What Are The Key Events Of Westward Expansion During The Nineteenth Century
A. Describe American Westward expansion during the nineteenth century and analyze two key features of this process in relation to questions of American national identity.
Introduction
The history of the United States is a history of westward expansion. In the early 19th century, the United States purchased the rights to landmasses west of the inhabited East coast of America. This is known as the Louisiana Purchase, and was arguably the event that set of the century of exploration, settlements and war, known as the Westward Expansion.
In this essay I will account for the key events of the Westward Expansion, while also incorporating a discussion of the United States national identity, and the procedures that best express this credence. I expect
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It was an ideal, that Americans and the American institutions were morally superior to their counterparts. Therefore, they were morally obligated to expand their presence, to end the alleged oppression of the European kingdoms. Furthermore, they were equally obligated to inspire and elevate the Mexican and the native populations “less significant” cultures.
With roots in the Puritan mindset of a New World in the eye of God, the Americans felt a responsibility to share with the world their great culture – a belief that arguably still stands as a defining factor in US foreign policy, at least under the previous administration.
Ironically, the Democrats were the most supportive party of the idea. The Whigs were opposed to the idea of expanding in the name of their superiority, as they feared it would advocate slaveholding. It is also worth noting that while the idea of branching out like this was flourishing, an exceptional amount of division was taking place. The annexation of the independent republic of Texas took place in the same years as the term grew popular, and the subsequent Mexican American War probably helped it along as patriotism grew as a result. The political debates on slavery were also heating up, and were dividing the country into Southern and Northern sub-republics. Meanwhile, a conflict with the British arose over the Oregon Territory. The idea of Manifest Destiny is very much a symbol of a new beginning, an idea that bloomed centuries before the Louisiana Purchase, but was very much starting to find its presence in the real
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