Manifest Destiny Dbq

While Manifest Destiny and territorial expansion created conflict with foreign nations, including the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), and within the United States, it worked to unify the United States from 1830 to 1860 by strengthening the nation as a whole, creating economic opportunities for people from all different walks of life, and expanding the United States through the annexation of Texas and the acquisition of California from Mexico.

Manifest Destiny is a term coined by John L. Sullivan in 1845 when talking about the annexation of Texas. He believed, along with other expansionists, that it’s inevitable that the US population would spread across North America because the land is given by Providence to the United States and that it’s natural that the land should be part of the country [Doc 1]. The idea of westward expansion and Manifest Destiny had positive and negative effects on the politics, society and the economics of the United States and

The south losing economic profit was not the only worrisome thing on the rich southern aristocrat’s mind, they also feared their political, and social influences being ripped away from them. The manifest destiny of the 19th century allowed European settlers the ability to expand their territory across North America believing it was their destiny to conquest all things on the north America continent. The liberation of African American from slavery went against the manifest destiny since the destiny focused on European settlers enforcing their political and social authority over others. Comparatively, the south dreaded the rise of free African Americans since the rise would shatter the racial hierarchy put in place by white supremacist of America.

The annexation of Texas was a path that many Texans wanted. Nearly ninety percent of Texans wanted to become part of the United States. “People hadn’t come to Texas to become part of the British Empire; most were particularly incensed by the British insistence on emancipation of the slaves; responding to public sentiment, the Texas Senate demanded that President Houston give them a full accounting of his dealings with Great Britain”. Before annexation, The Republic of Texas was a sovereign nation that existed for nearly ten years. The annexation process was proposed by John Tyler. Unfortunately, President Martin Van Buren struck down the annexation of Texas out of fear that this would expand slave territory and ensue war with Mexico. The Treaty of Annexation, Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, Mexican-American War and Joint Resolution of Congress all impacted the annexation process.

During the 1800s the phrase “Manifest Destiny,” meaning obvious fate, was the belief that it was America’s right and duty to spread across the North American continent. This was a cause for Americans to start expanding their land ownership throughout the continent by settling in areas which they knew had many valuable resources. During the time that America had decided to annex Texas, many problems started to rise between Mexico and the United States. In the eyes of Mexico, the annexation of Texas was an act of war. Furthermore, both countries were having a hard time trying to agree on a border, because both wanted control of the Rio Grande, but it was unfortunate that only one of them would be able to claim the river. So, in 1846, Mexican soldiers started firing at American troops who were patrolling along the Rio Grande, which lead to sixteen Americans being killed and wounded. Polk used this as a cause for war, and stated that Mexico, “has invaded our territory and shed American blood on American soil.” All in all, the United states was clearly justified in going to war with Mexico, because Mexico had invaded American territory, shed American blood upon American soil, had come within American power, and the United states was able to offer them a position above any that they have previously occupied.

Although many Americans perceived the Manifest Destiny as a benevolent movement, it was in fact an aggressive imperialism pursued at the expense of others. The movement promoted cultural superiority and extended the already existing sectional crisis. Advocates of the Manifest Destiny envisioned a vast empire that prioritized liberty. Included in this empire would be Canada, Mexico, Caribbean and Pacific Islands, and hopefully the rest of the world.

Manifest Destiny had divided America by 1860, making it hard for the Union to continue to hold itself together. It broke away bonds on the path to gain more terrain, and to spread American ideas. Deciding whether to add in new states as slave states or free states rocked the foundation of the country. Slavery threatened the United States because it separated the country politically, economically, and socially.

To continue the expansion of the United States and achieve Manifest Destiny, the federal government took several actions to encourage the rapid territory growth. From purchasing massive amounts of land, going to war with various countries, and negotiating treaties, the United States acquired land from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. Not all lands were bought or received fairly. Many Native Americans were forced off of their sacred land and forced to travel under harsh conditions to reach “Indian Territory”. The United States government also encouraged the settlement of the new lands by building railroads and allowing settlers to claim land.

