Westward Expansion

The story of the first century of the United States is very much that of the republic’s expansion across the North American continent. The nation’s growth created a unique political dynamic as the balance of legislative power changed with the geographic boundaries of the country. These forces could be disruptive. The Panic of 1837 that crippled the American economy was a direct consequence of the failure of speculative investments in western lands.  At other times, these forces were catastrophic, there being no better example than the gradual spiral from Texas annexation to Civil War. Irrespective of these crises, western expansion was fundamental to the nation’s vision of itself. Throughout the antebellum era, Americans adhered to a vigorous belief in the manifest destiny of their nation to stretch from the shores of the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. The realization of that vision is one of the great successes of United States history.

The documents cited below offer just a small sampling of content in the Gilder Lehrman Collection regarding that inexorable movement west. The variety of emigrants (and reasons for emigration) reveals the rich cultural heritage of the American West. The individuals represented range from explorers and surveyors, to Native Americans, pioneer settlers, Army veterans, government officials, land speculators, teachers, and political and religious refugees from the United States and abroad.