Manifest Destiny Research Paper

In 1845, the idea of Manifest Destiny was created by John O’Sullivan. Manifest Destiny continued to have a large impact on the development of the U.S. Furthermore, Manifest Destiny helped unite the U.S. through the common goal to expand, however, it further developed the split on slavery. Documents one, four, and six show that Manifest destiny led to a common goal to expand westward, specifically, unifying whig and democratic parties to a common objective. The first document was from a Whig journal and it is clear that he was for expansion,” the natural progress of events will undoubtedly give us that province[California]”(document one).

"Manifest destiny" enlightened Americans to their right of land. It was the explanation for the war that the Mexicans could not control their extra land, so it was the right of the Americans to control it for them. When Stephen Austin and his settlers settled in Texas, it showed that the Mexican Government could not handle the extra territory. In order to get even with Mexico after the Alamo war was a necessity. Polk tried time and time again to negotiate peace but his vision of a better America and respected stubbornness allowed him to keep his mind set for the interest of the American people.

He was a highly devoted man who entered the presidency with an unambiguous plan, setting out five main goals which he successfully executed in only one term in office (Bockert par. 13). Although the incessant pressure of American westward expansion had temporarily accumulated itself behind the Great Plains, it was now about to erupt with a deluge unlike any previous occurrence (Woodworth 59; "Expansion to the Mississippi"). A new start beyond the Western horizon would prove to be crucial to Americans so Polk became determined to use the concept of Manifest Destiny. This concept proved to prompt the American westward movement and lead to a flow of immigrants, and as portrayed in the figure above, to have a massive effect on the population of

One result of the war was the expansion of the US territory. The US then gained a third more land and completed the mainland US we have today. Another result of the Mexican-American was the division of the nation over which parts of the newly gained territory would be free of slavery, since the Americans wanted both the north and the south to have equal representation in the government. The Mexican-American war allowed America to once again expand and solidify its border, this time to the

Hugh White a Whig congressman from New York, was the first member of the House of Representatives to make a link between the war and slavery. He stated “. . . this Mexican war—a war, in my judgement, unnecessary, uncalled for, and wholly unjustifiable; offensive in its inception, and I fear of conquest and subjugation (slavery) in its ending. . . .” (Document 2) This very thing is why many abolitionist, such as, Frederick Douglass.

The Role of Manifest Destiny There are many events and roles that were played by different groups of people, that had to do with the tension rising in the slave and non-slave states. Manifest Destiny played a big role because, it started to spread democracy over the World, brought up issues on the topic of Religion, race, patriotism money etc. Which then escalated into bigger problems and eventually caused the Civil War. Manifest Destiny had various actions that caused the tension to rise for the slave and non-slave states, and one action that was a cause to this tension rising was, the start of democracy that Manifest Destiny spread over the world. The people believed that, “God had ordained Americans to spread the

Manifest Destiny is a unique, yet mysterious fundamental series of events in American history. No other country’s history contains such an eventful history as the United States. Amy Greenberg’s book, Manifest Destiny and American Territorial Expansion, provides documented evidence that settlers believed they were destined for expansion throughout the continent. In other words, many religious settlers believed that it was a call from God for the United States to expand west. On the other hand, people believed that Manifest Destiny vindicated the war against Mexico.

In my opinion, manifest destiny was a positive course for the United States. In despite of the duty given by Providence may not confirm by everyone, the U.S. had the power to take over Texas or California. Or I should change the word “take over” because it was Texas requested to join the union. According to the Reading 2, Texas “was disintegrated from Mexico in the natural course of events, by a process perfectly legitimate on its own part, blameless on ours (Americans’)…”. In this case, California would also be part of the union natural due to the manifest destiny of the U.S.

The Mexican-American war altered the United States environmentally, culturally and politically. First, on February 2, 1848, Mexico signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo two years post the beginning of the war. The treaty not only achieved President Polk’s goal to achieve California from Mexico but also granted the U.S. over 500,000 square miles of new territory. The new land caused approximately 90,000 spanish speaking, mostly Catholic Mexicans under American jurisdiction. Second, Nativism, a rising anti-catholic and anti-immigrant deemed the Mexicans inferior.

The Mexican War was a big moment for the United states. Manifest Destiny gave America a feeling of power over land and that hype for expansion, which happened to time with the conflict between Mexico and Texas, this gave path to the war that many people think we do not talk enough about. From the book I learned that it is always interesting to look for different point of views of an event, and also that we

The war was one-sided due to the fact that the United States won most of the battles. The problem with this was that México refused to negotiate after every loss, so the war had to go on for longer than it had to be. Since Mexico refused to negotiate

As stated before, the US was justified in going to war with Mexico because of three reasons, Americans were killed, Texas was already annexed, and Manifest Destiny allows it. The United states had many superb reasons for going to war with Mexico. This essay is significant because it helps explain the United States’ choice to go to war with

Since the Mexican people were not able to vote when Santa Anna gave away Texas, they felt as if the US took advantage of them when Santa Anna was president. Mexico did not see the war as a dual sided conflict. To Mexico, the war was an invasion of the weaker by the stronger, and at a time when Mexico was vulnerable

The Mexican-American War changed the Unites States of America in a monumental way. This war changed The U.S.A.’s relationship with foreign powers and the economic standpoint of the nation. The Mexican- American war, and its strong ties to manifest destiny, shaped the nation in a country bordered by two seas with a chance for common folk and foreigners to have a sustainable life due to the gold rush. The war can also be accounted for the downfall leading to the Civil War over the conflict of slavery due to the land purchased in the wars treaty. Conflict between Mexico and the United States began when Texas, previously part of Mexico, became part of the United States.

Although the United States war against Mexico resulted in the gaining of America’s most valuable land, the war itself wasn’t legitimate because of the revolution in Texas, motivation for superiority, and the U.S. government’s actions. To begin, the Texans began an unreasonable war because they didn’t follow Mexico’s laws and conditions. When Mexico started selling cheap land, they set conditions for the people moving in. The people had to convert to Catholicism, learn Spanish, become a Mexican citizen, and have no slaves. Many Americans didn’t like being told what to do, and disobeyed the rules and laws.