USA expansion 1840 - 1860

• what caused westward expansion?

  growing white settlement
• what evidence proves the US has always been interested in the West?

  their paintings focused on idyllic scenes of mountains and deserts, looking longingly westwards
• what was Manifest Destiny?

  a part of US identity that spread ideas of conquering the wildwest - people believed it was their God-given right to take this land
• what was the underlying cause of expansion to the west?

  racist ideas that lead to white settler colonialism where settlers tried to replace the Natives