Westward Expansion Analysis

Words: 586
Pages: 3

To begin with, Morgan’s central ideas in the article “There Is No True History Of Westward Expansion” is that history is not made from a few villains and heros, it's made of many whose ideas could come in conflict with one another's and that Thomas Jefferson was mainly responsible for westward expansion because he was the one who gave commands to the first expedition team to the west, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Morgan’s central ideas are correct. There is evidence in his text that backs up what he said about westward expansion. Westward expansion was very well wanted by the American citizens, as can be seen in Morgan’s “There Is No True History Of Westward Expansion”, “It has been said that America’s aggressive expansionism is evidence …show more content…
At first the Nez Percé didn't mind the white men coming into their territory, in fact they even gave the white men gifts for their journey. Despite their gifts to the white men the white men stole from them and treated them terribly. From “Chief Joseph Speaks…” it says “For a short time we lived quietly. But this could not last. White men had found gold in the mountains around the land of the Winding Water. They stole a great many horses from us and we could not get them back because we were Indians. The white men told lies for each other. They drove off a great many of our cattle. Some white men branded our young cattle so they could claim them. This shows that westward expansion shouldn't have happened because when the white men came into the indian territory they stole what was the indians who lived their and they had no right to take it from the indians without making a deal for it. As can be seen westward expansion was a very good thing for the Americans. They gained more land and resources. With these resources they built up their economy and cities. There may be heros and villians in westward expansion but Jefferson was a hero. He made the plan for Lewis and Clark to travel westward and map out territories. Morgan’s central ideas were correct, as can be seen in the text