Indians and the Westward movement
"The white people had now found our Country."The transportation problems facing the nation were as huge as the country itself. Only a few roads for coaches and wagons stretched between the states. Coaches and wagons also moved slowly, very slowly. The 260-mile journey from New York to Boston, for example, took 39 hours by stagecoach. The only other ways to travel or move goods were by small boats, on horseback or on foot. Slow, costly transport was bad for business. It could isolate Americans in one region from those in another. "Let us bind the Republic together with a perfect system of roads and canals. Let us conquer space," John Calhoun said. States began to take on the challenge of building roads and canals. This transportation revolution had a huge impact on the everyday life of Americans resulting in conflicts with the Indians. The most successful, and most daring, improvement of this period was the Erie Canal. The success of the Erie Cana
The success of the Erie Canal encouraged more canal buildig in other parts of the country. By the 1820's more people began to look westwards. Farm products from this region flowed eastward and their population grew. In turn, the westerners bought the manufacturers goods of the East. Fed by the West, easterners could concentrate on trade and manufacturing. As economic growth reinforced slavery and pushed for western expansion, policy makers tried to keep white racial domination. The Indians then tried to resist and lost as well. The white people wanted Indian Land, no matter what. A national market developed out of this and brough opportunities and challenges for everyone. Before these policies individuals produced everything they ate, wore, built. People were now producing commodities to be sold to to others and then in turn, buying from others. The cotton market was steadily moving westwards. People were on the move just to be on the move. They tried to acculturate to the white culture and lost. To convince the whites that they were no barbarians, they attempted acculturation.
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Acceptance Essays
