The United States expansion out west, very well known as or referred to as westward expansion, is about the mass expansion of the United States land and territory claims. Starting in 1803, Thomas Jefferson had purchased the Louisiana territory from the French. The land of his purchase stretched from the Mississippi River all the way to the Rocky Mountains. It also claimed all land from the border of Canada to New Orleans, doubling the total size of the United States land. Thomas Jefferson believed that expanding the United States with an independent republic required greater land ownership. He saw this as the key to a greater nation and a greater economy, although he meant more specifically farmland ownership. The only way believed to greatly benefit the economy and wealth of the country, was to expand the owned land. One of the factors that was seen in the starting of this economic growth was indeed the mass farming, cultivation, and trade of the cash crop, cotton. Dating back to 1793, Eli Whitney, an American Inventor, was credited with inventing the Cotton Gin. The cotton gin was a machine made to quickly and efficiently separate the cotton seeds from the cotton fibers. With this much efficiency in the processing of cotton would later introduce the Water powered Textile Mill/factories. Introduced to the United States by English-American businessman Samuel Slater, who brought the idea to theUnited  states with him. The textile mills are used for transforming the already  processed cotton into cloth and mother materials. The United States saw a huge economic rise because of the cotton&apos;s value.Especially since it was mainly used in things such as the clothing they wore. Specifically the womens clothing, which took a huge amount of cotton. This is because of the women&apos;s everyday clothing, gowns, dresses, headwear, etc.; Causing a rise in demand for cotton. Because of the cotton&apos;s value to the economy and everyday life, more land was needed to expand its potential. Claiming more land south and ultimately purchasing and settling more land out west in states such as Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas. These lands were used to make more plantations and factories. Which in turn led to the need for more slave labor. This Is all a constant cycle of one thing depending on the other, which was solved with the Louisiana purchase, in which the United States purchased around 828,000 square miles of territory from France, specifically the Louisiana territory. Leading to the settling and setting about westward.

Cottons Role In The Westward Expansion of the United States

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Continue storytelling with ArcGIS StoryMaps and keep your content. Request that Esri migrate your account to ArcGIS Online by May 31, 2025, and complete migration by June 30, 2025.

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ArcGIS <link>StoryMaps</link> is the professional version of StoryMaps and is available as part of <link2>ArcGIS Online</link2>. Both products share similar storytelling capabilities, so if you are familiar with StoryMaps, you'll feel right at home with ArcGIS StoryMaps. Visit the <link3>retirement page</link3> for a detailed comparison between StoryMaps and ArcGIS StoryMaps.

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