Manifest Destiny In The United States Between 1845 And 1848

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. Protestant leaders and missionaries saw U.S. control of the new lands as an opportunity to ensure that a protestant United States, not a Catholic Mexico, controlled the continent. Manifest Destiny
Democrats tended to support expansion, but most Whigs, led by Henry Clay, had grave reservations. Clay’s goal was not necessarily a larger country, but a superior advanced with road and rail network, canals, and trades uniting it and ensuring its prosperity. Antislavery advocates opposed the acquisition of more land, especially Texas, since they were certain that new lands meant new slave states. However, some proslavery advocates, notably South Carolina Senator John C. Calhoun wanted Texas, but worried that other incorporate lands, especially California and Oregon, might become Free states people by darker skinned citizens, which would shift power away from the white slaveholding regions. Some Americans also saw the violence associated with expansion as simply wrong. Many residents of the lands from Texas to California did not want to become part of the United States at all. Antonio Maria Osio spoke for those who did not want to become U.S. Residents when he described himself as a “Californio who loves his country and a Mexican on all four sides and in my