Westward Expansion allowed us to shape our nation into the way it looks today and allows us the diversity in land that we are presented with. This was possible because our presidents and political leaders enforced the objective of Manifest Destiny, the idea that it was a god given right for us to have our borders from coast to coast. Over time the gain of new land led to the issue of slavery, which would eventually create a rift between our nations. The issue of representation mainly caused this, which has been a recurring problem in our nation. The imbalance of slave and free states angered many and in order to keep everyone happy we began to form compromise. These compromises bandaged the rift temporary but other political affairs such as …show more content…
Due to this realization many began to oppose the overall and said idea of how we should view slavery, this led to many conflicts in the West. Since Westward Expansions brought up matters such as the attitude and compassion toward slaves, management of slaves, and the whole idea of slavery, constantly it helps increase the problem of slavery leading to the Civil War. Westward Expansion granted us new land, and due to this gain of new land we as a nation had to decide which would be a free state and which would not. This decision ended up leading to the Civil War and ultimately causing it. The Compromise of 1850 as depicted in Document A helped morph our country into what it is today. As seen in the map because of the Compromise of 1850, California would be admitted as a free states and the land gained in the Mexican Cession would be open to popular …show more content…
Many different forms and literature and current events began to change how people actually viewed and felt about slavery. Document E, written by William Lloyd Garrison, a very well known abolitionist expressed his concern on the idea of the Dred Scott vs. Sanford case. It states, “Three millions of the American people are crushed under the American Union! They are held as slaves, trafficked as merchandise, registered as goods and chattels! The government gives them no protection-the government is their enemy. The government keeps them in chains!” Roger B. Taney ruled that the idea of free states was unconstitutional and in Lloyd’s piece he argues that’s what is actually unconstitutional is the fact that slaves have to fight against the government, instead of the government working with them. Events like these began to change the view of how they looked upon slavery. Ralph Waldo Emerson began to develop a very strict view on slavery. In document D, Ralph Waldo Emerson discusses how many of the laws such as the Fugitive Slave Act was going against the constitution and that we should fight against it. It states, “By law of Congress September, 1850, it is a high crime and misdemeanor, punishable with fine and imprisonment, to resist reenslaving a man on the coast of America....What kind of legislation is this? What kind of Constitution covers it?...” This shows the change in views by someone
During the 19th century, America had an expanding idea of Manifest Destiny, where they would claim land all the way to the east coast. While the government and the citizens were focused on exploring new land, they were able to acquire much of the new land, introducing new people and ideas. Many of these people and ideas were vastly different than the original in the thirteen colonies, which frustrated many people. When these different people and beliefs collided, many disputes and disagreements were born, which intensified the results of sectionalism, unfortunately leading up the Civil War, having a huge impact on the country.
Western expansion and the Louisiana Purchase both led to the formation of the Missouri Compromise because more states started applying for statehood, and this distorted the balance between the slave and free states. Division between the North and South increased as a result of the Missouri Compromise. It created a line that separated the Union and set it to the path of Civil War. At first, the North and South saw the compromise as a successful document that maintained the balance between the number of slave and free states; however, when the Union gained more territory through Mexican War, Congress decided to modify the existing compromise. Finally, the repeal of the compromise made the final push that led to the explosion of animosity between the North and South, which led to the Civil War. Slavery in the new territories remained the main issue that caused the necessity of forming the Missouri Compromise. Jefferson accurately stated that the Missouri Compromise stood only as a temporary solution that eventually led to the full-fledged sectional war between
The civil war, a devastating conflict amongst the American North and South in the mid to late 1800s, was caused by growing tension between the opposing sides for many reasons but also because of territorial expansion of America. In determining the impact of territorial expansion in the mid 1800’s on the sectionalism that led to the civil war, one would first have to look at the tactics for territorial expansion in America. Americans began to entertain the idea of heading west in the early 1800’s, which then brought forth the acts and events of the United States spreading its boundaries from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Historical events involving the expansion of America such as Manifest Destiny, the War with Mexico, and popular sovereignty in the west, all contributed to the growing tension between the North and the South, ultimately starting the Civil War.
