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Heed the government's urging and "Go West" with the many people who accepted the challenge. Motivated by the ideal of Manifest Destinythe right of the United States to expand across the continentthe U.S. government created laws that encouraged settlers to move west by offering free land. "News stories" describe significant events, including the independence of Texas and the MexicanAmerican War. Travel with settlers on the great migration routes, such as the Oregon Trail, and find out how the farmers who made up the bulk of the settlers lived in their new communities.