Manifest Destiny

“Mr. Polk’s War,” a war promptly named after the president at the time, James T. Polk, is an alternate moniker for the Mexican-American War for many reasons. For one, looking on the outside, the causes of the war seem to be unjust in that the Manifest Destiny, a widely supported policy by Polk, prompted America’s push West and eventual annexation of Texas from Mexico. However, on the tactical level, many commanders were entrusted with the responsibility of leading units in the fight against the…

Many people see the U.S Mexico border as a marker of territory belonging to the U.S and the territory belonging to Mexico. However, to many others the border symbolizes and means much more than that. Gloria Anzaldua, Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz and Alejandro Lugo speak of these other meanings that many times are swept under the rug. In The Homeland, Aztlan from Borderlands: La Frontera, Gloria Anzaldua speaks of the differences between the experiences of people living on the U.S side of the border and…

balance and allow for southern states to expand slavery by their own means. Many also feared that the annexation of Texas would lead to a war with Mexico as they would be on the bordering territory that we might try to claim and justify through manifest destiny. There was also the issue that Texas was still an independent country, and it was not clear whether the United States had the authority to induct other nations. Along with that, Texas didn’t even meet the basic requirements in order to be…

As President, he believed that annexing Texas would allow him to stay in office and be reelected . Because he heavily believed in the idea of Manifest Destiny, Tyler thought that annexing Texas would allow America to “fulfill its destiny.” Therefor, Tyler pursued the issue in secret because he thought that it would allow him to form a winning coalition for reelection because of the positive perceptions of annexation which would likely come…

Throughout the history of the United States, few conflicts shook the nation as slavery did, especially in the 1800’s. For everyone in the country, and even for several outside of it, the impact led to the bloodiest war the new nation became part of: The American Civil War. Furthermore, the topic held more importance on some rather than others, but that problem would become a turning point in understanding the concepts of rights for this country, even in its earliest stages. The puppet…

in American history, it was all a national affair. He had described the Purchase as a “great achievement.” He wrote in 1810, “It is incumbent on those who accept great charges to risk themselves on great occasions.” Thomas Jefferson achieved Manifest Destiny and helped shape the Unite States to become the country that it is…

Imagine owning a piece of land that you have owned for decades, and then for no reason someone comes and takes it and you get nothing. You wouldn't like that, right? This is the basic premise of imperialism. The first reason imperialism is wrong is because it is not the duty of one of the most powerful countries in the world to force a type of government and way of life onto people who do not want it. The second reason imperialism is wrong is that it is not God's will for people to take the…

changed to particularly cater to white settlers of European descent. Later, Americans fought for their independence from their mother country, Great Britain. After successfully defeating the British, Americans became obsessed with the idea of Manifest Destiny, the idea that God destined white American settlers to expand territorial claims across North America. Unfortunately, in order to accomplish this so-called belief, Native Americans were required to relocate to allow American settlers to…

which is a belief of white’s superiority over others. Anglo-Saxonism also entailed that whites where to dominate the world. Another belief of American’s during this time was Manifest Destiny; this was a thought of many American’s believing that it was God’s intent for America to take over the world. The believers of Manifest Destiny also saw the Asian…

boundaries over a vast area” (Brinkley). This idea of “territorial expansion would reopen the painful controversy over slavery” (Brinkley). Henry Clay and several others warned the people that this idea would spur up several issues. Just like Manifest Destiny the Free-Soil Ideology became a social crisis. The two beliefs of this ideology were “free soil” and “free labor” which reflected both in the North and South. The northerners agreed that slavery was dangerous to the American democracy…