After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, a large amount of land west of the
original 13 states and the Northwest Territory were acquired. The open land,
additional benefits and other existing problems encouraged Americans to
expand westward. The American people began to realize that the future of
the country lay in the development of its own western resources. There were
many reasons that made the people face the grueling and dangerous movement
west, but the primary reason was economy.
"Like the Spanish conquistadors before them, the Americans looked beyond
the Mississippi, they saw an open beckoning. Despite the presence of
hundreds of Indian nations with rich and distinct cultures, who had populated
the land for thousands of years-from the desert of the Southwest and the
grassy prairies of the Great Plains to the high valleys of the Rocky
Mountains and the salty beaches of the Pacific Coast-Americans considered the
west to be an empty wilderness.......
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