bighorn (1876) demonstrates a rare Confederate defeat of U.S. forces but did not halt federal campaigns.
    • Chief Joseph’s dramatic retreat (1877) underscores the limits of resistance and the human cost of displacement.
  • Americanization program details:
    • Boarding schools (e.g., Carlisle) sought to erase Native language and customs in favor of Euro-American norms.
    • Land reform (Dawes Act) aimed at individual land ownership and assimilation but resulted in significant loss of tribal land to non-Native settlers.
  • Citizenship timeline:
    • Native Americans did not gain full citizenship until 1924, despite sometimes receiving recognition and limited rights earlier.

17.5 The Impact on Chinese and Hispanic Populations – Policy, Rights, and Daily Life

  • Chinese Americans:
    • Discrimination in law and practice: the 1879 California constitution excluded naturalized Chinese from voting or state employment.
    • The Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) curtailed immigration, with effects lasting until 1943.
    • Social organizations formed to support communities (benevolent associations, education, religious life) in San Francisco and other cities.
  • Hispanics in the American Southwest:
    • While many Hispanics accepted citizenship under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, they faced ongoing discrimination, loss of land, and exclusion from political influence.
    • Laws and social practices, including Sunday laws and vagrancy statutes, limited cultural participation and economic opportunity.
    • Forms of resistance ranged from passive endurance to organized political action (e.g., Las Gorras Blancas) and legal challenges, though long-term change remained incremental.

Thematic Connections and Implications

  • Economic motivation vs. ethical cost: incentives like the Homestead Act and railroad expansion spurred settlement but often produced dispossession, violence, and long-term inequality for Indigenous peoples and other minorities.
  • Gender and family dynamics: frontier life was historically male-dominated, but women increasingly asserted agency in homesteading, community-building, and reform movements; the Pacific Northwest and Upper Midwest were early centers of women’s rights advocacy.
  • The role of government: federal incentives and military presence shaped the pace and geography of settlement, while later reforms (Dawes Act, boarding schools, and Americanization) sought to restructure Indigenous life and land tenure.
  • Cultural memory and myth-making: popular culture (novels like Little House on the Prairie) continues to shape perceptions of the West, even as modern scholarship revisits the harsher realities and injustices of expansion.
  • Legacy on policy and society: the era established patterns of westward expansion, resource exploitation, and policy debates about Native rights, immigration, sovereignty, and federal authority that continued to influence American history.

Key Terms, People, and Dates (Quick Reference)

  • Homestead Act: 1862; 160 acres; five-year improvement requirement; head of household; unmarried women eligible.
  • Pacific Railway Act: 1862; rail grants and land around tracks; 200 feet on either side; first transcontinental railroad completed in 1869 at Promontory, Utah.
  • Fort Laramie (1851, 1868) and forts along the West: military and treaty significance.
  • Dakota War (1862) and Lincoln’s mass executions (38 executed after 1862 uprising).
  • Sand Creek Massacre (1864): Cheyenne camp attacked by militia; ~100 deaths.
  • Little Bighorn (1876): Custer’s last stand; Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho victory; Custer killed.
  • Chief Joseph (1877): Nez Perce surrender; “From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever.”
  • Dawes Severalty Act (1887): division of tribal land into individual allotments; trust lands for 25 years; citizenship contingent on land title.
  • Chinese Exclusion Act (1882): prohibition of Chinese immigration for ten years; extended repeatedly until 1943.
  • Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848): granted citizenship to Hispanics in newly acquired territories; path to integration and subsequent displacement pressures.

Reflection Questions for Exam Prep

  • How did the idea of Manifest Destiny shape U.S. policy toward westward expansion, and what were the ethical implications for Native Americans and other minority groups?
  • Compare and contrast the economic drivers of homesteading, mining, and cattle ranching in the West. What were the major technological or policy changes that shifted these industries over time?
  • Assess the role of the federal government in facilitating settlement versus enforcing order. How did policies like the Homestead Act, Pacific Railway Act, and the Dawes Act alter land ownership and tribal sovereignty?
  • Explain how immigration and race shaped the demographics of the West (Chinese, Hispanics, exodusters). How did laws such as the Chinese Exclusion Act influence the social and economic fabric of the region?
  • Discuss the long-term cultural and historical legacies of westward expansion, including both the narratives celebrated in popular culture and the critiques raised by historians about displacement and violence.