Who can elaborate on the history of American western development?

The western development of the United States should be the American westward movement.

As for the time of the westward movement, it seems to be an indisputable and uncontroversial matter, but it is actually related to the later evaluation of the westward movement. Professor Zhang Youlun, a famous American history expert, believes that "in the history of the United States, from the colonial period to the 100 years after the founding of the United States of America, it was the so-called westward movement that expanded, immigrated and developed vast areas in the west." He Shunguo, another well-known American expert, believes that the westward movement "rose after the North American War of Independence, reached its climax in the middle of the nineteenth century, and basically ended in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, almost running through the whole process of American modernization." Yang He thinks that the purchase of Louisiana in 1803 marked the beginning of American territorial expansion. The book also says that "65438+the first half of 2009 was only the expansion of the mainland, not the westward movement in a strict sense, but both of them were carried out at the same time in the second half of the ninth century." This distinction is to define the connotation of the westward movement in time.

People have always put forward and supplemented the background and reasons of the westward movement. Judging from the information I tried my best to collect, there are the following points. He Shunguo believes that "the westward movement itself happened under the background of capitalism and industrial revolution. If the westward movement finally promoted the American economy, then the industrial revolution and the factors that led to it were the driving force. " Many Americans put forward a doomed fate theory when summing up their own movements. "This means that God has arranged in advance for Germany's hope to expand to areas that have not been clearly determined." Yang He added his words. The economic crisis makes the desire to seek new markets strong, and the population pressure makes all walks of life in China unite with the outside world under the "destiny", which makes expansionism prevail. Economic pressure, coupled with the guidance of public opinion, contributed to the vigorous westward movement. Americans have always believed that their democracy should be extended to other parts of the world. "Democracy is so perfect that it will not be restricted by any national boundaries ... expansion is the inspiration arranged by God. Huang Mingzhe's book system summarizes the historical motivation of the westward movement: "First, Americans believe that the threat from the European continent is far from over, and the United States must become stronger ... Second, in the process of American industrialization, Americans are worried that industrialization will make Americans lose the virtues of the colonial era ... so Americans need to start a new business, and the westward movement is just such a suitable choice. Through the westward movement, on the one hand, they can ... Another worry is finally confirmed by the development of the United States ... The North vigorously promotes the westward movement and tries its best to expand the non-slavery territory. In this way, they hope to get the result of weakening the foundation of slavery in the South. "

It is also believed that the issue of slavery left a mark on the territorial expansion of the United States. Of course, "the existence of a large area of free land in the west and the policy of the US government to deal with the land in the west are the premise of the westward movement." Another American scholar talked about the westward movement of the United States from the perspective of the history of Indian development. The movement of moving from the plains to Santa Fe, California and Oregon, especially in the1840s, broke the concept that the reservation was sacred and uninhabitable, as illustrated by the failure of the US Congress to establish a permanent Indian state or quasi-Indian state through legislation. In fact, "in the middle of the19th century, it was difficult to find even an outstanding political activist in the United States who opposed the expansion of its borders to the west in principle." Another American scholar discussed this issue completely from the perspective of economics. "In addition to farmers' enthusiasm for more land, the lure of mainland trade and the benefits that New England has gained from Pacific shipping, there are also a group of unknown citizens who hold millions of dollars worth of Texas bonds and temporary land certificates and expect to be protected by the United States." It can be seen that the westward movement of the United States has complicated reasons, which is both a historical necessity and a product of the American people's subjective intention to expand abroad.

In the process of the westward movement, there have been three huge immigration climaxes. The first migration climax occurred in the late 8th century and early 9th century of/kloc-0. Because the American government promulgated a series of land laws and bought a large area of land in Louisiana from France, immigrants felt that colonial activities were guaranteed to some extent and flocked to the west to explore Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee, laying the foundation for the growing grain-producing areas in the midwest.

The second migration climax occurred after 18 15, and two groups of immigrants moved in two directions. One is immigrants from coastal areas and Germany, who joined forces and gradually opened up the whole area north of the Ohio River, and established a grain production and animal husbandry base in the United States. The other is immigrants from the southeast, who entered the plain area between South Georgia and Louisiana near the Gulf of Mexico. In this area, large plantations mainly producing and selling cotton were gradually established, thus expanding the slave economy in the south.

The third immigration climax was accompanied by the expansion and annexation of American territory in the middle of19th century. At that time, the territorial expansion of the United States continued in two directions: in the southwest, 1845 annexed Texas; In the 1848 US-Mexico War, it captured half of Mexico's territory; In the northwest, after long-term negotiations with Britain, a large piece of land in Oregon was acquired on 1846. Finally, the expansion of these two aspects merged in California, completing the occupation of the whole western region. At the same time, the discovery of gold mines in California caused a rush of immigrants to the west for gold. Later, some gold diggers switched to farming or set up shops? Become a permanent settler in California; The other part went from California to the northwest to explore mineral deposits. 19 In the 1950s and 1960s, mining camps developed into permanent residential areas because a large number of small farmers moved in to engage in grain production and the area west of the Rocky Mountains was divided into some states and quasi-states.

After the end of the civil war, a large number of herders and small farmers turned barren plains into huge pastures and barren grasslands into fertile fields in more than 20 years. 1890, the westward movement officially ended. The westward movement increased the territory of the United States to more than three times that of the founding of the People's Republic of China, expanded all kinds of basic resources needed for industrial development, and had a great impact on the development of American social system, capitalism and the formation of American national character.