The Westward Movement Made America Great
The Westward Movement Made America Great
Syllabus
ⅠThe background of the Westward Movement. ⅡThe Westward Movement’s process.
ⅢThe influence of the Westward Movement.
Abstract
The Westward Movement or Trail of Tears made America great, but made American Indians cry. In this movement American moved from east to west, opened up wasteland, killed American Indians. Finally America became the most powerful country, but American Indians, the once master of American Continent, was almost disappeared.
Key words: America; the Westward Movement; American
Indian;
ⅠThe background of the Westward Movement.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the US frontiers extended westward step by step.[1] In this period the United States had some good policies to develop economy.
As everybody knows, America was an English colony before the victory of American Revolution. Of course, the United Kingdom did not want America was not in control. The British Government issued a proclamation in 1763. America was forbidden to come to the west of the Appalachian Mountains. However the British Government cancelled this command. So, America could begin their adventures and exploration.
What’s more? For Encouraging people to produce, The American Government sold nationalized lands at a very low price. If you were an American of that era, you could buy 160 acres of land with 10 dollars.
In addition to this, there were a variety of nice policies to attracting foreign immigrants or investments.
ⅡThe Westward Movement’s process.
The Westward Movement is a long lasting movement. In summary, it has 3 periods: the period of agricultural development, the period of industrial development, and the period of high-tech development.
?The period of agricultural development
In this period what the America wanted are agricultural products. People needed lands to produce. So they came to the west to look for more opportunities. It is the first step that costs troublesome. The pioneers suffered a lot, but it’s worth it. From 1792 to 1848, 10 states were admitted to the Union.
Admission to Union [2]
?The period of industrial development
From the civil war to the end of world warⅡis the second period of the American westward movement. Likewise, the policies of government were good for industrial development. America not only focused on accessing foreign capital and talents, but also paid attention to environmental protection and technology.
?The period of high-tech development
From the end of world warⅡto now is the third period of westward movement in the United States. Technology is changing the world. Americans have been attaching importance to technology. In the Third Industrial Revolution, America played the role of a pioneer.
In 2009, San Antonio had already taken significant first steps toward a new era of
sustainability. The City of San Antonio’s “Mission Verde” and the CPS Energy’s “Vision 2020” both emphasize specific actions that the community has taken to transition into the Third Industrial Revolution.[3][4] Green jobs and adequate financing mechanisms are among the challenges being addressed by the City’s Mission Verde plan. And CPS Energy has already embraced the need for a more energy-efficient economy that is increasingly powered by renewable energy and other clean energy technologies. These actions, coupled with the insights and ideas that emerged from the April 2009 workshop on sustainability (convened by the City of San Antonio and CPS Energy) provide the groundwork for specifying how the vision of a Third Industrial Revolution might be applied to the specific conditions and constraints faced by the city of San Antonio.[3]
ⅢThe influence of the Westward Movement.
On the one hand, the Westward Movement was very important to America. Without it, America could not expand its territory; without it, America could not have Agrarian Revolution, Industrial Revolution and intellectual revolution; without it, Americans could not have the spirit of optimism.
On the other hand, the Westward Movement was American Indians’ nightmare. It destroyed ancient Indian civilization.
The Indian Removal Act was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830. The act authorized him to negotiate with the Native Americans in the Southern United States for their removal to federal territory west of the Mississippi River in exchange for their homelands[5] [6]
White men forced the Indians from their land and nearly destroyed all of the buffalo, the main source of food and hides for the tribes of the Great Plains. [7]We can find the evidence in Lincoln the Unknown.
Not far from Elizabethtown there was a vast stretch of treeless land known as “the barrens.” For generations the Indians had started fires there and undergrowth, so that the coarse prairie-grass could grow in the sun, and the buffaloes would come there to wallow and graze. [8] Lincoln’s family trembled at there. America took the lands of Indians but could not use it well.
Conclusion
All in all, the Westward Movement did more good than harm. It not merely made America great, but also offered much experience of nation-building, such as paying more attention on environmental protection , make rational use of resources and developing high-tech.
References
1.2.许鲁之。新编英美概况。中国海洋大学出版社，2007。
3. "Mission Verde: Building a 21st Century Economy". Office of Mayor Phil
Hardberger. https://www.wendangku.net/doc/5f11597128.html,. January 28, 2009. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
4. "Vision 2020 and Beyond". CPS Energy. https://www.wendangku.net/doc/5f11597128.html,. October 5, 2009.
Retrieved April 12, 2013.
5.The U.S. Senate passed the bill on April 24, 1830 (28–19), the U.S. House passed it on May 26, 1830 (102–97); Francis Paul Prucha, The Great Father: The United States Government and the American Indians, V olume I, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1984, p. 20
6.
6."Indian Removal Act: Primary Documents of American History". Library of Congress. Retrieved May 12, 2011.
7.朱永涛。英美文化基础教程。北京：外语教学与研究出版社，1991：:116
8. 戴尔卡耐基。林肯传。中国宇航出版社，2010。