Manifest Destiny it is the idea that got the United States on the move westward. More specifically, this nineteenth-century idea said that the American people had been chosen by God to expand to the Pacific border. From the beginning, the country has craved expansion. Through agriculture and new settlements, early expansion was achieved, even if it was just to the Appalachian Mountains. Later expansion was gained through land purchases. Major reasons for this include solving the problem with balancing slave and free states and simply, just to have more land. All of this expansion, even if the early stages were not considered as such, helped to achieve the idea of manifest destiny. It helped the nation stretch far and wide. Through manifest
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When the settlers came to Jamestown in 1620, the idea of expansion was present then. Andrew Menard, of the Western American Literature journal, gives readers the idea that John Winthrop’s notion of “a city upon a hill” was manifest destiny in its early form. Menard calls manifest destiny “a more western incarnation of Winthrop’s beacon….” When coming to the new world, Winthrop wanted to create a settlement that everyone could look up to and follow. At that time, his perfect settlement would be an example in terms of religion. Winthrop’s idea could easily have contributed to the manifest destiny the country would come to know later on. Another national leader also had contributions to the idea as well. Thomas Jefferson’s words in the Declaration of Independence was his contribution to manifest destiny. Albert K. Weinberg’s Manifest Destiny gives insight into exactly how Jefferson did this. Weinberg writes of a New York Evening Post writer who makes the connection. In short, the writer says that the United States belongs to …show more content…
This is the purchase that took America all the way to the Pacific, but it was far from easy. To begin, there was conflict going on in Texas already. The Texans were fighting for their independence from Mexico. Because of Sam Houston’s victory at San Jacinto, Texas was an independent nation with Houston as the first president. This now opened up the opportunity for annexation by the United States under Andrew Jackson. However, it was not until after both Jackson and Martin Van Buren’s presidential terms that action was taken toward annexation of the state. There were many issues that contributed to the wait for annexation. Slavery was the big elephant in the room at this point. There was just too much fear that if Texas was admitted as a slave state, Congress would be off balance towards proslavery representatives. This decision made by congress to not make a decision on the annexation of Texas finally made progress when James K. Polk won the Presidency in the 1844 election. The Democratic party took office and Polk had high expansionist goals determined to be achieved. Polk achieved his goals very quickly. By March 1, 1845, Texas was annexed and he was thinking of what to gain next. The annexation of Texas helped to quickly progress the acquisition of all territory to the
When the settlers came to Jamestown in 1620, the idea of expansion was present then. Andrew Menard, of the Western American Literature journal, gives readers the idea that John Winthrop’s notion of “a city upon a hill” was manifest destiny in its early form. Menard calls manifest destiny “a more western incarnation of Winthrop’s beacon….” When coming to the new world, Winthrop wanted to create a settlement that everyone could look up to and follow. At that time, his perfect settlement would be an example in terms of religion. Winthrop’s idea could easily have contributed to the manifest destiny the country would come to know later on. Another national leader also had contributions to the idea as well. Thomas Jefferson’s words in the Declaration of Independence was his contribution to manifest destiny. Albert K. Weinberg’s Manifest Destiny gives insight into exactly how Jefferson did this. Weinberg writes of a New York Evening Post writer who makes the connection. In short, the writer says that the United States belongs to …show more content…
This is the purchase that took America all the way to the Pacific, but it was far from easy. To begin, there was conflict going on in Texas already. The Texans were fighting for their independence from Mexico. Because of Sam Houston’s victory at San Jacinto, Texas was an independent nation with Houston as the first president. This now opened up the opportunity for annexation by the United States under Andrew Jackson. However, it was not until after both Jackson and Martin Van Buren’s presidential terms that action was taken toward annexation of the state. There were many issues that contributed to the wait for annexation. Slavery was the big elephant in the room at this point. There was just too much fear that if Texas was admitted as a slave state, Congress would be off balance towards proslavery representatives. This decision made by congress to not make a decision on the annexation of Texas finally made progress when James K. Polk won the Presidency in the 1844 election. The Democratic party took office and Polk had high expansionist goals determined to be achieved. Polk achieved his goals very quickly. By March 1, 1845, Texas was annexed and he was thinking of what to gain next. The annexation of Texas helped to quickly progress the acquisition of all territory to the