The American Journey Of The Middle 19th Century

Manifest Destiny represented a God given right to expand West, justifying any action to accomplish the sacred duty. However, such a grand quest could not have been left unscathed and the Mexican-American War was the inevitable action that left a mark on the Manifest Destiny of being motivated by nothing more than greed and extreme nationalism. The inevitability of the war and the claimed “injustices” that were done toward Mexico were justified because of the annexation of Texas, there was a legitimate national threat and the war being a last resort.

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

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.

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.

The Mexican-American War was driven by the idea of "Manifest Destiny" (Which is the belief that America had a God-given right to expand the country's borders from sea to sea) This belief would eventually cause a great deal of suffering for many Mexicans, Native Americans and United States citizens. Following the earlier Texas War of Independence from Mexico, tensions between the two largest independent nations on the North American continent grew as Texas eventually became a U.S. state. Disputes over the border lines sparked military confrontation, helped by the fact that President Polk eagerly sought a war in order to seize large tracts of land 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

American imperialism of the late 1800s and early 1900s demonstrated the same cultural and social justification of previous expansionism. The original doctrine of Manifest Destiny, which emerged in the 1840s to accompany westward continental expansion, advocated a belief that America was destined by God to expand its borders across the continent. For the most part, the United States’ need for more land was primarily to keep other nations (mainly European powers) out of the western hemisphere. The United States continued to expand westward and gain land. After a war with Mexico over the rights to Texas, the country gained much of the southwest including the land of California. They also gained the Oregon

The Mexican-American War was a result of Manifest Destiny.  Manifest Destiny was a belief that Americans had a god given right to expand their border all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Not only did Americans believe that they also had a right to the land, but they also believed that they had a moral duty to civilize its occupants, which included Native Americans, Mexicans, and Spanish speaking Catholics. According to Britannica, the Mexican-American War originated from the United States annexation of Texas in 1845. Texas had been in a border dispute with Mexico at the time of the annexation  therefore, the conflict transferred to the U.S. Mexico claimed that the border ended at the Nueces River, and the United States claimed it ended at the Rio Grande River.

By the time James Polk became president in 1845, an idea called Manifest Destiny had taken root among the American people. The belief that the U.S. had a God-given right to occupy and expand gained favor as more Americans settled to the west. Manifest Destiny was

Manifest Destiny were the words heard around America. The United States had doubled its land in the Louisiana Purchase and they wanted to keep expanding because they believed it was “allotted by Providence[God]” (Doc A) to stretch from “sea to shining sea.” After the Texas revolution, the United States was presented with the opportunity of annexing Texas and getting land. The president at the time was Polk,who also had his eyes set for California.

The Annexation of Texas is an example of how manifest destiny played a decisive role in the United States politics and policies in the 1840’s. The Annexation of Texas is where Texas won its independence against Mexico that results from Texas becoming admitted to the United States. This shows how they wanted the United States to become a global power by American expansion. It was President’s Polk’s idea to expand their territory. This relates to the slogan President Polk made “Fifty-four forty or fight!” this represents the victory of claiming the Oregon territory.

The implementation of these ideologies also showed political promises in the expansion of democracy. Manifest Destiny did not only encourage westward migration of Americans but also fueled Native American removal (Indian Removal Acts) and war with Mexico. The term of Manifest Destiny first appeared in John L. O’Sullivan’s article on the annexation of Texas (which the republic of Texas requested to be incorporated into the United States) in which he determined the increasingly prominent responsibilities of Americans to expand democracy and American civilization to uncivilized or inferior communities. The annexation of Texas along with border dispute (Rio Grande and Nueces River) and the desire of purchasing land in California, all contributed to the growing tension and ultimately the development of the Mexican American War. Polk declared war against Mexico ( declaring the shed of American blood on American land when Mexican troops crossed the Rio Grande and attacked American troops), however the nation went to war divided. The Louisiana Purchase (the acquisition of new American territory from France in 1803) had previously caused Americans both North and South to seek westward migration, however the opposing interests and motivations of the two regions contributed to the division of the nation in

America’s manifest Destiny was the right God gave to us to be able to gain land from east to west of the continent- to justify them for declaring war on Mexico when really Mexico has a more requisite reason for attacking the Americans. They let U.S. citizens move into Mexico with conditions they had to follow, but instead after many people decided to immigrate there they then annexed themselves (the land) in order to later join the United States again. And they had no right to do so for the land they had settled in was still part of Mexican territory.

Manifest Destiny was the widely held belief that the United States of America were destined to expand over a vast area through the will of God. The President of the United States of America, James K. Polk, who had been elected into office in 1844. Polk won the election by showing his support of the re-occupation of Oregon and the re-annexation of Texas. In doing so he was able to appeal to both the southern and northern expansionists. Polk spearheaded the tasks soon after entering office. Manifest Destiny is what urged The States to expand their territory, forming the country we have today.

Manifest Destiny is a term that was first coined in 1845 by a journalist named John L. O’Sullivan, and was described as America’s destiny to expand, and that it was God’s will that America was to expand. According to Genovese, “The notion of westward expansion and domination of the white races struck a responsive chord in many Americans” (Genovese, 2017). The idea of expanding America’s territory was so popular that is was even later used in Congress to justify the claiming of Oregon’s territory. While the idea of expanding America seemed great to the Americans, it was not so great for those who were living on the land that the Americans would later claim. According to Hastedt, “The failure to assimilate and prosper was the fault of those receiving America’s goodness” (Hastedt, 2016). The Americans felt that they were superior to those whose lands they were trying to take, such as the Native Americans and Mexicans, and that they should be the ones to adopt American culture, even if they were there before the Americans claimed the land. The Americans even thought that those whose lands they were taking would be happy to convert to their way of living, as is stated by Hastedt, “The inherent superiority of American Values was sure to be recognized by those with whom they came in contact and would gladly be adopted” (Hastedt, 2016). This mindset would ultimately lead to the expansion of America, turning it into what we know today, but it would also ultimately result in conflict with those that the American’s were attempting to take the land from for the sake of expansion.