Manifest Destiny Dbq

During the 1840, the United States was able to access much more land in the west than previously before. The United States saw this as an opportunity to expand their territories and to settle and obtain all things the land has to offer. The United States justified their actions through the idea of Manifest Destiny, which they viewed to be a harmless and benevolent philosophy. Manifest Destiny was in fact not as benign as the United States has come to believe; it caused the colonization and imperialism of land that held many Natives who were eventually killed or sent into reservations. People in the southern region of the conquered land were greatly influenced by this expansion as well; it caused many families who were living in the Texas area

Manifest Destiny was a positive force in American History. Because of Manifest Destiny, American settlers were able to travel to the more Western parts of our country like Texas. A lot of events took place in Texas which also helped us build our country throughout history.

In the years following the Revolutionary War the United States would begin to expand, although not popular among all citizens, it helped shape the country into what we know today. The first acquisition of territory would be as a result of the Treaty of Paris with Great Britain ending the Revolutionary War. This treaty marked the boundaries between the British colonies still located in North America and ceded the thirteen American colonies to a newly recognized country known as the United States of America. This would not be the only acquisition of territory that the United States would complete between the years of 1789 and 1815 but it would be the initial acquisition of territory that would develop this newly formed nation.

Manifest Destiny (first developed in 1845) was the idea that during the nineteenth century, America not only could but would expand from coast to coast. The accomplishment of this idea came with the removal of indians in areas like the great plains, as well as many smaller conflicts in between the indians and the Americans. The Americans attempted to make a compromise with the indians so that they would leave peacefully, examples of this would be the offer to pay the indians in the form of supplies and annuities. The idea was a good one until Americans denied a payment in 1862 because John pope regarded the Indians as “maniacs or wild beasts ” and states that they do not deserve treaties or anything of the sort. Another big factor in the expansion of America from coast to coast was the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad, not only with the people that it had brought to the west for the work, but the ease that it had provided for those who wanted to travel from the east to the west and did not have the money nor the time. The Railroad had cut down the price to travel from the east to the west by about 90% as well as cutting the time it took to make the journey by weeks.

Based on the following three sources, did the concept of Manifest Destiny motivate Americans to try to develop a relationship with land and to control something that cannot truly be possessed?

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.

After the American Revolution and declaring its independence, America has been aspired to the ideas of liberty, humanity, equality, and property rights. In the 1840s, the United States added greatly to its territory, gaining lands stretching all the way to the Pacific Ocean. President James K. Polk, who was elected in 1844 on the pledge to annex vast territories in the West, delivered on his major campaign compromise. The term Manifest Destiny was a wide belief that the American settlers were destined to expand from coast to coast.

During the nineteenth century the newly formed United States of America began to expand westward towards the pacific. Many people began to think that it was the destiny of the newly formed country to expand as much as possible. John L. Sullivan employed the term in an article on the annexation of Texas that was published in the United States Magazine from July to August in 1845.The term expressed the God-given mission to Anglo-Saxon Americans that they should spread than and conquer many lands. One of the consequences of the manifest destiny was that tribe after tribe of Native Americans were being moved out of their lands by white people to fulfilling their “destiny”.

The Manifest Destiny contributed to the Civil War because the expansion of new territories and states added into the United States. If the new territories were to vote in Congress for slavery and no slavery, it could be a threat for slavery in the South. ‘’many Southerners and some Northerners wanted slavery to exist everywhere in the United States, including in the new territories added to the country. Many other Americans did not want slavery to expand at all, and some people wanted slavery to be prohibited across the entire nation. Eventually these tensions would lead to the American Civil War’’ (Manifest Destiny, N/d). Along with the Manifest Destiny, the Kansas-Nebraska Act contributed with the Civil War as well because settlers in the

The manifest destiny was the American conviction that Americans had the right to expand U.S. territory from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. Among the Americans who strongly supported this belief was President James K. Polk and as a strong advocate of manifest destiny, he pushed for the annexation of Texas and additional territories from Mexico, and Oregon territory to appease Northerners. The Democratic party, the party from which Polk was from, remained adamant about increasing territory to uphold southern needs. Because of manifest destiny, presidents such as Polk (Texas and parts of Mexico) and Pierce (Cuba) strived to expand territory despite large opposition, and military filibustering that later arose contributed to opposing political

Many countries went through changes like the U.S. The U.S grew physically by gaining more land, it grew politically through making the government stronger, and it grew socially by people gaining opportunities and rights.

In the 1800s, Manifest Destiny, or also known as “obvious fate,” stretched all over the country, and intrigued many people. It took on many forms. The United States expanded through treaties, settlement, and war. But before that, the US only owned from the Atlantic ocean to the Mississippi river. The

Manifest Destiny was the belief that many Americans held, that the United States was destined to someday hold land “from sea to shining sea”. Emigrants came to the new world seeking their own land and freedom. For some it was freedom for religion, and for others freedom from the

“Manifest Destiny” is a phrase that perfectly sums up the American experience in the early 19th century. During this time, Americans were moving west with the idea that they had the god given right to do so and this idea didn’t stop there. Continuing into the American imperialism ages of

William Jennings Bryan claimed, “Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.” A notion of westward expansion ignited the idea of Manifest Destiny, which raised the question on whether or not the United States should pursue the entire continent. Nearing the 1850s, Americans began to believe they were a superior race that had a sole responsibility, or God-given right, of expanding westward across the continent. Factors such as the American system, the decimation of Native Americans, the market revolution, and the Mexican war fueled the American's belief in Manifest Destiny and ensured the necessary actions to achieve it.