Manifest Design, By Thomas R. Hietala

Ever since the Manifest Destiny became the United States’ holy goal, Texas had always been in the sight of the United State, for the location and size of the territory were extremely attractive for the expansion. In addition, the state offered the Rio Grande River which promised great trade in the future. These factors made Texas a key component in fulfilling the sacred duty, so when news spread that Texas became independent, there was no time wasted from the United States in integrating them into the union. Even before Texas gained their independence, the United States had become intertwined with the culture of Texas by having hundreds of American citizens immigrating into the territory and spreading American values across the land. As many historians have said “Throughout the United States, especially in the South, support for Texas was warm and widespread. Men, money, and

The term “Manifest Destiny” was, in part, an expression of a genuine ideal on the part of Americans. Yet it was also a justification to a push and to assume territory. The idea of Manifest Destiny was sparked by revolutionary American writings that encouraged appropriation of Canada. These writings rationalized that the Louisiana Purchase and the Untied States’ annexation of Texas ordained American complete domination of the North American continent. More broadly stated, Manifest destiny was a conviction that God intended North America to be under the control Americans. It’s an assertion of Anglo-Saxon supremacy.

Later, many questions arose regarding if the newly acquired territory should allow slavery. In the attempt to solve this, Henry Clay led the Missouri Compromise which admitted Missouri as a slave state, and Maine as a free state creating a balance in Congress. This led to the belief that later in the future slavery be prohibited north of the southern border of Missouri in the remaining of the Louisiana Purchase. The issue of slavery continued to be an issue as the nation expanded because the Missouri Compromise didn’t apply to new territories that were not part of the Louisiana Purchase. By the new land acquired, the Southern economy increased because of the “Cotton King”, which also increased the labor in order to maintain the newly achieved economy. One the other hand, the North believed that the expansion of slavery was very small because they didn’t depend on slavery for their economic survival. The North relied on on textile industry on southern crops was increased by the creation of the cotton gin. Many Americans kept migrating to the west despite after the Missouri Compromise was adopted. Many would cross to the Oregon Territory, which belonged to the British and many more settled in Mexican territory

During the early 1800’s in the United States of America, both the Early Industrial Revolution and the Westward Expansion contributed to the sectional tension between the North and the South. While the North had factories popping up everywhere, the South had more and more land dedicated to plantations. To stay at the pace of the North, the South decided it would be beneficial if they were to become their cotton suppliers. With the invention of the cotton gin, cotton was being mass-produced and sent to the North to be made into items such as clothing. Whilst this was going on, the point of slavery became a big issue and the debate over it began, dividing the North and South more and more over time. The North didn't support slavery and instead, hired workers to work in the factories (specifically low-wage woman), while the South supported slavery and used African slaves to work on plantations. This caused many problems as both sides wanted more land to promote their opinion on slavery for either plantations or factories. Due to each of the sides having contradictory points of view on slavery, the Missouri Compromise and the addition of other territories such as during the Louisiana Purchase, the Oregon Treaty, and the Annexation of Texas, much strife occurred in the Senate. The Westward Expansion led to the desire for more land, therefore the United States expanded their land from the East coast to the West coast. The Westward Expansion promoted the addition of new land and

In Senator James Buchanan’s Letter to Edward D. Gazzam, 1844, (Document D) he said that Texas should remain independent but pointed out that, “But suppose that this cannot be, and that it should be satisfactorily established that we must either admit it or see it pass under the dominion of Great Britain; -what ought then to be done?” Some Americans feared that Britain would try to take over Texas if America did not. Briton William Kennedy pointed out in his diplomatic communications to Lord Aberdeen, 1844, (Document F) that war with Mexico would, “Produce an embarrassment of affairs, and would leave warm work and divided laurels for [Tyler’s] successor.” John O’Sullivan’s article in Democratic Review, 1845, (Document G) said that other nations have taken actions to stop the expansion of the United States, “This we have seen done by England, our old rival and enemy; and by France, strangely coupled with her against us.” Foreign relations worries were another cause of the war with Mexico, along with the desire to expand slavery and internal political

In a letter that he wrote to Henry Clay in 1837, he stated “[b]y annexing Texas, we shall not only create [slavery] where it does not exist, but breathe new life into it, where its end seemed to be near” (Document B). William Ellery Channing feared that the annexation of Texas would lead to an unnecessary increase in slavery. This controversy revolved around the imbalance of slave states to free states in America if Texas was annexed. An imbalance in the Nation was not preferable for America. However, a solution was found. As more states were conquered by the Americans, the ratio of slave states to free states would return to a balance. By doing so, America showed that it could politically assess the situation and come to a reasonable solution. This made the political aspect of America stronger, and showed what it is truly capable

Prior to the 1800s, US expansion had been accepted by the government in the thirteen colonies. Despite the government's favor for territorial expansion, the controversy was spread throughout the 13 colonies on the idea of expansion. An American who influenced expansion in America, John O’ Sullivan, conjectured that territorial expansion was destined and it was god’s given right to expand America coast to coast, or in this case into westward territories. This thought was defined as Manifest Destiny and aided the fuel of western settlement, Native American Removal and war with Mexico. Many Americans did, however, oppose expansion and war causing, but their inputs didn’t change the idea of expansion. During the period of 1800-1855, America’s idea to expand territory succeeded in events such as the Louisiana Purchase (1803) and the Indian Removal Act. These events certainly satisfied proponents of expansion and influenced America's westward expansion. Despite these achievements, opponents of expansions opposed because of events like the War of 1812 and the Mexican-American war. America’s shape today is indeed based on these beliefs of expanding America.

