This chapter concerns movement into the trans-Mississippi West between 1830 and 1865. First we will consider how and when Americans moved west, by what means the United States acquired the vast territories that in 1840 belonged to other nations, and the meaning of "Manifest Destiny," the slogan used to defend the conquest of the continent west of the Mississippi River. Then we explore the nature of life on the western farms; in western mining communities where Latin American, Chinese, and European adventurers mingled with American fortune seekers; and in western cities. Finally, the chapter examines responses of Native Americans and Mexican Americans to expansion and illuminates the ways different cultural traditions intersected in the West.
