After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, a large amount of land west of the .

             original 13 states and the Northwest Territory was acquired. The open land, .

             additional benefits and other existing problems encouraged Americans to .

             expand westward. The American people began to realize that the future of .

             the country lay in the development of its own western resources. There were .

             many reasons that made the people face the grueling and dangerous movement .

             west, but the primary reason was economy.

             "Like the Spanish conquistadors before them, the Americans looked beyond .

             the Mississippi, they saw an open beckoning. Despite the presence of .

             hundreds of Indian nations with rich and distinct cultures, who had populated .

             the land for thousands of years-from the desert of the Southwest and the .

             grassy prairies of the Great Plains to the high valleys of the Rocky .

             Mountains and the salty beaches of the Pacific Coast-Americans considered the .

             west to be an empty wilderness. And in less than fifty years, from the 1803 .

             purchase of Louisiana Territory to the California gold rush of 1849, the .

             nation would expand and conquer the West" (Herb 3).

             The ocean had always controlled New England's interests and connected it .

             with the real world. Puritanism was still very strong in the north so the .

             moral unity of New England was exceptional. Having a very unmixed population .

             of English origin, New England contrasted very much with the other sections. .

             All this and the fact that they needed to cross populated states in order to .

             expand west set this section part from the others (Leuetenburg and Wishy 37).

             New England's population compared to other regions was poor, and the .

             population growth was even poorer. The trans-Alleghany States by 1820 had a .

             population of about 2.25 million, while New England had over 1.5 million. .

             Ten years later, western states had over 3.5 million with the people .

             northwest of the Ohio River alone numbering 1.