The Significance of American Western Movement 美国西进运动的意义.doc

PAGE PAGE 1 The Significance of American Western Movement Abstract：American Westward Movement in 19th century, in fact, is a large-scale advancement of American economy exploitation and a territorial expansion. It plays a vital role in the formation, the development and the present situation of the United States of America. Particularly, Westward Movement has seeped into this young nationality on its cultural influence. To answer these questions this thesis mainly analyzes American Westward Movement from a historical angle to help us to recognize American culture and history. For this purpose, this thesis discusses Westward Movement’s influences on American economy, its national characteristic and the formation of its values. Also, the writer reflects its dark side in the thesis. Key Words：Westward Movement; national character; pioneer; Indian culture I. Introduction American Westward Movement in the 19th century was the process of economy exploitation and territory expansion waged by the Americans from Appalachian Mountains to the west from the end of 18th century to the end of 19th century. It lasted about one hundred years, and American territory was expanded from the 13 colonies at the coast of the Atlantic Ocean in the Independence War to the vast area-the shore of the Pacific Ocean. This movement was a space and time-spanning, large-scale, and far-reaching social migrant. “Till now, to a certain extent, the history of America can be said that it is a history of colonizing.” The first period of Westward Movement was from the American War of Independence to the period of the Civil War. During this period, it mainly developed agriculture. The west land was very important for USA after its independence. But for Westward Movement, there would be no today’s America By expanding the nation’s borders to include more than three million square miles, the United States became one of the most powerful nations of the 20th century. Firstly, capitalistic agriculture gre