Manifest Destiny Research Paper

Manifest destiny is the U.S.’s idea that god wants them to expand all the way to the ocean. They did, but they set their eyes on Hawaii, Cuba, and the Philippines. At the time, Cuba was under Spanish control. Cuba wished to be independent from the Spanish. America had interest in Cuba due to economic interests. Not every American wanted to have Cuba join, neither did Cuba want to join. The Spanish were doing cruel things to the natives. The U.S. went to war against the Spanish. Americans did not appreciate that troops had to go to war to free another country. Hawaii before annexation was a harbor for ships. The U.S. wanted Pearl Harbor for the Navy. When American settlers came, they devastated the economy there. In addition, they brought diseases

Manifest destiny was used as an excuse for America claiming land it had never had any right to. Americans wanted to extend slavery and saw taking land from Mexico as a way to do so. President Polk set the perfect opportunity to get Mexicans to attack US soldiers, so he would have grounds for war. None of these were justified reasons for war, and only caused a larger rift to form within the nation. The United States’ unjustified decision to go to war with Mexico was a driving force in dividing the nation, ultimately leading to the Civil

The bad side of the coin was that manifest destiny ran the Native Americans out

The belief in Manifest Destiny, that settlers were destined to expand across North America, was held by most Americans. At the same time the belief came about, debates in Washington were going on about the future of America. While many debates were held in Washington, there was also a lot of conflicts in states like Kansas and Nebraska. Both the debates in Washington regarding the westward expansion of the new nation and the laws by which it should govern itself, as well as the conflicts on the ground regarding those very same issues, set America on the path that could lead to only one destination; the Civil War.

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

Manifest Destiny took place in the US in the mid-1800. Manifest Destiny was used among the Americans in the 1840’s as a defense for U.S. territorial expansion. It is the presumption that God had destined the American people to at divine mission of American movement and conquest in the name of Christianity and democracy.

Thomas Jefferson purchased land from the French during the Louisiana Purchase which gave the United States land west. He sent Lewis and Clark west to explore what he had just purchased. During the same time of the Louisiana Purchase, there was a concept of Manifest Destiny. Manifest Destiny was a main idea during the 1800s. It is the belief that the land west was the Americans land to settle and that the resources were theirs to use. This belief was self-centered and did not focus on the Native Americans. The Americans did not reach out to the Natives to build a strong nation and instead they took the tools, ideas, and materials to build their nation and left the Natives out of it. Americans saw their dream as a free country and it was their right to conquer others’ property without their consent. During westward expansion, American identity evolved into one image for all Americans that emphasized greed and power and the belief that American settlers should create their own sovereign land.

The Manifest Destiny was 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 was mainly accomplished by the Monroe Doctrine, the annexation of Texas, and the Mexican-American War, but we were not a true continental power yet. After 1850, the Civil War, westward expansion, and the rise of big business made the United States a true continental power.

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

Manifest Destiny in America in the 1800s outcomes have many political, economic, and social factors.

The way that the concept of Manifest Destiny would have affected American politics and government in the mid 19-century would be many. The meaning of the term Manifest Destiny would be “the expansion of the United States throughout the American continents was both justified and inevitable”. Due to this many people had craved the idea of expansion and as of a result, people running for president would say that they would expand the United States. Another effect for anyone running for president had a more likely chance of winning. One great example of this would be James, K Polk.

Finally, Manifest Destiny affected the U.S geographically by expanding population in the Western Areas and allowing people to move away from farms and into cities. “People were moving from farms to the City… Moses Austin Made agreement with the Spanish that American’s could start a colony in Texas…” (History Notes 35 and 3). This selection of quotes exhibits that Manifest Destiny made the Americans move westward which expanded their territory and made the country

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,

Opponents of Manifest Destiny argued that this philosophy resulted to war between countries and even the civil war. As early as 1822, the U.S. was already in conflict with Great Britain over the division of Oregon. It also gave a reason for the U.S. to start a war with Mexico and Spain. These are not the only conflicts that took place. Critics also said that it had other names and one was imperialism which led to the taking over of the United States on other countries like Guam, Philippines and Puerto Rico.