The Great Plains

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that the westward movement of settlers in the early history of the United States led first to the settlement of California and later to the settlement of the Great Plains. The paper contends that both the movement and the actual settlement provided new opportunities for interaction between humans and their surroundings that had never existed in the western United States before. These interactions had short-term and long-term effects on the ecology of prairies and plains in this area. The paper discusses the factors that facilitated the settlement of such areas in the nineteenth century and analyzes the effects of settlement on the ecology of an area. The paper also examines responses to those effects.

From the Paper:

"The expansion of the United States was a gradual process that began with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Following the transaction that acquired the area from the Mississippi River westward to the Continental Divide, President Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark to explore the area. After several successful expeditions all the way to the Pacific coast had been completed, settlers picked up the westward trend in the 1840s. Around this time, politicians began using the phrase "Manifest Destiny" to justify America's acquisition of land as its mission. Accordingly, President Polk continued the expansion of the United States by annexing newly-independent Texas, signing a treaty with Great Britain for Oregon territory, and defeating Mexico in a war for most of the Southwest."

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