Manifest Destiny Research Paper
Tara Hickman
Mr. Sandstrom
American History
Manifest Destiny and Division
Manifest Destiny was the rationalization for the Americans to satiate their hunger for greater power and control over the land from coast to coast. As America grew the differences in things such as economy, views of slavery, and overall ways of life between the North and South also grew and created division within the nation.
John O’Sullivan was the first person to use the term Manifest Destiny, the first time was to argue about the annexation of Texas and the second, when the term actually caught on, referred to the dispute about the border of Oregon Country with the British. The piece where he mentions Manifest Destiny, referring to Oregon Country, was in the New York Moring News on December 27, 1845. It is as follows, “And that claim is by the right of our manifest destiny to overspread and to possess the whole of the continent which Providence has given us for the development of the great experiment of liberty and federated self-government entrusted to us.”
People have inferred according to this part of the column Manifest Destiny was a pre-ordained right by the power of God for people of the United States to claim the all of the continent from coast to coast. Others …show more content…
would say that it’s the rationalization for America’s greed and imperialistic ambition, since this was a term shortly made after the United States had begun its conquest to gain several territories in the West. Even though the definitions slightly differ the basic description of Manifest Destiny remains to mean the right and idea of the ability to take control of America coast to coast.
Though Manifest Destiny wasn’t the main reason why the United States begun to move west but it took advantage of people’s desire to become a greater nation by persuading them to expand the United States’ territory. Andrew Jackson was the first president to begin this crusade by driving the Native Americans into the West so the United States could expand west by enacting the Indian Removal Act of 1830. A total of 94 treaties with separate Native Americans tribes were made to actually relocate them, but the Cherokee Tribe ended up resolving the matters in civil court with the ultimate decision resulting in their removal. The strenuous journey that resulted in tens of thousands Native Americans suffering was called the Trail of Tears, this caused many of the old and young do die of disease.
Four presidents later President James K. Polk was given the nickname Manifest Destiny President, because he gained three major territories, and later states: Texas, Oregon Country (includes the states now called Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and portions of Montana and Wyoming), and the Mexican Cession (parts of the Southwest at the time and now the states called New Mexico, California, Arizona, and parts of Utah and Colorado). In 1845 the U.S. annexed Texas through the Mexican-American War. As part of Polk’s campaign for president he included the slogan “54-40 or Fight!” which referred to the dispute of Oregon Country with the British. In 1846 the dispute was settled by choosing the boundary of the 49th parallel between Oregon Country and what’s now called Canada. His last large land purchase was part of the Treaty of Guadalupe where he obtained the Mexican Cession , the modern day Southwest, for $15 million from Mexico. In the end Polk lived up to his nickname, Manifest Destiny President, by was actually known as the President who satiated the American’s insatiable greed for the new land, by gaining 1.2 million square miles of land in the duration of his presidency through the annexation of Texas, Oregon Country, and Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
Everyday Americans were a vital part of pursing the dream that Manifest Destiny outlined. One of the main trails was called the Overland or Oregon Trail that people traveled to get to the new land. This trail ended in what’s now Oregon, but had other outlets too. In 1848 James Marshall found gold in a river in Sierra Nevada starting the California Gold Rush, and as a result an outlet of the Oregon Trail called the California Trail was created to meet the need of the new epidemic that swept the United States.
As Americans embarked on new journeys to take advantage of these opportunities, many new world innovations were brought with them such as technology, transportation, and agriculture practices.
Technology included the new telegraph lines that made communication easier and more efficient. Transportation included the length of railroad lines extended from the North to the new land in the west, but the main example of the increasing the railroad line was the Transcontinental Railroad that cut through the Midwest. Demand for cash crops, which were produced in the South, grew so the farmers needed more land to meet these needs. An endless supply of rich and plentiful land, perfect for farming, was discovered in the west
too.
