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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 4 page discussion of the manner in which our interpretation of the circumstances and impacts surrounding the settlement of the American West has change since the events originally unfolded. Using examples from lands ceded to the U.S. by Mexico and the opening of the Cherokee Strip, the author asserts that historians now understand the many negatives associated with such settlement. Bibliography lists 3 sources.
Page Count:
4 pages (~225 words per page)
File: AM2_PPwestSt.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
The manner in which we have interpreted U.S. actions has changed considerably over time. That fact is just as relevant to our interpretation of current events
as it is to events that unfolded in earlier chapters of U.S. history. The settlement of the American West, for example, is viewed considerably differently now than it was
at the time that it was occurring. Consider, for example, the historical interpretation of the settlement of those lands that were at one time incorporated under Spanish Land Grants.
Prior to 1848 and the transition of the Spanish holdings in the Southwest to the United States it was common practice for the Spanish crown to grant land to
individuals, communities and parishes (Geyer 37). With the Treaty of Guadelupe Hildalgo, signed on February 2, 1848, Mexico ceded Arizona, California, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah,
and Wyoming to the United States (Geyer 37). This treaty expanded U.S. territory by one-third while decreasing Mexican territory by one-half (Geyer 37). The situation which resulted with
this transition from Spanish to U.S. ownership was complicated by the expressed intent of the treaty to protect the rights of those who had received the original land grants (Geyer
37). The interpretation of that intent, however, was considerably different in the time that the transfer occurred and subsequent decisions were made on the land than it is today.
Today historians acknowledge that instead of focusing on the protection of the rights of the original landholders, the U.S. focused on gleaning the most economic profit from the land.
The Western lands that were ceded to the U.S. by Mexico ultimately fell into the hands of the U.S. Forest Service. This
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