American Expansionism, 1783-1860

“American Expansionism” surveys the history of US territorial expansion from the end of the American Revolution until the beginning of the American Civil War in 1860. Besides “foreign” expansion such as the Louisiana Purchase and the acquisition of the lands of the Mexican cession, the book also covers the “internal” expansion as American settlers moved west. Issues covered include: the definition of the US-Canada border and the border between US territory and Spanish territory in the Southwes; US government land sales policy; and the government’s policy of removing the Indians from the eastern United States to the region west of Mississippi. The author also addresses some important questions about the concept of “Manifest Destiny”. For example, if 19th-century Americans thought that the expansion of the US was “manifest”, then why was there significant opposition to almost every incident of expansionism? Key themes from the most recent historiographical trends in the interpretation of the subject have also been incorporated.

Author Biography

Mark Joy is Associate Professor, Department of History and Political Science, Jamestown College, North Dakota