Territorial Expansion DBQ

There were many country-splitting issues that characterized the United States in the 19th century. A major one of these issues was Manifest Destiny, the belief that the United States was destined to extend its territory west to the Pacific Ocean. There were both positive and negative aspects to expansion in the era of Manifest Destiny. Expansionism was not a good idea in the 1840's in the event that it only benefitted the Americans. There were many Native American populations in the Midwest that were uprooted and forced to leave their homes. Problems in the Mexican government arose as well. Although the Americans thought that Manifest Destiny was a successful movement, in actuality, it was an aggressive imperialism at the expense of others.

After the annexation of Texas and the Mexican American war, controversy over slavery had once again arose to a national level. The vast territory that the United States had acquired raised questions such as, should the territory allow slavery or should it be proclaimed as a free one? Or should the inhabitants be able to choose for themselves? The sectional unity in slave states and in free states were threated especially when California petitioned the congress to enter the union as a free slave challenging the balance of slave and free states organized by the Missouri Compromise.

During the nineteenth century, the Manifest Destiny happened in the United States, which was the American settlers were bound to expand throughout the land. This helped with removing more Natives from the country, started war with Mexico, and spread economic means across the country in order to get more money.

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.

From 1830 to 1860 the United States, as a country, experienced change unlike any other before. This change was the territorial expansion of the United States, otherwise known as Manifest Destiny or “The Way West.” This expansion exponentially grew the size of this young country. When there is change, controversy is not far behind, uniting and dividing people. In the case of territorial expansion, this change was able to unite the United States. It was because of territorial expansion that the economy of the United States thrived. It was because of territorial expansion that the United States was viewed as a supper power, helping the countries National Security. It was also because of territorial expansion that more people were able to life the American dream of freedom and prosperity.

The expansion of the United States from its thirteen original colonies to the nation it is today was a very extensive process, involving numerous wars and treaties. The greatest one of these expansion periods occurred from the 1830s to the 1860s, largely due to the idea of Manifest Destiny, the belief that American settlers were destined to expand across the continent to the Pacific coast. This development played a major role in dividing the North and the South by contributing to contrasting ideologies of the two regions towards social and economic foundations of the new territory, and would eventually lead up to the Civil War, literally dividing the nation into two. Territorial expansion fashioned racial and social

Was the Mexican-American War Justified? The Mexican- American War. Was it really justified or was it justified? No one really knows the whole story behind it.

The arrangement embraced by Congress had a few sections: California was conceded as a free state, irritating the harmony that had since quite a while ago won in the Senate; the limit of Texas was settled along its present lines; Texas, as a byproduct of surrendering area it asserted in the Southwest, had $10 million of its difficult obligation accepted by the government; regions surrendered by Texas turned into the perceived regions of New Mexico and Utah, and in neither one of the cases was subjection said, apparently leaving these domains to choose the servitude address all alone by the standard of famous power; the slave exchange, however not bondage itself, was abrogated in the District of Columbia; lastly, Congress passed another and more grounded Fugitive Slave Act, taking the matter of returning runaway slaves out of the control of states and making it an elected duty. The trade off, in any case, contained the seeds of future disagreement. The point of reference of famous power prompted to an interest for a comparative arrangement for the Kansas Territory in 1854, bringing about severity and savagery there (see Bleeding Kansas). Moreover, the utilization of the new Fugitive Slave Act activated such a solid response all through the North that many direct abolitionist components got to be distinctly decided adversaries of any further expansion

Americans wanted to head west, this mindset was given the name of “Manifest Destiny” by John O’Sullivan. Manifest Destiny was a term that was prevalent during the 19th century. It expressed the belief that America’s mission was to expand their civilization across North America; this expansion would create liberty and economic progress through territorial gain. President Jefferson, Madison and Monroe, all collectively believed in the Jeffersonian’s mindset, these presidents encouraged such movement; they actively thought that it was best for the United States to expand coast to coast. This expansion created a cultural war. Manifest destiny affected the United States’ relationship with others such as Mexico and the Amerindian Indians because of the way they treated these individuals to gain land from them.

“American claim to new territory 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”. (Brinkly, American History 1, 2012) (Quote of John L. O’Sullivan). Many say that the manifest destiny caused the civil war between the North and South. It was presumed that the northern states did not want slavery in the north. The south however did due to the vast land and propensity to grow cotton. It created tension between the north and south. There was plenty of land out west also. Many Americans were moving west to Texas.

In the years leading up to the idea of manifest destiny, the nation was on the verge of exploding. The eastern seaboard had become very crowded and still more people were coming in to the new nation that was the United States. It was time for action. It was time to set sights towards the west and explore this unknown country. At the end of the War of 1812, westward movement became a remarkable exodus of people across the continent, despite some continuous pushes westward in pockets of the newly formed country. Even though abolitionists believed the expansion into the west would increase the slave trade and the greed of the U.S. was becoming increasingly difficult to manage as more land was taken from Mexico, under the guardianship of the Monroe

Around the same time, the doctrine of Manifest Destiny rapidly gained popularity throughout America. This was, and arguably still is, a widely held belief that America and its settlers were destined to expand across North America. The British North American colonies were facing their own internal problems at the time, from political deadlock to various trade issues between Canada East, Canada West, and the Maritime colonies. The soon-to-be Canadians internal divide was their biggest weakness, and both parties recognized that. Soon after, Canada East, Canada West, and the Maritime colonies set their differences aside to band together against the greater threat looming in the

After the War of 1812, America gained a sense of “national identity.” America was no longer a ‘baby nation’ that relied on the British. This idea of national identity lead to the expansion of the United States. People began to believe that it was America’s destiny to expand and conquer more territory. This became known as Manifest Destiny, and it was a belief that the United States should expand westward. Back then, the west was a wild and unknown place. However, in the 1840’s and 1850’s, thousands of Americans migrated west in hopes of new opportunities and a better life (Texas). There was, however, a small problem with expanding west; some of this land was controlled by other strong nations, such as the Spanish, in current-day Texas. The

A lot of people were against the annexation of Texas because they didn’t want to give the slave states power on the national scene. They also thought that it would have come into a Union as a Slave state. Their biggest fear was to have a war with Mexico, which it came to pass. Channing’s argument against annexation that he was a letter that He wrote and was arguing that there is no place for entering into the argument against slavery. The result of annexation must be war with Mexico because the annexation was going to be a threat to national unity since the Northern sentiment against it was so strong

In the early years of the American government, expansion of the United States was a big issue. Our country's leaders believed in Manifest Destiny, the right to rule from the tip of the east to the western shores.