Manifest Destiny: The Cause Of The Civil War

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" is a phrase that expressed the belief that the United States had a divinely inspired mission to expand, spreading its form of democracy and freedom.The phrase "Manifest Destiny" was first used primarily by Jackson Democrats in the 1840s to promote the annexation of much of what is now the Western United States (the Oregon Territory, the Texas Annexation, and the Mexican Cession). Slavery, the exploitation of Africans for hard labor, was also growing vastly in popularity during this period of territorial expansion. These controversial ideologies, including such events as Mexican War, the Wilmont Provisio, the development of the Republican Party, the Dred Scott Decision, the Brooks-Sumner Incident, the Anthony Burns

The Civil War happened due to the many differences between the North and the South. For example economic, social, cultural and political differences. These all helped lead America to a Civil War. But to an extent, the most important cause was the fact there were many disagreements with states' rights versus federal rights.

The first main cause of the Civil War was conflict between the North and the South about their slavery ideals. The North and the South had exceedingly different ideals about slavery. The South was a very hardworking section of the country, and they

The civil war started because of the uncompromising differences between the free and slave states over the power of the national government to take away slavery from the areas that had not yet become free of slavery. Confederate states fought to keep slavery. Slavery was a large part in their society. But slavery wasn't the only reason the war began it was also because

The added territories gained from the war with Mexico caused the controversy over the question of slavery between the North and the South. Following the Mexican War there were bitter debates in Congress, in state legislatures

As the idea of Manifest Destiny spread the country westward and new states joined the union, the disagreement over slavery became more and more heated. With each new state, came new congressman, new lawmakers. Northern states, free states, wanted the new states to have no slavery. The Southern states, pro-slavery states, wanted to extend slavery into the new states.

Manifest Destiny was the future of the United States. Which was the expansion from the East to the West part of the United States. The idea was to try and take over the land regardless of who was already settled there. This was the belief that Americans were sent by God to take over all of the land to the West. James K. Polk was the winner of the 1844 election. During this time he made three promises in which would be to annex Texas and acquire Oregon and California. This would then lead to issues with his promises. These issues were that Mexico and Texas had issues with slavery, Oregon was shared by Great Britain and Mexico did not want to give up California because it was their richest province. Due to Polk winning the election from Clay,

“Is by the right of our manifest destiny to overspread and to possess the whole of the continent which Providence has given us for the development of the great experiment of liberty and federative self government entrusted to us.” John L. O’Sullivan, the person credited for using the words manifest destiny for the first time, believed in spreading liberty across the nation as Americans ventured further into the lands owned by Mexico and Native Americans. Southern ideals of manifest destiny such as slavery and cotton paralleled those of O’Sullivan himself, where “racial purity” was the key to independence. Northerners however, varied from the south due to their abolitionist viewpoints, ultimately leading to conflict that would escalate into the Civil War. The United States expansion into western territories exposed the extent of the North and South’s hostility.

During the early 1800s, the United States was a new county and constantly expanded westward. Each time the borders of the country changed, the issue of slavery occurred because the north and the south disputed over whether the territory was a free state or a slave state. (Background) Henry Clay, a Kentucky congressman, created the Missouri Compromise addressed the issue of admitting states into the country as either a free or a slave state. However, this dilemma still persisted, therefore, the Compromise of 1850, involving congressmen Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, Stephen A. Douglass, and John C. Calhoun, replaced the Missouri Compromise. This issue incited fear, conflict, and danger into the minds of southerners and northerners. In the 1800s, slavery economically effected everyone’s lives and hence, the northerners feared the expansion of slavery threatened their economic well-being, whereas, the southerners feared the termination of slavery endangered their economic status.

By 1850 the U.S. had control of lands from the Atlantic to the Pacific, covering almost all of today's United States. The expansion of the United States’ boundaries was a cultural war as well. The desire of southerners to find more lands suitable for farming would eventually spread slavery to these regions. In the north, many citizens were concerned about adding any more slave states. Manifest destiny touched on issues of religion, money, race, and patriotism.

Manifest Destiny is the term used by early Americans to describe the belief of the God given opportunity to spread and expand westward towards the pacific ocean. Many settlers believed that God himself blessed the expansion of the American nation. Beginning with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, Manifest Destiny brought with it not only territorial acquisitions, but also conflicts over the spread of slavery. Southerners wanting to find more land for cultivation, were led to the desire of acquiring new territories. Many citizens (Especially in the North) were deeply concerned about adding any more slave states. Manifest Destiny introduced a heated issue of the addition of slave or free states which provoked war with Mexico in

One of the first expansions stemming from Manifest Destiny was the fight for Texas. Multiple times The United States made offers to the Mexican government, but they were always shut down. Eventually Mexico created a law for the colonization of Texas that stated; any American could buy cheap land and reside tax free for four years. Not surprisingly by 1830 there were over 7,000 Americans residing in Texas. Eventually the number of Americans was more than double that of the Mexicans. Consequently, large groups of Americans “Created centers of power in the region that competed with the Mexican government.” (Adams 135) This created tension and forced the Mexican government to halt all American immigration into Texas, this proved to be unsuccessful. After the battle of the Alamo and of San Jacinto, Texas became its own republic due to the defeat of Santa Ana’s Mexican army. Americans had a socially explicit idea that it was their manifest destiny to annex Texas and colonize it for themselves. Soon after Texas was annexed and granted statehood there were new tensions in the Southwest and California. The Mexican government did so resentfully, “As soon as the United States admitted Texas to statehood in 1845, the Mexican government broke diplomatic relations with Washington.” (Adams 139) Tensions grew even worse when debates over the border between Mexico and Texas started to heat up. Texans claimed the Rio Grande river as the border while Mexico believed the border had

Manifest Destiny held that the United States was destined by God to expand its land across the entire North American continent. This belief has caused United States to become more ruthless and made them believe they were superior to others. To explain, House of Representatives member, Joshua Gidding, argued against the 11th president, James Polk, that, “... no man regards this war as just.. It has insulted from a desire to extend and sustain an institution on which the curse of the Almighty most visible rest.” This shows that the U.S. used the Manifest Destiny as an excuse for reasons to take land.

The Civil was cause by a political issue, due rights to slavery. As President Lincoln becoming a president the south thought they were going to have their slaves taken away. As a matter of fact, the south decide to do something about before the Lincoln was elected as president. This meant the for the south to form their own union, splitting the union in half. They named themselves the Confederacy.