Preview

Manifest Destiny

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
350 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny

In the 1840s the United States increased its territory to stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. This land was acquired through treaty, war, and negotiation. The opportunities of this large area of land offered in terms of resources and trade were great. The positive of M.D. do not outweigh the negative consequences. Manifest Destiny is a historic duty, in the 1800's the Americans believed that the manifest destiny of the United States was to expand to the Pacific Ocean. The United States started as costal colonies but eventually the fulfilled their manifest destiny and expanded buy conquering and purchasing land. The Americans gained more land by buying it from France in the Louisiana Purchase and they also acquired land by cession as they did in the Mexican Cession. Other ways of expanded their land was to take it by force; many settlers killed the Indians and stole their land from them. The Americans in the 1800's believed that it was the historic duty of their nation to expand to the Pacific Ocean. They believed that the land was rightfully theirs. They ignored the fact that the land was already occupied and began to move west. They did not recognize the Indians as people; they saw them as potential slaves, so they simply killed them and took their land. Much of the land was bought from France in the Louisiana Purchase, but other lands such as Texas, California and Oregon was not theirs. Using both military strength and negotiations, the US was determined to fulfill their historic duty. The main difference between the border issues of Oregon and Texas is the way these issues were settled. The Texas issue resulted in a war with Mexico, which gained land and lost soldiers. However, this did allow the US to gain more land than just Texas. The Oregon issue, on the other hand, was more peaceful. The US negotiated and made a treaty with Britain instead of going to war with them. However, both these issues were

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    “Limiting our greatness and checking the fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent,” Those are the words of John O’Sullivan, thus creating the term “manifest destiny”, which is still in popular use today. Manifest Destiny was the belief that the US had the divine right to claim the whole of North America as well as push out Natives. However, as cruel and arrogant as it might seem, there were both benefits and negatives to it.…

    • 382 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    MANIFEST DESTINY- had overtaken American justification for expansion- The US had the right and the obligation to expand to the Pacific.…

    • 3820 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    America’s acquisition of the West took huge strides during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. A major move in American history towards this innuendo was the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, under Thomas Jefferson. It was a land deal between the United States and France, in which the United States acquired more than 800,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River. Another major factor was the result of the Mexican-American War in 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe. It was a peace treaty that granted the United States with the territories of present day Nevada, Colorado, Utah, Arizona and most importantly California. These large acquisitions, combined with the ideas of Manifest Destiny and a growing population led to desire of Westward Expansion.…

    • 1624 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    For the country to protect its valuable territory, it must build itself from within. By protecting itself, they are keeping their chances of colonization high. The United States sought to obtain some of the new territory so that they may protect themselves not only economically but militarily. Alfred T. Mahan wrote text on how the United States should control many islands in the pacific so that they could be used as â??coaling stationsâ?�(doc C). They saw this strategy as an advantage in battle tactics in case of war. Many economic benefits came with the new territory. The new islands such as Guam and Hawaii were merely an earlier idea on a larger scale. In the early nineteenth-century, the idea of Manifest Destiny caused a large migration to the western half of the country. The thought that new benefits for boosting the economy would come from the new fertile lands. They would also have control of two oceans; a key to economic prosperity. This expansionism and craving to gain the benefitsof new lands to protect their military and economic interests was merely a rise to power that they knew they deserved; this has always been a primary factor in the ideals of the United States.…

    • 647 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Manifest Destiny was the belief during the 1800s that the United States was destined to expand across the continent, from Atlantic coast to Pacific Coast. Americans wanted to own all the land across the continent because that is why they believed God had created the land like that. In addition, there were economic depressions in 1818 and 1839 that lead many people searching for land in frontier areas. In many cases frontier land was much more inexpensive or even free so they wanted to take advantage of the land. Americans also saw this as a good opportunity to promote and expand commerce and trade by building ports on the west coast. The original US-Mexico border was defined by the Sabine River north from the Gulf of Mexico to the 32nd parallel north (32°N), then due north to the Red River, west along the Red River to the 100th meridian west (100°W), due north to the Arkansas River, west to its headwaters, north to the 42nd parallel north (42°N), and finally west along that parallel to the Pacific Ocean. In the 1800s, Mexico had owned much of the land out by the west coast. Mexico owned present-day California, Nevada, Utah and the rest of Colorado as well as most of northern New Mexico and Arizona, parts of the…

