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 Missouri Compromise was a temporary solution to the issue of slavery and territorial rights such as the movement West. Two areas of land wanted to become states in 1820, known as Maine and Missouri. Maine wanted to enter as a free state with no slavery as everyone in that area was against it and wanted it abolished. Missouri wanted to enter as a slave state and was all for slavery and wanted it to be spread all throughout the country. The compromise everyone came into conclusion with, was that there would be no slavery allowed north of 36° 30’ latitude. This angered the Southerners because their intention was to promote slavery not have it abolished. They realized that this compromise threatened the balance between free and slave states; Maine and Missouri. In order to expand slavery, the South felt that the United States would need territory from Mexico. The only area of land left was in Arkansas and that line became known as the Missouri Compromise line. The impact that the Missouri Compromise had on the United States was tremendous and had many effects on issues such as national politics, the institution of slavery, and the overall togetherness of the nation as a whole.

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.

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 was the idea that the citizens of the United States had a God-given right to extend their way of life from the Atlantic to the Pacific and that no physical barrier or human force could stop the settlement of these lands. This idea became a prevalent thought in the minds of many United States citizens. The expansion into new territories across the continent was a direct link in the chain of events leading to the Civil War.

Manifest destiny and territorial expansion greatly united the United States from 1830 to 1860. During this time period, America was still developing and growing in many ways. America’s geographical growth, formerly known as Manifest Destiny, or westward expansion, was the beginning of many changes for the nation. Manifest destiny and territorial expansion united the United States socially, politically, and economically.

The Compromise of 1850 was a desperate attempt to keep the southern states from seceding from the United States of America. While the goal was to keep the south from seceding, the new laws actually created more tension than it solved. Since the division in America over slave ownership had been holding a delicate balance with the states on both sides, the North and the South. When California petitioned to join the Union in 1849 as a free state, that delicate balance tipped and the conflict once again erupted. The Compromise consisted of 5 laws, admitting California as a free state, creating Utah and New Mexico territories with the question of slavery in each is determined by popular sovereignty, settling a Texas-New Mexico boundary dispute in the former’s favor, ending the slave trade in Washington D.C. and making it easier for southerners to recover fugitive slaves (History).

One of the main topics of concern for many decades was when new territories want to enter the union, will they be free or slave states? Henry Clay, one of the great compromisers, was able to work all sorts of different compromises on several issues throughout the years. One of his most famous compromises was the Missouri compromise. This allowed Missouri to enter the Union as a slave state, and every new state following would be free North of the Mason-Dixon line. This would try to stop the expansion of slavery, and for a short while, it did. During this time period, most Americans believed in manifest destiny, so they expanded westward. As many Southern’s moved west, they brought with them their slaves. Furthermore, they moved to places where slavery made economic sense, for example

Politically, slavery became one of those hot topic issues that politicians usually like to avoid speaking about because the country was divided into two different view points, pro-slavery and anti-slavery, and politicians wanted to be in everyone’s good graces to win come election time. However, when the argument came about weather or not newly inducted states could ban slavery or not, tensions rose in the government. This led to the Compromise of 1850, which allowed for stricter fugitive laws, but allowed California to be free, and New Mexico and Utah to make their decision based on popular sovereignty (the idea that the people of that state should choose). Politically, slavery left a whole mess of confusion for the new states. For example, in the Kansas- Nebraska act a railroad was to be built crossing over two new territories (Kansas and Nebraska) that allowed

Late nineteenth century and early twentieth-century United States expansionism was a continuation from past United States expansionism because of the reasoning and purposes behind the expansion. In both time periods the purpose of acquiring more land was to do according to God’s will, gain more power, and improve the U.S. economy. Religion can be found at the core reasons of why many people choose to act upon a variety of things in their lives. A prime example of this prior to late nineteenth-century would be Manifest Destiny. Manifest Destiny was the belief that the United States has a mission to spread its ideals, such as freedom and liberty through territorial expansion, all justified under the idea that this was God’s will that must be

Manifest Destiny pushed America into a new, positive light. Economics, along with the government and social classes were affected by Manifest Destiny.

Manifest destiny started when the people of America wanted to expand westward and they said that God told them to move west and get the land. This resulted in a major territory gain for America and basically ended the Native Americans control over their land.

Democracy, lead to an extreme sense of individualism within each state. This idea of individualism throughout the states ultimately led to the secession of the southern states due to their individual right to institutionalize slavery within their own. The southern states planned to expand the institutionalization of slavery through manifest destiny as America as a country continued to expand west, especially in newly acquired territories such as California. As the story goes, the southern states decided to succeed from the American Union thus creating the beginning of the civil war thus separating the country entirely.

There were a lot of divisions that was emerging in the United States in the 1830s and 1840s. Manifest destiny at the time provided a pleasant response to, or a nice covering over of what was actually happening. First of all, during the 1830 and 1840 there was increasing class division in the United States. Similarly, increasing numbers of poor people that migrated from Europe to the United States in hope of a better future, not to mention in the north there seem to be an “end of slavery". Due to the north “ending slavery” white American were now competing not only with African Americans but as well the massive immigrants that were coming to America. Manifest destiny could have not occurred in the best time were average Americans wanted