Like many other nations America’s expansion of its boundaries, advancement of technology, and rise in population cracks in America’s foundation became more obvious and a larger problem. These main issues revolved around slavery, states’ rights, and economy.
Slavery had now become the principal issue in the country at the time, creating a greater division between the pro and anti-slavery states. Each side wanted to be on the majority so they would have more control in the legislature. Four years after the Compromise of 1850 Senator Douglas of Illinois created the Kansas-Nebraska so the Transcontinental Railroad would run through Chicago. Even though this was a good deal for Illinois, the territories of Nebraska and Kansas would now be governed under popular sovereignty and the Missouri Compromise was repealed. This caused people on the pro and anti-slavery sides to flood into the new territories so they could have a free or slave state which led to Bleeding Kansas in 1856. Bleeding Kansas ended up being a Civil War in Kansas with 200 people killed.
At the beginning of President Jackson’s time in office the Nullification Crisis occurred and almost led to a Civil War in 1830. This was an issue because states could abdicate the laws that the federal government created if they were believed to be unconstitutional, which led to the dilemma of how much power the state and federal governments should have. An example of this unbalance were the tariffs set in place in 1828 and 1832 produced the greatest amount of conflict and made the Nullification Crisis a very large and threatening crisis to the stability of America.
The tariffs that caused the Nullification crisis exhibited the differences of the North and South early on. Northern factories received more profit since their goods they manufactured would be cheaper than those imported from countries like the British; the Southern plantations were losing customers, like the British, because not as many people were buying their cotton since they didn’t need it with the lessened demand. Effects of the tariffs were different in these two parts of the country; Northern states had more factories, advanced technology, and a railroad for transportation, while Southern states were still heavily based on agriculture. Even with the Nullification crisis slavery remained the biggest and most important difference between these two parts of America.
With the extra push from Manifest Destiny, America succeeded in satisfying their need for power within the new world. Along with their new power came growth which begun to highlight the biggest issue in the United States, slavery. Slavery would later be the cause of great turmoil between the Northern and Southern states, eventually leading to a Civil War.
Mr. Sandstrom
American History
Manifest Destiny and Division
Manifest Destiny was the rationalization for the Americans to satiate their hunger for greater power and control over the land from coast to coast. As America grew the differences in things such as economy, views of slavery, and overall ways of life between the North and South also grew and created division within the nation.
John O’Sullivan was the first person to use the term Manifest Destiny, the first time was to argue about the annexation of Texas and the second, when the term actually caught on, referred to the dispute about the border of Oregon Country with the British. The piece where he mentions Manifest Destiny, referring to Oregon Country, was in the New York Moring News on December 27, 1845. It is as follows, “And that claim is by the right of our manifest destiny to overspread and to possess the whole of the continent which Providence has given us for the development of the great experiment of liberty and federated self-government entrusted to us.”
People have inferred according to this part of the column Manifest Destiny was a pre-ordained right by the power of God for people of the United States to claim the all of the continent from coast to coast. Others …show more content…
would say that it’s the rationalization for America’s greed and imperialistic ambition, since this was a term shortly made after the United States had begun its conquest to gain several territories in the West. Even though the definitions slightly differ the basic description of Manifest Destiny remains to mean the right and idea of the ability to take control of America coast to coast.
Though Manifest Destiny wasn’t the main reason why the United States begun to move west but it took advantage of people’s desire to become a greater nation by persuading them to expand the United States’ territory. Andrew Jackson was the first president to begin this crusade by driving the Native Americans into the West so the United States could expand west by enacting the Indian Removal Act of 1830. A total of 94 treaties with separate Native Americans tribes were made to actually relocate them, but the Cherokee Tribe ended up resolving the matters in civil court with the ultimate decision resulting in their removal. The strenuous journey that resulted in tens of thousands Native Americans suffering was called the Trail of Tears, this caused many of the old and young do die of disease.