The Annexation of Texas is an example of how manifest destiny played a decisive role in the United States politics and policies in the 1840’s. The Annexation of Texas is where Texas won its independence against Mexico that results from Texas becoming admitted to the United States. This shows how they wanted the United States to become a global power by American expansion. It was President’s Polk’s idea to expand their territory. This relates to the slogan President Polk made “Fifty-four forty or fight!” this represents the victory of claiming the Oregon territory.

Benjamin Lundy, who was an antislavery advocate at the time, spoke about what the Americans are trying to accomplish in document C, “The immediate cause and the main goal of this war… has been to grab the large and valuable territory of Texas from the Mexican Republic, in order to re-establish the SYSTEM OF SLAVERY; to open a vast and profitable SLAVEMARKET; and… to annex it to the United States.” The American settlers didn’t address the fact that they truly did make a plan to make Texas a slave market when they brought slaves to Mexico– may I add, Mexico told incoming settlers beforehand the rules you must follow if they are going to live on their slot of land, and bringing slaves was one of them. This next piece comes again from Benjamin Lundy, adding on to the proof that Americans weren’t even trying to do the same as what Mexico is doing for them (providing land, selling the land for a cheap price, etc.). “...Inhabitants of Texas have been fighting to maintain the sacred principles of Liberty, and the natural, inalienable Rights of Man:---whereas, their motives have been exactly the

When American settlers started migrating into Texas in the early 1820’s they brought with them the same culture and political agendas that would be similar to the Confederates in the Civil War. Mexico had recently abolished slavery but the new settlers were committed to defy slavery and producing tension with the Mexican government over land claim and political rights (McPherson and Hogue, 2010). After the loss at the Alamo and eventual win at the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836, Texas won their independence from Mexico (McPherson and Hogue, 2010). Much like the bickering of the Confederate south, the Polk administration was bent on acquiring land and expanding after the Mexican-American War. Congress, in 1847, eventually saw this acquiring of states as unconstitutional and that the Mexican-American

Manifest Destiny was a mindset that played a crucial role in the expansion of the United States, and if it had not been thought of, America would not be the way we know it today in regards to how big it is. In this essay, I will discuss how it helped shape America, how it began, how it would affect events that happened later on in American history as a result, and how it led to making America what it is today.

Under James Knox Polk, the United States grew by more than a million square miles, adding territory that now composes the states of Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon, Idaho, Washington, much of New Mexico, and portions of Wyoming, Montana, and Colorado. Much of the United States is owed to the expansion planned by Former President John K Polk. His actions would lead to the annexation of Texas and purchase of California and New Mexico from Mexico. In the mid 1840’s John L. O’Sullivan editor of the United States magazine and democratic Review used the phrase “Manifest Destiny”. To him these words seemed to be an appropriate label for the spirit of expansionism that boosted from the presidency of John K Polk and his extension of pre-civil war united states.

Rapid population growth and overuse of the land east of the Mississippi River, coupled with the knowledge that there was an abundance of land for new settlement west of the river, led to the ideology of expansionism; the ideology became simply known as Manifest Destiny. Manifest Destiny and American Territorial Expansion, written by Amy S. Greenburg, deeply explains the motivation of the individuals looking to expand their settlements westward. Since the time of publication, we have realized that we could have handled the situation, in which we removed the inhabitants of the west from their homeland, in a better way. Americans believed that it was their God-given right to expand westward by destroying anything in their path. “…courageous pioneers believed that America had a divine obligation to stretch the boundaries of their noble republic to the Pacific Ocean.” (“29. Manifest Destiny.”)

Manifest Destiny, one of the most influential ideologies in American history, was used as the basis to justify almost-continuous conflict from the early- to the late-19th century (Greenberg 3). This conflict included the relentless displacement of Native Americans from their ancestral lands, a war of aggression against Mexico in 1846, and attacks on countries such as Canada, Cuba, and even Central America, by filibusters and military action to gain overseas colonies (Greenberg 10, 25, and 26). While Manifest Destiny first arose as a dominant ideology during the early nineteenth-century, the concept of American exceptionalism, the heart of this ideology, was older than the nation itself. This concept was taken by white Americans as proof that they, and their nation, were unique and marked by God for a special destiny (Greenberg, 5). It would be several decades before the advantages of American settlement would be presented to the world. One advantage being the Louisiana Purchase, which was the expansion westward.

     Most important of all, perhaps, was the growing sense of anxiety which Americans felt toward Great Britain. Americans had always been suspicious of British activities in the western hemisphere, but inevitably this fear had grown as the United States began to define its strategic and economic interests in terms that extended beyond its own