Westward expansion (jan 1, 1801 – jan 1, 1861)

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Thomas Jefferson negociated a treaty with France in which the US paid France 15 million for the Louisiane Territory, 828,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River, effectivly doubling the size of the young nation.

Indian presence would be an "obstacle" and no political organization of the westard expansion before the 1840s-1850s -> At the time, still idea that the republic could fail on such extended territory.

Stille Indian presence on the huge territories they owned east of the Mississippi, especially in the southwest raised question for the government -> Obstacle on the way of economic and territorial growth.

Though most of Native American nations in the northwest had been scattered or hab ceded huge tracts of land in the traties signed at the end of the 18th century, southeastern nations became a "problem" for the federal government (Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws and Creeks).

As a consequence, the federal policy regarding Indian affairs evolved.

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