Pros And Cons Of Manifest Destiny

Manifest Destiny: What Would You Do?

An Essay

The manifest destiny was a belief that America had the right to expand to the entirety of North america. Throughout history, America used the momentum of this belief to add the Louisiana territory, Texas (Lone Star Republic at the time), Florida, Oregon, California, And the Gadsden purchase gave America a strip of land which became part of New Mexico and Arizona. Though all these states and territories helped the United states expand, they all had a multitude of pros and cons. If I were In a position of authority, I would have added Louisiana the way the United States did.

Louisiana would benefit the United States in many ways; The piece of land contained New Orleans and the Mississippi river. These would prove to be crucial, as they could serve as a major port for trading, and the Mississippi could aid in transportation. As America grew, so did the economy, and transportation of goods using boats and barges would benefit from the mississippi. The Louisiana purchase would also give the United States access to the gulf of Mexico, which would benefit the US in the same way the Mississippi

At this time, Napoleon Bonaparte and France owned louisiana. Thomas Jefferson sent James Monroe to France with an offer to buy Louisiana for 7.5 million dollars. By then, Napoleon no longer needed louisiana. Napoleon knew that France and Britain were on the brink of war, and he believed he might lose Louisiana to the british. Rather than lose it, it made sense to sell it to the United states. Louisiana was sold to the US for 15 million dollars, which for the land was extremely cheap; it was only 2-3 cents an acre. This benefited the United states in many ways- The purchase was low risk, high reward. Since the US was still a new country, the cost of the purchase was in a good range, because Louisiana had many resources despite it being so