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The Western Expansion was located from Oregon to California. The geographical area of the Western Expansion was vast and involved the development of many regions across the western part of North America, including the Appalachian Mountains. The Western Expansion shaped the nation's history in profound ways. The start of the expansion was the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 and involved many territorial acquisitions. The territorial acquisitions expanded the size of the United States significantly. And the Manifest Destiny concept, the idea that the U.S. was destined to expand across the continent, was a driving force for the Western Expansion. The Western Expansion also led to the encounters of many different cultures (Native American, Mexican, and a diverse group of settlers) which had a lasting effect on the western part of America's development. More territory meant allowing more places where slavery could grow. This caused some to oppose because of the fear that the South would force "peculiar institutions" upon the entire union.

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The Louisiana Purchase was located on the Louisiana territory which belonged to France until 1803. It was the purchase of imperial rights to the western half of the Mississippi River from France by the United State and accompanied 530,000,000 acres of territory in North America. The Louisiana Purchase gave the U.S. authority to obtain the land from the Native Americans inhabiting it. Ultimately it was the greatest land bargain in United States history. It was ultimately the greatest land bargain in U.S. history. The Louisiana Territory was vast, stretching from the Gulf of Mexico in the south to Rupert's Land in the north, and from the Mississippi River in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west. On April 30, 1803 Frances signed over to the United States incorporating Louisiana as a territory. Nine years later on April 30th, 1812, after the signing of the Louisiana Purchase, Congress admitted Louisiana as the eighteenth state. The importance of the territorial acquisition was that the Louisiana Purchase eventually doubled the size of the U.S. and strengthened the country materially and strategically and provided a powerful impetus to westward expansion. Though some opposed the purchase due to concern about the constitutionality of the treaty with France. While others feared the impact it would have on the political balance between slave and free states.

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The Lewis and Clark Expedition was from May 14, 1804 to September 23, 1806. From St. Louis, Missouri, to the Pacific Ocean and back, to Corps Discovery, they traveled nearly 8,000 miles. It was a federally funded venture to explore the North American West. The objective was to survey the Missouri and Columbia rivers, to locate routes that connect the continental interior to the Pacific Ocean. Lewis and Clark discovered that the rocky mountains were way more extensive and rougher than they had expected, and that the upper reaches of the Missouri River weren't navigable. What was supposed to be a one-day portage was over 100 miles. Along the venture they were confronted with harsh weather, unforgiving terrain, treacherous waters, injuries, starvation, disease and both friendly and hostile Native Americans. Their team mapped uncharted land, rivers,and mountains. They filled journals with details about Native American tribes and scientific notes about plants and animals they’d never seen before, which they brought back with them. They also brought back with them stories that made other Americans dream about heading west. They found hundreds of thousands of buffalo, elk, deer, antelope, prairie dogs, and beaver in North Dakota. The importance of the expedition was that it aided the expansion of the fur trade. It was also important because it strengthened U.S. claims to the Pacific. It also accomplished another of its goals, diplomacy with Native Americans. The expedition held many councils promising to trade with the American Indians. The only people opposed were the Spanish, with France, Spain, or the United States all no knowing where the Missouri River flowed, the Spanish saw the Lewis and Clark expedition as an illegal trespass on their sovereign territory. This triggered military-backed opposition causing 4 attempts to arrest them and their team.

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Florida was Spanish territory. Minister Onis and Secretary Adams reached an agreement where Spain ceded Florida to the U.S.. Spain did not receive any compensation, but the United States agreed to pay 5 million in liability for damage done by American citizens  who rebelled against Spain. This is known as the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819 or the Florida Purchase Treaty.  The treaty or purchase was part of a broader effort to define and secure U.S. borders during the westward expansion period. Formal United States occupation began in 1821. Florida was organized as a U.S. territory in 1822 and was admitted to the union as the 27th state in 1854. It expanded the United States territory and paved the way for future development and settlement in the southeastern part of the country. Florida's desire to enter as a slave state caused some issue causing them to have to wait 6 years to become a state. This is because of the slave and free state balance, they had to wait until another territory was ready to become a free state. Gaining the control of Florida held great importance because it would mean gaining the control of the Mississippi River, which is an important route for trading.

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In 1819 Missouri wanted to become a slave state, though at the time there was an equal number of slave and free states, Missouri’s entry would ruin this balance.The compromise was the balance of the noutherns desires to stop the expansion of slavery and southern desires to expand slavery. When President James Monroe signed the law was passed and legislation made Missouri a slave state and Maine a free state. It outlawed slavery above the 36º 30' latitude line in the remainder of Louisiana Territory. It was a dividing line between slave and free territories in the Louisiana Purchase— north of this line slavery would be prohibited and south of the line slavery would be allowed. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 tried to calm growing tensions regarding the issue of slavery. The compromise remained intact for 30 years until the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 repealed it. Though the compromise kept tensions calm for a little it failed to resolve the slavery issue over the long term. Some southerners opposed the compromise because it set a precedent for future slavery prohibition laws, while some northerners opposed it because it meant slavery was expanding into new territory.

