Respuesta :
Westward expansion had a decidedly complex effect on the unsettled territories in the West. The benefits and detriments of this movement are many. Westward settlers carried with them social, political, economic and cultural ideas. Clearly, the settlement of the West provided beneficial to the United States over the course of the 19th century, but it came at a high cost. The settlement of unsettled territory, the construction of settlements and towns, the establishment of a transcontinental railroad helped to connect and expanded the economic power of the country. Much of the land in the United States initially belonged to Native Americans. As a result of white settlers, governmental policies, treaties and racial animosity Native Americans were systematically dispossessed of their land and often displaced. Progress came at a high cost to the indigenous cultures in the region. The same can be true of the American Southwest, much of which was controlled by Mexico. The Mexican American War (1846-1848)and the Treaty of Guadeloupe Hidalgo allowed the United States to secure much of the American Southwest from the Spanish.
