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Essay about Territorial Expansion 1800-1850

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From the years 1800-1850 the nation was full of battles and prosperity. Territorial expansion was a cause in most of the battles, but also gained prosperity for the nation. There were many impacts on national unity between those time periods, but the main impact was territorial expansion. This is true because of the Louisiana Purchase, the purchase of Oregon territory, and the Mexican War. The Louisiana Purchase was the most important event of President Thomas Jefferson's first Administration. In this transaction, the United States bought 827,987 square miles of land from France for about $15 million. This vast area lay between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains, stretching …show more content…

The Louisiana Purchase was the first notable acquisition to national unity, for it allowed contact between states to expand and helped to unite some the of the southern states. A long history of dispute characterized the ownership of the Oregon territory, which included present-day Oregon, Washington, Idaho and portions of Montana, Wyoming, and British Columbia. Spain and Russia had surrendered their claims to the region, but the United States and Britain were active claimants in the early 19th century's early years. The matter's resolution was delayed by the Anglo-American Convention of 1818, in which both parties agreed to a temporary policy of "joint occupation" of the region. This accommodation was extended in 1827. During the 1830s, the American position came to favor establishment of the northern border arguing that the nation required no less. The British, however, wanted to see the southern boundary of British Columbia established at the Columbia River and based their claims on the Hudson's Bay Company's long history in the area. The British position weakened in the early 1840s as large numbers of American settles poured into the disputed area over the Oregon Trail. Possession of Oregon became an issue in the election of 1844. Democratic candidate James K. Polk took an extreme view by advocating the placement of

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