    • 903 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the 19th century, Manifest Destiny, which is the idea that the United States’ expansion was inevitable and justified throughout the continent, became prevalent and was used a way to validate the nation’s acquirement of new territories. The idea brought forth a sense of nationalism and led to the nation working towards expanding and laying a foundation for an empire. However, as the US made an effort in developing a dominating country, the nation became divided as conflicts regarding the spread of slavery and the beginning of the Mexican war lead to disagreements and a lack of unity.…

    • 1065 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Westward Expansion Dbq

    • 853 Words
    • 4 Pages

    During the mid 1800s the United States had one main goal, that goal is commonly referred to as Manifest Destiny. This means that the United states wanted to stretch from ocean to ocean. With this goal came to inventions like the telegraph and the railroad, and with these inventions came the Westward Expansion. Although Manifest Destiny benefited the United States, it harmed the Native Americans. Due to Manifest Destiny and the Westward expansion, the Native Americans were stripped of their land and culture.…

    • 853 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    At the time of the mid- 1800's most Americans thought that it was destiny for the United States to stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. There were many reasons why people wanted to move from the Atlantic to the Pacific. A few reasons were free farmland was offered to people out west. As well as the growing population along the Atlantic, gold, and other discoveries found out west. Many people thought that the manifest destiny was predictable and was just a matter of time before it happened.…

    • 437 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Manifest Destiny 11

    • 5273 Words
    • 15 Pages

    The Mexican government began to encourage American immigration into Texas. They wanted to strengthen the economy and increase their own tax revenues. They also said that the settlers would create an effective buffer against US expansion in the region as they believed the settlers would soon become loyal. So they began offering land to immigrants. But friction grew between the settlers and the Mexican government. So when Dictator Santa Anna wiped out their cherished liberties, the Texans rebelled. After the Battle of San Jacinto, Sam Houston was able to make Santa Anna surrender and Texas would become independent. Now the only controversy was to annex it or not.…

    • 5273 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The idea that the United States had a “manifest destiny” led to more than simply acquiring land, though between 1845 and 1848, the United States would almost double in size, from 1.8 million square miles to almost 3 million. Many Americans supported versions of Manifest destiny for their own reasons. Land speculators and those promoting the extension of the nation’s railroads wanted to exploit the vast lands in the west. Farmers dreamed of starting over rich and cheap new lands. Workers believed that rapid national expansion would guarantee industrial profits and thus their jobs, or give them a chance to start over if necessary.…

    • 517 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It was the destiny of America, to spread across the continent from one ocean to another and this belief is know as Manifest Destiny.…

    • 600 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    land in North America as they tried to expand their territory. The war between the Europeans…

    • 481 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Manifest Destiny

    • 377 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Annexation of Texas (1845) caused many problems. Mexico said that Texas still belonged to Mexico, and Texas said that it was free from Mexico and now a territory of the Untied States. Mexico saw this unjust taking of land as a good reason to declare war. Texas had tried to become a part of the United States after becoming independent, but Jackson wasn’t so sure about this. Texas no longer wanted to be a part of Mexico, and there was the threat of Mexico attacking and taking back Texas. Naturally, Texas sought protection. It conducted treaties with France, Holland, and Belgium for safety. Britain wanted Texas, but it wasn’t willing to risk the war with America, after all, because of Manifest Destiny, America felt that Texas belonged to them. They thought that since Americans were already on the land, Manifest Destiny works out because Texas became independent with Americans on it. In the eyes of the United States, Texas was already ours.…

    • 377 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Manifest Destiny

    • 501 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Manifest Destiny began when the Indian Removal Act was established. As the people began to expand various lands was already possessed by Native Americans. The Native Americans saw them as obstacles instead of people, which caused the Indian Removal Act to force Native Americans to move west of the Mississippi. If they ever refused to move, they either had a choice to become citizens of the nation and live as the white settlers do, or be forced out. A war broke out between the two American people, the white settlers had won the arguments in the end. The conclusion affected the domestic policies in the United States, for the reason that the Native Americans were not in good terms with the white settlers.…

    • 501 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    With exploring the newfound land of America, the concept of "Manifest Destiny" emerged. "Manifest Destiny," is the belief that Americans are given the right to all of the land between the eastern and western seaboards. In 1983, one of the earliest cases of imperialism started with the expanding of the colonies past the Appalachian Mountains, to current day Mississippi. With the Louisiana Purchase, and the joint occupaiton of Oregon, respectively in 1803, and 1818, America's newfound imperialism continued. This expansion did not stop until they controlled the entire current day continental United States.…

    • 734 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics