Southwestern Louisiana Institute - Lacadien Yearbook (Lafayette, LA)

Page 16 text:

MANIFEST DESTINY The new nation developed and as the settlers moved westward, the country prospered. The farms yielded greater harvests and new factories were ever cropping up. Railroads, roads and canals were the main means of getting from one place to another. The governmental system ran smoothly and met the need of the changing times. Manifest Destiny was a result of the American need to expand and the answer to the zeal and enthusiasm. This phenomenon led to a war with Mexico, the aquisition of California and New Mexico, and to the settlement of Oregon. The free- soil Northerners resisted the demands of proslav- ery Southerners, that the territories be opened to .slavery. The Compromise of 1850 was, it was hoped, to be an end to the sectional strife on the issue of slavery expansion and economic policy. The Golden Spike ceremony at Promon- tory, Utah May 10, 1869 marked the com- pletion of the tran- scontinental railroad and opened up the last of the great frontiers. 12

Page 15 text:

The principal fire- arm used during the revolution was the musket, a shoulder gun weighing about 10 pounds. It wasn ' t very accurate, and it had a terrific ability to recoil. It may have knocked down more of its owners than the soldiers at which it was aimed. After 1776 a long war was fought in order that the United States of America would be recognized as a free country, sep- arate from England and her power. The day in the life of a soldier was not a very glamorous story. The American ' roops were not trained in war strategies, and they lacked the disci- pline of the British troops. When French and Spanish troops came to the aid of the Americans, the tide seemed to turn and the Americans were the victors. After this decided victory, the demo- cratic republic forged forward in an effort to strengthen their union and later to gain material wealth and power. n

Page 17 text:

For seven decades the political institution worked well. It was doing the job that the forefa- thers had planned — that is, to maintain a delicate balance between individual liberty and social order. In 1861 eleven southern states separated from the rest of the country to form their own union. The nation was at near collapse, and it was plunged into a civil war which lasted for four long years. In the decades after the war, an economical social and demographic order was transforming the country. The American way of life was pro- foundly altered. The railroads were grouping together to insure better and faster services and uniting the country from the eastern shore to the western plains. Also, at this time the Industrial Revolution was taking place. Some American businessmen, known as entrepreneurs, changed to a great extent, the business structure of the country. Businesses went from small shops and home businesses to a vast economic empire. This change-over of industrial and economic power brought on a huge migration of people from Southern and Eastern Europe. These people made up the labor force which was necessary to run the business establishments that were springing up. 13