Notre Dame Research Paper

In the 19th century there was a popular doctrine or belief that the westward expansion of the United States not only could happen, but that it was destined to stretch from coast to coast. For awhile, the nation’s leaders were unable to resolve the divisive issue of slavery. This belief was called Manifest Destiny and it eventually provided a larger stage for the growing conflict over slavery in America.

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.

It had become the nation’s manifest destiny to extend its influence beyond its continental boundaries into the pacific and Caribbean basins (history.com). It expressed the belief that it was Anglo-Saxon Americans’ providential mission to expand their civilization and institutions across North America (history.com). The term later became a catchall. The phrase gained republic adherents as time passed (history.com). It justified American efforts not only to conquer new territory but also to seek out new markets for its goods across the oceans. It was a God-given right to expand US territory, used to justify territorial growth and expansion of economic markets and conquest. The supporters of the phrase “manifest destiny” believed that white Americans were superior, exceptional people, and that they had the right to place their own economic and territorial interests over “inferior” people. It rested upon excluding or eradicating American Indians, African Americans, and Asian and Hispanic immigrants (teachinghistory.org). They did not fit in the ideal America that was thought up. The Catholics were generally ignored and women were deemed unimportant (teachinghistory.org). The United States had a manifest destiny to expand, but at the time, seizing Texas would force the country to grapple with slavery. Southern slaveholders hoped to expand slavery westward, while abolitionists, including members of the new liberty party, opposed this expansion of slavery. Manifest destiny

Manifest destiny and territorial expansion divided the United States from 1830 to 1860 through views on Texas, disagreements regarding whether or not it was justifiable to travel west for land, and how to handle the war that may have arisen as a result of territorial expansion.

"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

Manifest Destiny had divided America by 1860, making it hard for the Union to continue to hold itself together. It broke away bonds on the path to gain more terrain, and to spread American ideas. Deciding whether to add in new states as slave states or free states rocked the foundation of the country. Slavery threatened the United States because it separated the country politically, economically, and socially.

Prior to the commencement of the Civil War, many iconic leaders began to introduce this outlook, primarily James K. Polk, quoted saying in his inaugural address: “ [i]t is confidently believed that our system may be safely extended to the utmost bounds of our territorial limits, and that as it shall be extended the bonds of our Union, so far from being weakened, will become stronger” (“The Inaugural Address of James K. Polk”). This vision, however, could not be further from the truth. The induction of manifest destiny into the already expanding American society would soon introduce problems. An example of a controversy between the north and the south over westward expansion was in 1820. As Missouri was obtaining its statehood, the issue of whether or not Missouri should become a slave state or not arose.

Manifest Destiny is America's expanding from east to west and whites believed this is what God ordained them to achieve. Along with Manifest Destiny many believed that slavery was a good thing and many disagreed. As we gained more territory and expanded into the west our country was divided over this conflict, whether added states should be free or slave states. Manifest Destiny heavily influenced our sectional conflict over slavery in politics and geography in the United States.

When I began to look at colleges, Georgetown University immediately stood out. I want a values-based education, not just a knowledge-based education. I want to attend Georgetown University because it will give me the knowledge I need to help others, but will also provide the Catholic perspective that my upbringing has given me. As stated by the prompt, the McDonough School of Business prides

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, which commandeered American life during the 1830s and 1840s, seemed like a true sign of progress for the country as the United States by the end of the 1840s acquired all of the land it has now with the exception of Hawaii, Alaska, and several small pieces of land. These new territories included the Pacific Northwest - Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana - and cessions from Mexico - California, New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas - not to mention the considered addition of Cuba in the Ostend Manifesto. As beneficial as this territorial expansion may have seemed, it reinvigorated sectional struggles over the question of slavery in territories and the country overall. These conflicts that would accumulate to become the Civil War included the underlying ideological distinctions between the two regions, new abolitionist movement, the Compromise of 1850, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act as the violence stemming from sectionalism would increase and the differences between the North and South would become irreconcilable.

As the United States was gaining nationalism, they began to consider expanding their boundaries once they began demanding for it. As the ideas of Manifest Destiny quickly spread during the early 19th century, the patriots of obtaining the nation’s “destined” lands were more aggressive than passive through their expansionist policies, disregard towards minorities, and the effects that these policies would later reveal.

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.

You will grow closer to God. Throughout the high school years, you can see how apparent God is in your daily life. Notre Dame recognizes God and helps people grow in a

During the mid-nineteenth century, the rise of new territories increased the desire of Americans to expand into new territories in the western region. The term “Manifest Destiny” was first introduced by a magazine editor, John O’Sullivan, written in the United States Magazine and Democratic Review in 1845 to express the idea that the United States had a unique role in expanding the nation (OpenStax College 316,483). Manifest Destiny is widely defined as a justification of continental expansion as a calling to the American citizens to unify the land into the Union. I view Manifest Destiny as white males expressing their ideals of white supremacy unavoidably expanding new territories not yet defined by others (). With the new western land came the revival of the issue of slavery, should new territories become free or slave states? In several cases, the white settlers inflicted their morals about their policies and views of slavery in new territories acquired and bypassed all other principles of different races. They saw that their morals were above all and that they received a message from God to colonize the new land for themselves. Although Manifest Destiny posed conflict against Native Americans and slaves, new land and trade routes steered the United States to enter a realm of economic prosperity.