Example research essay topic: Westward Expansion Civil War - 1,035 words

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The economy of 1810 - 1860 was on the rise to one of the worlds best of the time and they pushed through with new inventions, westward expansion, immigration, slavery, highways and steamboats, and railroads. This time period was just after the industrial revolution and America is starting to become a true nation some thirty years after they gained their independence. One of the most influential inventions of the time was in 1837 by John Deere of Illinois, with the steel plow. This replaced the old fragile wood plows, and was used to break up the terrible virgin soil. Then in the 1830 s the Virginia born Cyrus McCormick invented the mechanical mower-reaper, which did the work of five men in the 1 / 5 the time. This new invention made farmers eager to get more land to plant wheat and other crops.

With this new technology of the time farming gave way to the large scale production of the markets, which produced a lot of money. During this time the production of cotton soared on the brink of the cotton gin, by Eli Whitney in 1791. By 1860 there was more than 400 million pounds of southern cotton annually. America also had been forced to develop factories because of the Embargo act of 1807 and the Non-Intercourse act of 1809.

Western land of the time was the most fought for land because the issue of slavery and fresh land for agriculture. Most of the people who moved west were in search of gold or a new life, and the average age of citizens there was thirty. Pioneers were moving on to the new land after they exhausted the land with their tobacco crops. With western expansion the population was doubling on average of every twenty-five years. By 1860 the original thirteen colonies, had reached to the number of thirty-three. One of the main reasons for the explosion of the population was because of immigration.

The other reason for expansion was because both the North and the South were looking for an advantage of states for the slavery issue. Also to most of the people who moved were looking for quick money with the Gold Rush and to start anew for some of those who had gone wrong in the east. Immigration of this time was one of the main reasons for such an increase in population in America. Immigrants would come over to the new world for religious freedom because they were prosecuted, because Europe ran out of land, or to start a new life because of their problems in their old country. Most of the immigrants were either Irish or German.

By 1860 there were 914, 119 Irish immigrants and 951, 667 Germans. Immigrants in some cases were taken advantage of because they did not know the American language, so they did not have a lot of opportunities in the workforce except for hard labor much like slavery. Slavery of this time was growing larger and larger and it seemed inevitable that there would be a major conflict to solve the dispute between North and South. Slavery was building up hatred between the two over these fifty years.

The government tried to solve the problems with compromises such as the Missouri Compromise of 1820, and the Compromise of 1850, but they were just quick fixes to solve the problem temporarily. But by 1860 on the eve of Civil War there were over four million slaves in America, and there was no more room for compromise, especially with the election of Abe Lincoln in 1861. The issue of slavery would in the near future cause the country to split, which in turn caused the Civil War. Highways and steamboats were new ways of transport past the primitive methods of use of the early 1800 s, but before the railroads. Waterborne commerce of the time was slow and dangerous with the early boats, and transport on the shaky unpaved roads was slow and dangerous because of muddy roads, because of rain, so the horses and wagons could get stuck and they would be stranded.

Then highways and turnpikes were introduced with faster and safer travel along with money raised for the government to continue the production. Then there was a steamboat craze that overlapped the turnpike craze. It was invented by Robert Fulton, when he installed a powerful steam engine in a vessel known as the Clermont. These boats were mainly used for transport up and down the Mississippi River, because they went over ten miles an hour instead of the one mile hour by the old ships, which depended on the wind, rather than an engine. By 1820 there were sixty steamboats on the Mississippi, and by 1860 there were more than one thousand. These boats were in large part responsible for the opening up of the West and the South over the years.

The economy also boomed in this time because of the development of the railroads. They were fast, reliable, cheaper than canals to construct, and can ship no matter what the weather. The first railroad appeared in the U. S. in 1828. By 1860, only thirty-two years later, there was over 30, 000 miles of track.

At first the railroad faced strong opposition from vested interests, especially canal backers. And in 1833 New York legislation prohibited the railroads from carrying freight, temporarily. Railroads at first were seen as dangerous because of the sparks they thought could set fire to nearby houses or cities. Brakes were also a problem in the beginning but by 1840 there were new brakes and gauges introduced with other safety devices. And in 1859, Pullman invented the sleeping palace which made the railroads more travel friendly. The economy of 1810 - 1860 was on the rise to one of the worlds best of the time and they pushed through with new inventions, westward expansion, immigration, slavery, highways and steamboats, and railroads.

The economy was pushing on during this time period and got America off its feet to become a prime country in the world, after they gained their independence. With all those reasons you can see that Americas economy was strong and only going to get stronger.

Research essay sample on Westward Expansion Civil War