Westward Expansion Vocabulary

The process through which Americans gained land in the West, explored, and settled the Western United States

• Americanism

• The Journey West

• Westward Expansion

• Secession

The belief that the United States was destined to stretch across the continent, from the Atlantic to Pacific Ocean

• Continentalism

• American Growth

• The Great Expansion

• Manifest Destiny

In 1803, Thomas Jefferson made this enormous purchase of land from France, which greatly expanded the size of the United States

• The Gadsden Purchase

• The Louisiana Purchase

• The Western Purchase

• The Florida Acquisition

In 1804, Jefferson sent these two explorers to travel through the Louisiana Purchase and explore the United States.

• Tom and Jerry

• Simon and Garfunkle

• Hall and Oates

• Lewis and Clark

The Shoshone Indian guide of Lewis and Clark who provided valuable help on their journey.

• Sacagewea

• Pocahontas

• Sitting Bull

• Squanto

A railroad which joined the East and West of the United States. It was completed in 1869 and revolutionized transportation in the West.

• The American Express

• The Transcontinental Railroad

• New Jersey Transit

• The United Rail Service

The forced relocation of Cherokee Indians and other tribes off their homelands in Georgia

• The Mass Migration

• The Cherokee Displacement

• The Long Journey

• The Trail of Tears

Western settlers often traveled in large groups of Conestoga wagons, known as...

• Wagon groups

• Travel packs

• Wagon trains

• Journey gangs

A route from Independence, Missouri to Oregon City, Oregon, used by pioneers traveling to the Oregon County

• The Western Road

• The Oregon Trail

• The California Passage

• The Eastern Express

300,000 Americans traveled to California in the hopes of finding gold, after gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in 1848

• California Migration

• Sutter's Mill Expansion

• California Gold Rush

• Manifest Destiny