The Nation Takes Shape

A detailed Summary of The Nation Takes Shape

The period of time from 1789 to 1839 was an age of growth for the United States of America; the United States grew bigger and better in general, it expanded into the West, and its commerce and industry also grew substantially. This is in part because of the great political leaders such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Andrew Jackson, but also in part of growing national pride and the yearning to become a successful nation.

America grew larger and improved greatly in the first half century of its life. The territory of the United States tripled in size as America bought large amounts of property from other nations, and the number of the states in the Union doubled. The population doubled twice from around four million people to almost sixteen million people, and by the year 1840 rolled around. American exports also quadrupled in size to about $80 million dollars in profit. The national debt from earlier years was completely paid off in this time period; a feat that has not been accomplished since. An Army and Navy were established to protect the country, and judiciary, legislative, and executive departments of the government were formed with the ratification of the Constitution of th

Another area of American growth was the West. As the Constitution was being signed, virtually no one lived on the western side of the Appalachian mountains. The Louisiana Purchase doubled the United States in size, however, and people soon started to expand into the empty space. At first, the thirteen original states argued over land boundaries from the colonial times. Eventually, they all ceded the controversial land to the United States government. The American government soon issued the Northwest Ordinance to deal with the land in the northwest. The ordinance divided up the territory into townships of thirty-six square mile sections. Each square mile would be sold at about $640. The ordinance also set the requirements the territory had to meet to be given a non-voting representative in Congress and to be eligible for statehood. The Northwest Ordinance also outlawed slavery in the Northwest Territory. There were other residents of this territory, however. Many Native Americans were pushed out after "Mad Anthony" Wayne defeated them at Fallen Timbers. Also, Jay's Treaty prevented the British from intervening in the Northwest Territory any longer. This eradication of non-Americans left room for many more people to move west and gave them a more secure feeling of safety. There were quite a few more reasons that people wanted to move out west. One of the reasons was because of the lack of farming land in the east. In the Northeast the soil was

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Approximate Word count = 989
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History