Manifest Destiny Obstacles

Manifest Destiny was the idea that it was America’s destiny to spread across the entire continent of North America. It was started by a group of expansionist called the Young American Movement and they were affiliated with the Democratic Party. By their idea, America was able to double its size and obtain new land from Mexico and Britain. However, this also caused pain to the Native Americans. In the end, America obtained new land, and its people achieved what they believed to be their God given right to expand and move west.

Back when the United States wasn’t so immense and powerful, its people and their leaders wanted to expand. The people thought that the entire country should be theirs, and anyone who stood in their way, including the Native Americans, would pay for it. Manifest destiny was the “motto” for the country in this time. The first railroad that could cross the entire country was built. This encouraged many to move out west. While this was good for the Americans, it might not have been so good for the Native Americans. Native American land and culture was impacted by western expansion of the United States because of the Transcontinental Railroad, and the United States army, or militias, and government.

“Last Thursday evening, I watched rather helplessly as nine Indians were thrashed and battered about by just as many men in blue and white”

In the 1800s around the time of the civil war, the Transcontinental Railroad was built. In the civil war, controlling the railroads was a key advantage for the north because it allowed them to transport their troops and supplies faster than the south. After the war, It was still used and brought massive changes to the US. It was a new technology that revolutionized everyday life for people. People were able to travel from one side of the country to the other. This brought new knowledge of the west that changed how the west was viewed and encouraged settlement. However, it also brought the mistreatment of native americans and railroad workers. Manifest Destiny was the belief that it was god’s will for the US to expand from one ocean to another. This meant that they wouldn’t stop because of native americans or workers. The Transcontinental Railroad brought both negative and positive changes to the US.

“The Inconvenient Indian” speaks to a general audience and particularly to US and Canada. The book is organized into chapters and each chapter refers to a variety of themes. Some of these themes are history, culture, politics, and laws. By incorporating all these themes,

Manifest destiny was the idea that the US was destined to expand from sea to sea. This idea brought on a growing amount of land and a growing amount of freedoms. As seen in the picture, the angel is leading the way westward and shining the light of freedom. This idea of more land made the Americans hopeful that they would gain liberty and opportunity with the growing nation. The natives, slaves, and free blacks sought liberty themselves. Just like how the Americans sought freedoms William Apes stated that “ they want what I want” (Apes, GML 388). The idea of more liberty and freedom is what drove the Americans and the minorities during this time.

Manifest Destiny is A term used in the 19th century to describe the early American settlers’ belief that expansion was unavoidable, and destined to happen. The idea led to settlers migrating westward with the notions that whatever acts they committed were justified. The belief that the circumstances warranted their behaviors. This mindset led to the Indian Removal Act, the Mexican-American War, the California Goldrush, and eventually the development of railroads across the continent which helped shape Americas revolution.

Manifest destiny was a 19th century concept that the expansion across North America was destined to happen. It influenced the government to expand westward which led to problems with the natives and thence led to the U.S- Mexican War. It was debated by many whether or not slavery should be allowed in the new territories so the democratic party split in two.

On the Trail of Tears worksheet Document B states, “We will never let our hold on this land go...to let it go it will be like throwing away…[Our] mother that gave [Us] birth”. (1) This explains that the U.S. was expanding so the natives were pushed out of their homes because of the new lands being farmed and the factories being built.

Subsequent to the political, social, and economical changes that occurred because of the "Manifest Destiny", the lives of the Native Americans had been changed forever. " Manifest Destiny is a term for the attitude prevalent during the 19th century period of American expansion that the United States not only could, but was destined to, stretch from coast to coast." (Manifest Destiny). This attitude encouraged the United States to begin to build settlements westward, which resulted in the removal of Native Americans. It deprived them of their land, and in some ways, their independence; they were faced with inequality and were forced to fight with the Americans. "

Manifest destiny was a term used to describe the belief that United States settlers were destined to expand across the nation. This concept not only affected American politics and government but the public also. One of the first major examples of manifest destiny in the nineteenth century was Thomas Jefferson’s purchase of the Louisiana Territory. President Jefferson wanted to shrink the size of the government and only use limited powers. However, his decision utilized a tremendous amount of executive power, in which Federalists felt that he was wasting taxpayer money and abusing his authority. Eventually, Jefferson believed that what he was doing was right because it would double the size of the US for expansion. The Louisiana Purchase in 1803 drove both the population and the economy to the west. Another example of manifest destiny in the United States was the Indian Removal Act by President Andrew Jackson, which authorized him to reserve land west of the Mississippi and exchange it for Native American land east of the Mississippi. Manifest destiny in the mid-nineteenth century affected politics and government by

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.

Live Indians were seen as problematic because they refused to die out and they were not wanted in society (61).

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,

Manifest Destiny was “the 19th-century doctrine or belief that the expansion of the US throughout the American continents was both justified and inevitable.” It was common belief, however, that Native Americans “stood in the way of progress,” so the United States Government pushed natives out of their land in order to expand. In the Johnny Cash song “As Long As Grass Shall Grow,” Cash sings, “he told the tribe these men they could trust... treaty signed... promised peace with USA and peace...forever,” this means that the United States started their relationship with this tribe as a beneficial and peaceful one, but eventually went on to betray this trust by building a dam, “this dam...flood Indian country...treaty broken,” the Native American land was destroyed by a dam that in some way benefited the US. In this song, Johnny Cash is explaining how the U.S. exploited the Natives by gaining their trust only to break it and destroy their land. While the United States gained something from this event, they lost their peace with the Native American tribe they exploited and misled. Similarly, The Cherokee Removal Through the Eyes of a Private Soldier by John G. Burnette is a firsthand account of the events and tragedies that happened during the Cherokee Removal Act, or Trail of Tears. Thousands of Cherokee Indians were forced to leave their homes to a reservation west of the Mississippi River in Oklahoma. This process killed many natives.