Manifest Destiny was an aggresive imperialist ideology.
America in the 1840s was a rapidly expanding and growing nation. With this expansion came the notion that America should share its free form of federal government with the rest of the world. This ardent conviction was the basis of the ideology called Manifest Destiny. If enlightening the world was the goal, then expansion was the means. Although the general consensus among Americans was that Manifest Destiny was a kindly movement, it was in fact aggressive, racist, and imperialistic. The Manifest Destiny was driven by these factors and pursued at the expense of others. Some examples of this twisted ideology are the American acquisition and settlement of the Oregon country, America causing the Texan subversion of Mexico, and the war between America and Mexico.American expansion into the Oregon country was a crusade to convert the native population to Protestant Christianity, bring in more American settlers, and to eventually annex the area to America. The Oregon country consisted of what are now the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and parts of Montana, Wyoming, and British Columbia. This area had been jointly occupied by America and Britain since 1818, after the two nations signed a treaty ending their dispute over th
Texas was another victim of the Manifest Destiny. It was originally occupied by Mexico, and America tried to purchase Texas from Mexico twice unsuccessfully; however, American settlers in the territory rebelled and eventually gained independence from Mexico. Most of these settlers were slave-holding plantation owners from the southern United States. From the time of Texan independence on until 1845 (when Texas was finally admitted to the Union as a slave state), Texas became entangled in a diplomatic dance with the United States in order to achieve statehood. This was because of American fears of sectionalism and the shift in the balance of power Texas’ annexation would cause with regard to the debate over slavery. It was finally admitted to the Union on the condition that the Oregon territory be occupied as a slave-free area. All of this occurred at the expense of black slaves in Texas and the Mexican people who originally inhabited Texas. Texas’ annexation did not satisfy American designs on Mexican territory, a lust that would eventually lead to war. Many Americans, led by Democratic President James K. Polk, held the view that the border between Texas and Mexico was the Rio Grande, not the Nueces River. Additionally, they were committed to annexing New Mexico and California to the United States. They justified these claims through sup
Some topics in this essay:
Native Americans,
Manifest Destiny,
United Texan,
Texas Mexico,
Texas Mexicans,
Guadalupe Hidalgo,
,
America Britain,
President Polk,
Texas Texas’,
manifest destiny,
native americans,
texas mexico,
native population,
oregon country,
rio grande,
finally admitted union,
mexico america,
admitted union,
california mexico,
annexation mexico,
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Approximate Word count = 916
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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