MANIFEST DESTINY The belief that the U.S. had the right & duty to expand its borders to the Pacific Ocean.

During this time period a few world powers were taking over large parts of the world in order to create trading empires.

Who Came West? Trappers, hunters, fur traders also know as mountain men. Fur and animal pelts were in high demand to make clothing.

Beaver pelts were trimmed and brushed to make firm, waterproof hats.

Who Came West?? land speculators and trail blazers who sold land to settlers

Who Came West?? Farmers, ranchers They pushed out Native Americans and created farms, ranches and towns

Who Came West?? Religious groups seeking religious freedom or to covert Native Americans

Mormons traveled West to find freedom.

Native Americans were converted to European culture and religion

How did the United States use new inventions to expand west?

Man-made rivers, called canals, were dug to create waterways connecting lakes and rivers. This sped up communication and trade.

Canals connected towns and farms

Special gates called locks could raise and lower ships so canals could go over ridges

Steam engines created a new power source to push boats and eventually trains.

Steam powered transportation was much faster, but more expensive.

Railroad corporations were given large grants of land from the government to help pay for the huge cash investment required to build a railroad across the nation. The company would receive every other square mile in a checkerboard type arrangement.

On this map you can see the wide green ribbon of land given to a corporation in exchange for building a railroad to the west. This land would be more valuable once the railroad was complete.

Click through the rest of the slides to analyze the parts of this picture. Write down items you see and try to understand how they symbolize Manifest Destiny.