Manifest Destiny Significance

The movement known as the Manifest Destiny is based on the ideology that America was destined by God to expand their territory over immense areas. Although the settlers might not had wanted to take this certain approach, their movement was mainly an aggressive one for the first half of the ninetieth century. Americans had expanded their boundaries through conflict and treaties. The Manifest Destiny also involved the calamitous removal of inhabitants from their homes. The significance of these events caused a chain of reactions involving spreading of ideals and other advancements. The idea that the U.S. was destined by God to expand, created new areas of territory. One of the first events to significantly expand the country’s boundaries was the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. President Jefferson had accepted France’s offer to buy the Louisiana Territory for 80 million francs after Napoleon lost the ambition to create an empire in America. A potential war struggle was averted when American ships could not use the Mississippi River and the proposal to buy New Orleans and Louisiana Territory was sent to Napoleon. In 1819, the Missouri Compromise had annexed Missouri to the country. However, conflict aroused about whether Missouri should be a free or slave state because of the disruption of balance. After two years, they agreed on Missouri being a slave state and Maine a free state; this also included declaring the 36°30’ parallel of the Louisiana Territory to prohibit slavery. Another state was added to the nation in 1844: Texas. The Mexican government encouraged Americans to move to this territory and soon enough, they outnumbered the Mexicans. Fighting began to gain independence from Mexico and with the capture of General Santa Anna, American settlers successfully got the treaty signed declaring independence. The Compromise of 1850 also added to the expanding territories. It declared California as a free state, and provided information of the Mexican lands they received. This compromise had been a result of debates on slavery and which new states, including New Mexico, Oregon, and Utah, would be free or slave states. These expanding territories had been mainly caused by conflicts. The Manifest Destiny took an aggressive approach because of the removal of inhabitants in the area. The War of 1812 had resulted in …show more content…
The Manifest Destiny had a strong influence in Americans’ growing nationalism during the mid-nineteenth century. Americans believed they deserved to expand and get stronger as a nation. Similarly, it helped the growing industrialization in the United States. With the importation of food from the new territories, people began to look for work in factories since they didn’t all need to grow their own food at home any longer. The North’s industrial system boomed and many new businesses were opened, creating a growing and comfortable middle class. Overall, the income of the average citizen of the United States went up greatly. It also became fairly easy for someone to move up in their social class; many opportunities to succeed came up. In 1850s there were conflicts between the North and South. By this time there was also a large amount of territory beyond Missouri and Iowa. This particularly new territory would play a significant role in farming and railroads. But there were conflicts between the North and South on where the transcontinental railroad would be