American expansion shaped the Jacksonian period in three specific ways: technological advancement, slavery, and the Indian Removal Act. Jackson used whatever political and economic means necessary to see America's borderlands expand across the country. Jackson's Indian expulsion policy had some of the most far-reaching consequences and paved the way for American expansion. At the start of the Jacksonian era, American colonial colonies did not yet extend far beyond the Atlantic coast, partly because poor roads and primitive technology limited their ability to expand, and because the Hostile Indians and British imperial policies discouraged migration beyond the Appalachian Mountains. However, all this changed after Jackson came to power and American expansion was well underway. One of the ways American expansion shaped the Jacksonian period was through technology. Economic and political growth as well as American colonization can only be described in detail as a side effect of technological progress. First, the increasing dominance of trade and growth would not have been possible without the development of first canals and then railways. (C-108) For example, western New York had not yet been settled by white Americans. It wasn't until the impact of the Erie Canal that things began to change. The Erie Canal was one of the largest and most important transportation projects of the time. Even before the project was completed, wheat production was beginning to take off and was being shipped to customers in the East. Revenue from tolls on the canal became so great that the project became self-financing. The westward expansion of commerce made New York an urban powerhouse. ...... middle of paper ...... The Indian Removal Act was part of Jackson's expansion process, and he would stop at nothing until America made the most of its lands. American expansion shaped the Jacksonian period in a number of ways, including the advancement of technology, through slavery, and especially through the Indian Removal Act. Although very diverse, these three aspects are similar in that they all marked the Jacksonian period. Technology and new developments had linked this vast expansion of acquired lands. Slavery made it possible to acquire these lands because of the labor necessary for production. And more importantly, the Indian Removal Act clearly declared that Americans were taking what was rightfully theirs. American expansion would not have been possible without these three ideas which greatly marked the Jacksonian period..