Ordinary People

During the 19th and 20th centuries, geography influenced many of the actions taken by the United States to expand its territory or to protect its national interests. The Louisiana Purchase, the claim of the Oregon Territory and the expansion to the Pacific is all important influences to the United States throughout history due to the geographical location they are on and also contradictory.

Geography has played a major role in the decisions made by the government on whether to neither expand land nor start a war. The Louisiana Purchase was one major decision that Thomas Jefferson had made which increased the size of US by more than double. This purchase was contradictory because Jefferson was a very constitutional person so he thought purchasing land from another country would violate the constitution but on the other side this would help US increase in size and unite the whole nation which caused a great contradictory. One other reason according to Thomas Jefferson that he wanted this piece of land was to explore the western territories so people could find a more efficient route for transportation of goods and communication across the continent. After this piece of territory was bought by the US, Jefferson sent Lewis & Clark to an expedition to explore the western territories and would be the map of the route they took.

During the journey of the exploration of the western territories of Lewis & Clark’s expedition, the Transcontinental Railroad was being built to transfer people and goods in a more efficient way and in a shorter time period. The Transcontinental Railroad was a railroad line linking the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States and was completed in 1869 (O.I). Although the railroad had its positive effects it also had its negative effects, which were accidents and pneumonia and other diseases impaired and killed thousands of men each year (O.I). The establishment of the railroad had caused the farmers to have a great opportunity to earn more money but also at the same time it caused them to lose money because the railroads acted like a monopoly which kept farmers always in debt (O.I). This caused the farmers to form a revolutionary group which later caused political changes and established important principles like the federal government’s right to regulate private industry to serve the public interest (O.I).

One other event that led to the expansion of