Westward Expansion

In 1803, Thomas Jefferson asked congress to send a few handpicked men to explore the west. Jefferson did this in secret because the French owned the land and sending men into it would cause at least some sort of conflict with France. That same year, Napoleon offered the Louisiana Territory to the United States for only fifteen million dollars. Overnight, America grew over one million square miles. Jefferson had picked Meriwether Lewis to lead the expedition and Lewis recommended that his friend William Clark be second in command. After over two years and 8,000 miles, Lewis and Clark were welcomed back to St. Louis, Missouri where they started as heroes. Land disputes with the British in Canada almost resulted in war but was resolved by setting up the 49th parallel and the territory conflict with Mexico was resolved by the Mexican American War. All this new land was free and drew many settlers. The settlers wanted to return to a peaceful country life and to have their own land that they put work into. It was possible to buy good land cheap from the federal government as long as you farmed the fields. Hardships of pioneer life included Mexican bandits, dangerous wildlife, brushfire, and generally hard conditions during travel, but the pioneers were persistent and eventually, log cabins turned into small communities and then to towns and cities.