Existing comment:
The Expanding Nation:
In the early 1800s, the United States seemed a land of boundless promise and possibility. Between 1803 and 1853, it more than doubled in area, and many Americans believed that the nation had a "manifest destiny" to rule from sea to sea. Settlers poured into these new territories from the states and from Europe and Asia, driving American Indians from ancestral homes in the land rush.
But territory alone was of little value unless the lands could be developed, especially the vast region from the Mississippi to the West Coast. Stagecoach companies holding mail contracts helped to secure those areas, turning rough trails into well-traveled roads. And the somewhat regular arrival of the mail coach connected settlers to faraway families, friends, and businesses back home. |