Geography's Affect on Us Government Decisions

Geography has been a major factor in many important decisions of the United States government. Location, climate, natural resources, and physical features are some of these factors.
The Lewis and Clark expedition from 1804 to 1806 was the beginning of US expansion and therefore an important geographical decision. The construction of the Panama Canal was also major in that it would benefit the US for many years.
Manifest Destiny was a belief that the United States had a divine right to expand across North America. This superior feeling brought about the Lewis and Clark expedition. Prior to this, the United States began expanding west. Due to the Louisiana Purchase, the country doubled in size for a cheap cost. Napoleon and the French owned this giant mass of land. When the US sought after a key port, New Orleans, Napoleon agreed to give the entire area, known as the Louisiana Territory, to the United States. President Jefferson hoped to gain a port to trade with the gulf coast, the Caribbean, central, and south America. The nation didn’t know exactly what it was buying with all this new extra land, so Congress later agreed for a financing of an expedition to explore this unknown land.
The two men leading this expedition, Lewis and Clark, began their expedition in 1804. Setting out west, the exploration hoped to encounter new Native American groups. They did just that, and even befriended a Native American woman Sacajawea. She helped translate as well as find local resources. This was another goal of theirs- to find the natural resources the new territory had to offer. One major resource found was fur and even fertile land for agriculture. At the end of their journey, Lewis and Clark finally reached the Pacific Ocean and west coast. They finished mapping out the United States from coast to caost.
Native Americans would grow to resent the white settlers of America. The idea of Manifest Destiny and even white supremacy would cause the United States to try...