Moving on West

After the War of 1812 majority of Americans went west dreaming of a better life than what they had in the East.  Many factors played a role in leading the people with the dream.  The growing power of federal government, the removal of Indians from the path of white settlements and a boom in the in the prices of agricultural commodities embraced their dream even more.  As they moved towards the West, the migrants brought values and customs peculiar to the regions they had left behind, therefore the West formed a character of its own.  Under the Articles of Confederation several states had given up the lands to the national government.  The government of course didn't help the Indians, and the outcome of the War of 1812 affected the Native Americans.  The British wanted the Indians to live in the Old Northwest, but they eventually got over it and they let the Americans take care of it.  The Expansion brought many problems for the Native Americans.  The tribes in the Southeast and the Old Northwest  were told to move.  This was a time known as the "Trail of Tears" which was the death of one-third or more of the Cherokee tribe upon their removal to the west.  Agricultural boomed when the farmers were able to ship wheat and corn downriver to New Orleans.  Eli Whitney's cotton gin also provided momentum to the Old Southwest.  It combined with rich western lands to create a huge increase in cotton production.