What is westward expansion is it a political?

Westward expansion refers to the 19th-century movement of settlers into the western territories of the United States, driven by the belief in Manifest Destiny—the idea that Americans were destined to expand across the continent. This expansion had significant political implications, including the acquisition of new territories through treaties and conflicts, as well as debates over the extension of slavery into these areas. It reshaped the nation's borders and contributed to the tension between free and slave states, ultimately leading to the Civil War.