How were the Americans affected by westward expansion in the 1800's?

Americans were impacted by westward expansion in the 1800s in several ways. In 1862, the government, with the passage of the Homestead Act, offered people 160 acres of land in the Great Plains if they lived on it for five years. Some Americans went to the west to get this land.

The westward expansion allowed people to move west to mine, to farm, and to raise sheep or cattle. When minerals were found in the west, many people moved to the west in order to strike it rich. While most didn’t get rich, some people remained in the west. People also moved west because there were plenty of lands to farm or on which to raise sheep and cattle. As people moved to the west, both the railroads and the businesses expanded to these regions where people were moving.

Americans also encountered attacks by the Native Americans. The Native Americans didn’t trust the Americans because of previous actions in the 1830s. Now that Americans were again moving into areas where the Native Americans lived, more conflict was bound to occur. As Americans killed the buffalo, and the Native Americans were forced onto reservations, there were many battles between the Native Americans and the Americans, especially with the army.

The westward expansion also increased the tensions regarding the spread of slavery. As more people moved west, new states eventually wanted to join the Union. The North and South fiercely debated whether some of these territories would become free states or slaves states. 

Westward expansion affected Americans in many ways.