*Document A, a magazine article titled “Annexation”, and written by John L. O’Sullivan, *helps justify America’s reason for going to war with Mexico. The document says,“ ...limiting our greatness and checking our fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence (God) for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions.” This quote refers to the manifest destiny. The manifest destiny is . Because the U.S was multiplying and because of the manifest destiny, the U.S need that land that was going to be won in the war anyways. They needed that land for many things such as manufacturing, agriculture, and housing. Also the U.S believed that Providence, or God, had granted them the power to spread and take over most of the continent. Then, later in the same document it starts informing the reader that taking the land from Mexico had already started in California where Anglo-Saxons, white Americans, were marking their trail by building school, colleges, mills, and representative halls. Taking over the land from Mexico had already started happening and it was soon bound to happen anyways. The United States was just finishing what they had already started with Mexico and therefore, was completely justified in to going to war with

The 1841 death of President William Harrison led to the succession of Vice President John Tyler to the presidency. As the new President, John Tyler, instigated the process of manifest destiny. The idea of manifest destiny was to expand until all of North America was conquered for the United States. The issue of the annexation of Texas became prominent because of John Tyler’s need to find an issue to center around for

The Annexation of Texas created a domino effect by being the first to amend the ideals of the manifest destiny. The Annexation of Texas was a voluntarily act made by the southern settlers of the Republic of Texas, setting an example. After the battle of San Jacinto, Sam Houston became the southerner’s leader, leading them to become the 28th state under the American government.

Manifest Destiny was a widely held belief that the United States was destined to expand throughout the continent. John O. Sullivan offered the name “Manifest Destiny,” and he had a mindset of United States Annexing Mexico. People believed that with the help of Manifest Destiny, they can make the world a better place. Political tensions around slavery and race in the United States during the debate over war with Mexico became very important, as some thought with the annexation of Mexico, Slavery could be expanded.

The Manifest Destiny was a movement with the purpose to expand the United States starting in the 1840's. John O’Sullivan, who was a democratic leader, named the movement in 1845. Manifest Destiny meant that westward expansion was America's destiny. The land that was added to the U.S. after 1840 which was the start of Manifest Destiny included the Texas Annexation in 1845, the Oregon Country in 1846, the Mexican Cession in 1848, and the Gadsden Purchase in 1853. Even though this movement would take many years to fully accomplish, things started changing before we even knew it.

In a short history, American manifest destiny was a big mistake for Indian people in the past. The Indian people lived on the land before the Americans came. However, manifest destiny is the affliction Americans have that makes them believe God and took control all their land. For example, American settlers took their land and forced them into another uncomfortable place, less nature resource, and difficult to survive. Moreover, America settlers brought diseases into Indian tribes that made a lot of Indian people sick and dead. In addition, American settlers had a negative impact to the environment and natures resource such as more hunting and fishing that cost extinction, more cutting trees to build houses due to deforestation. In conclusion,

In 1845, John O’Sullivan wrote an Article in the ‘United States Magazine and Democratic Review’ in favor of the annexation of Texas. In this article the term ‘Manifest Destiny’ was created. O’Sullivan wrote “the fulfilment of our Manifest Destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions.” Thus supplying the American people with the idea that it was their God-given duty to travel west and claim the lands in order for the American citizens to prosper. It was commonly believed that acting on this began with the expedition of Lewis and Clarke in 1804, however the ideas behind Manifest Destiny can be sourced back to the pilgrims’ first voyage over to the New World. The ideas of ‘Manifest Destiny’ still continue even into today’s society with American ideology and culture seeping into our own lives. However, it is not an entirely positive scheme, it had many negative repercussions primarily for the Native Americans. Many were forced out of their homes, separated from their families and thousands died. The dominant theme that runs throughout the events leading up to and the results of Manifest Destiny is the idea of American exceptionalism. This is the idea that American’s are unique in their ideals of democracy and liberty, exhibiting strength where other nations fail. This belief permeates through American culture and is only reiterated in the