Explain the significance of West in Jacksonian society and in imagination of Jacksonian Americans. Why was there such tremendous pressure for territorial expansion in period? What did idea of open frontier mean to Americans, North and South? Analyze different instances between 1820 and 1857 in which Americans divided on issue of status (slave or free-soil) of western territories. What was at stake in these battles? To what extent might road to Civil War be said to have begun in West?