Lure+of+the+West

//Depictions of the people, lifestyles, and landscapes of nineteenth century expansion capture the powerful allure of the American west as both a destination and destiny. Students consider changes in land ownership, the effects of westward expansion, and the belief in America's manifest destiny.//

**Key points** **:**
 * American settlers poured westward from the coastal states into the Midwest, Southwest, and Texas, seeking **economic opportunity** in the form of land to own and farm.
 * The belief that it was America’s **“Manifest Destiny”** to stretch from Atlantic to Pacific provided political support for territorial expansion.
 * During this period of westward migration, the **American Indians** were repeatedly defeated in violent conflicts with settlers and soldiers and forcibly removed from their ancestral homelands. They were either forced to march far away from their homes or confined to reservations. The forcible removal of the American Indians from their lands would continue throughout the remainder of the 19th century as settlers continued to move west following the Civil War.
 * President Thomas Jefferson purchased the huge **Louisiana** **Territory** from France in 1803, which doubled the size of the United States overnight.
 * The prospect of gold leads more than 300,000 people to travel to California by 1854 in the **Gold Rush.**

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 * Artworks on view:**

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 * Artworks on view at the Luce Center:**

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 * Artworks Not on View:**

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 * Related resources:**