Four presidents later President James K. Polk was given the nickname Manifest Destiny President, because he gained three major territories, and later states: Texas, Oregon Country (includes the states now called Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and portions of Montana and Wyoming), and the Mexican Cession (parts of the Southwest at the time and now the states called New Mexico, California, Arizona, and parts of Utah and Colorado). In 1845 the U.S. annexed Texas through the Mexican-American War. As part of Polk’s campaign for president he included the slogan “54-40 or Fight!” which referred to the dispute of Oregon Country with the British. In 1846 the dispute was settled by choosing the boundary of the 49th parallel between Oregon Country and what’s now called Canada. His last large land purchase was part of the Treaty of Guadalupe where he obtained the Mexican Cession , the modern day Southwest, for $15 million from Mexico. In the end Polk lived up to his nickname, Manifest Destiny President, by was actually known as the President who satiated the American’s insatiable greed for the new land, by gaining 1.2 million square miles of land in the duration of his presidency through the annexation of Texas, Oregon Country, and Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
Everyday Americans were a vital part of pursing the dream that Manifest Destiny outlined. One of the main trails was called the Overland or Oregon Trail that people traveled to get to the new land. This trail ended in what’s now Oregon, but had other outlets too. In 1848 James Marshall found gold in a river in Sierra Nevada starting the California Gold Rush, and as a result an outlet of the Oregon Trail called the California Trail was created to meet the need of the new epidemic that swept the United States.
As Americans embarked on new journeys to take advantage of these opportunities, many new world innovations were brought with them such as technology, transportation, and agriculture practices.
Technology included the new telegraph lines that made communication easier and more efficient. Transportation included the length of railroad lines extended from the North to the new land in the west, but the main example of the increasing the railroad line was the Transcontinental Railroad that cut through the Midwest. Demand for cash crops, which were produced in the South, grew so the farmers needed more land to meet these needs. An endless supply of rich and plentiful land, perfect for farming, was discovered in the west
too.
Like many other nations America’s expansion of its boundaries, advancement of technology, and rise in population cracks in America’s foundation became more obvious and a larger problem. These main issues revolved around slavery, states’ rights, and economy.
Slavery had now become the principal issue in the country at the time, creating a greater division between the pro and anti-slavery states. Each side wanted to be on the majority so they would have more control in the legislature. Four years after the Compromise of 1850 Senator Douglas of Illinois created the Kansas-Nebraska so the Transcontinental Railroad would run through Chicago. Even though this was a good deal for Illinois, the territories of Nebraska and Kansas would now be governed under popular sovereignty and the Missouri Compromise was repealed. This caused people on the pro and anti-slavery sides to flood into the new territories so they could have a free or slave state which led to Bleeding Kansas in 1856. Bleeding Kansas ended up being a Civil War in Kansas with 200 people killed.
At the beginning of President Jackson’s time in office the Nullification Crisis occurred and almost led to a Civil War in 1830. This was an issue because states could abdicate the laws that the federal government created if they were believed to be unconstitutional, which led to the dilemma of how much power the state and federal governments should have. An example of this unbalance were the tariffs set in place in 1828 and 1832 produced the greatest amount of conflict and made the Nullification Crisis a very large and threatening crisis to the stability of America.
The tariffs that caused the Nullification crisis exhibited the differences of the North and South early on. Northern factories received more profit since their goods they manufactured would be cheaper than those imported from countries like the British; the Southern plantations were losing customers, like the British, because not as many people were buying their cotton since they didn’t need it with the lessened demand. Effects of the tariffs were different in these two parts of the country; Northern states had more factories, advanced technology, and a railroad for transportation, while Southern states were still heavily based on agriculture. Even with the Nullification crisis slavery remained the biggest and most important difference between these two parts of America.
With the extra push from Manifest Destiny, America succeeded in satisfying their need for power within the new world. Along with their new power came growth which begun to highlight the biggest issue in the United States, slavery. Slavery would later be the cause of great turmoil between the Northern and Southern states, eventually leading to a Civil War.