Westward Expansion #986706

Westward Expansion explores one of the most dramatic and transformative eras in United States history, when the nation pushed beyond the Mississippi River and reshaped the continent. From the perilous journeys of the Oregon Trail to the powerful ideology of Manifest Destiny, this book examines the dreams, ambitions, conflicts, and consequences that drove Americans westward. It follows the Texas Revolution, the rise and annexation of the Republic of Texas, the Mexican-American War, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the California Gold Rush, and the sweeping transformation of the American West.

This volume presents westward expansion not only as a story of pioneers, settlers, soldiers, and gold seekers, but also as a history of Native displacement, Mexican American communities, slavery, immigration, environmental change, and national division. It reveals how the United States became a continental power while exposing the human cost behind the promise of opportunity. This book is ideal for readers who want to know how the American West was imagined, conquered, settled, and transformed.