This period held new possibilities for fur trappers. The fur trade became organized as fur companies were formed that provided opportunities for free-lance and commissioned trappers. Goods were taken through St. Louis to Taos and Santa Fe via the Santa Fe Trail. Americans were encouraged to trade with Mexico in the southwest after a successful Mexican revolution ended Spanish rule in 1821.
Maine is to be admitted as a free state, Missouri as a slave state.
Slavery will be excluded from the territory of the Louisiana Purchase north of 36 degrees 30 minutes latitude. The Santa Fe Trail between Independence, Missouri and Santa Fe, Mexico is blazed by Missouri trader William Becknell. The trail becomes the principal avenue for manufactured goods and emigrants bound for Santa Fe and the Southwest. The Erie Canal is officially opened at Buffalo, New York. With travel time cut by a third and the cost of shipping freight to a tenth of previous figures, this connection between the east coast and the Ohio and Mississippi valleys enables a large scale westward migration.