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The Indian removal act was a law authorizing the president to grant unsettled lands west of the Mississippi River to Indians that were willing to give up their homelands (or by force). It was signed in 1830 by President Andrew Jackson. The act provided both financial and material assistance to go to their new homes. The law guaranteed that Indians would live on new property under the United States protection. The Indian Removal Act, while successful for white settlement, cost many Native American lives on what is called the "trail of tears." Almost 70 removal treaties were signed, benefiting rich white settlers by opening up a lot of new land for them.

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Texas was located in Mexico/The republic of Texas. Geographically it looked like islands, canyons, valleys, even extinct volcanoes. The four significant landforms in Texas are hills, mountains, plains, and plateaus. Plains cover much of the Gulf Coast, the Panhandle, North Texas, South Texas, and West Texas. It was incorporated as a territory on April 12, 1844 and as the 28th state of the United States on December 29, 1845. The importance of the territorial acquisition was that after it became a state it became an economic superpower for cotton, beef, and oil production. It also led to the Mexican-American war which because of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo led to America ending up with a huge expansion of territory. Including California, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Washington, and Oregon, additionally portions of later Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas, Wyoming, and Montana. Though some were opposed due to the balance of power between slave and free states in the United States.

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At the end of the Mexican-American war the U.S. gained a large piece of western land known as the Mexican Cession. . Map depicting the area of the Mexican Cession, including the present-day states of California, Nevada, Utah, and portions of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming.The Mexican Cession was located in California, Nevada, Utah, most of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming. The Mexican Cession was the third largest acquisition of territory and around 529,000 square miles of land. It was incorporated as a territory on February 2, 1848 after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed. The importance was that it paved the way for many other significant events like the dispossession of indigenous people, the California Gold Rush, and the American Civil War. It contributed to the idea of Manifest Destiny and the expansion of the west. It also added states like California to the U.S. and a significant addition of territory to the US. But it also caused tensions between free and slave states to become worse and ultimately led to the American Civil War.

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The Oregon Territory was located in Spain, Great Britain, Russia, and the United States. Before it became a part of the United States it had joint occupancy between the U.S. and Great Britain under the treaty of 1818. Geographically the Oregon territory was stretched from the Pacific coast to the rocky mountains. It became a U.S. territory on August 14, 1848. Oregon became the 33rd state of the United States on February 14, 1859. The importance of the territorial acquisition was that it reinforced the idea of Manifest Destiny. It also had the Oregon trail which established routes of trade from East to West. It supplied new land for American settlers and explored land undeveloped by Europeans. It also provided access to the Pacific Ocean opening up new opportunities for trade. And it extended the international border between the U.S. and now Canada along the 49th parallel to the Strait of Georgia, and then out the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

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California was part of the Spanish colony of Mexico's territory, after the Mexican-American war Mexico signed the land over to the U.S. in 1848 .Also in 1848, with the California Gold Rush came a big population increase and a pressing need for civil government. In 1849 Californians sought out statehood after an intense debate in the United States Congress on the occurring slavery issue. California is a western United State, it stretches from the Mexican border along the pacific for almost 900 miles. Geographically its terrain includes redwood forests, cliff lined beaches, the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Central Valley farmland, and the Mojave Desert. California was never organized as a territory, but was administered from 1848 to statehood by a federal military authority. On September 9, 1850 California entered the union as a free state, and was the 31st state of America. California becoming a free state threatened to destroy the delicate balance in the Senate between free and slave states since the Missouri Compromise of 1820.

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The Compromise of 1850 admitted California as a free state, the remainder of the Mexican Cession was divided into two territories of New Mexico and Utah without any talk of slavery. It also defined a new Texas-New Mexico boundary. The Fugitive Slave Act was passed to stop runaway slaves and return them to their masters. The buying and selling of slaves, but not slavery, was abolished in the District of Columbia. The Compromise established Utah and New Mexico as states that could decide themselves if they are a free or slave state. The Compromise of 1850 was created by Henry Clay and Stephan Douglas. It acted as a temporary truce and temporarily diffused tensions on the issue of slavery after the new territories acquired after the Mexican-American War. However some southerners opposed the compromise because it meant the expansion of slavery in the future was not guaranteed which made them fear of the abolishment of slavery entirely. Some northerners opposed it because the compromise wasn’t enough to combat the spread of slavery.

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The Gadsden Purchase was an agreement between the United States and Mexico. It was when the United States agreed to pay Mexico 10 million for 29,670 square miles of a region of Mexico which is present day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico. It was finalized in 1854. The purchase included lands south of the Gila River and west of the Rio Grande where the U.S. wanted to make a transcontinental railroad down a deep southern route. It was later completed in 1881-1883. The purchase also was to fix other border issues remaining from the Mexican-American war. Supporters of the southern route were disappointed due to the lands being too mountainous for their project. Those that opposed were anti slavery because of fear that the new territories would become slave states. The purchase intensified the tension of the conflict over enslavement and helped to bring regional differences eventually leading to the civil war.