Westward movement is the populating of lands, by the Europeans, in what is now known as the United States. The chief resolution of the westward expansion is economic betterment. The United States story begins with westward expansion and even before the Revolutionary war, early settlers were migrating westward into what is now known as the states of Kentucky,Tennessee, parts of the Ohio Valley and the South. Westward Expansion was slowed down by the French and the Native Americans, however the Louisiana Purchase significantly improved the expansion efforts. Westward expansion was enabled because of wars, the displacement of Native American Indians, buying land, and treaties. This paper will discuss the effects of westward expansion on domestic politics and on American relations with other nations.
The Manifest Destiny was a progressive movement starting in the 1840's. John O'Sullivan, a democratic leader, named the movement in 1845. Manifest Destiny meant that westward expansion was America's destiny. The land that was added to the U.S. after 1840 (the start of Manifest Destiny) includes The Texas Annexation (1845), The Oregon Country (1846), The Mexican Cession (1848), The Gadsden Purchase (1853), Alaska (1867), and Hawaii (1898). Although this movement would take several years to accomplish fully, things started changing before we knew it. New technology took off right away!
In 1845, a fellow named John C. Calhoun coined the term "Manifest Destiny." The term Manifest Destiny was a slogan for westward expansion during the 1840's. In the west there was plenty of land, national security, the spread of democracy, urbanization, but there was also poverty out west. People moved out west in search for a new life such as a new beginning. Moving out west, settlers from the east were taking a risk of a lot of things. The climate was different and there were more cultures that lived out west because of how much land was available.
Westward expansion was the greatest method to achieve the grouping of the natural resources found and use them as needed. To gain access to the western part of the country the white settlers had to pass through the Native Americans. While pushing westward the white culture clashed with the plain indians and their culture. As a result of this clash bloody battles surged and the white settlers were victorious and the government restricted the Native American lands to small portions. The government supported assimilation, which was the plan to unite the Native American culture with the white one.
To begin with, the need Americans felt to expand west caused the government to seek more geographical territory and “Expansion westward seemed perfectly natural to many Americans in the mid-nineteenth century.”. The Louisiana purchase was one of the first expansions that made a big impact on the United States and initiated this movement. Events such as the Texas annexation and the Oregon Treaty of 1846 were parts of Manifest Destiny. These events expanded the national territory and encouraged people to settle further west, north, and south. Many of the treaties signed became controversial, but the governments' priority was for the nation to grow in size and importance.
America was expanding at such a rapid pace that those who were in America before us had no time to anticipate what was happening. This change in lifestyle affected not only Americans but everyone who lived in the land. Changing traditions, the get rich quick idea and other things were the leading causes of westward expansion. But whatever happened to those who were caught in the middle, those who were here before us?
Many believed in Manifest Destiny. That is was a God given right to spread Christianity and American ideals such as democracy all over the continent from coast to coast. This idea triggered over a million Americans to get up and sell their homes in the east and set out on Oregon, Mormon, Santa Fe, and California trails. Not everyone agreed with this expansion in the West. The slavery debate, once again, fueled many problems with Westward expansion. Whether to have slaves in the West, or even in the South for that matter was greatly
The United States, as a young nation, had the desire to expand westward and become a true continental United States that stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Various factors, strategic and economic, contributed to the desire to expand westward. According to John O’Sullivan, as cited by Hestedt in Manifest Destiny 2004; "the U.S. had manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence to the free development of our yearly multiplying millions" (¶2). As Americans ventured westward to settle the frontier, their inherent superior beliefs, culture and the principles of democracy accompanied them. America’s ruthless ambition to fulfill its manifest destiny had a profound impact on the nation’s economy, social systems and foreign and domestic policies; westward expansion was a tumultuous period in American History that included periods of conflict with the Native Americans and Hispanics and increased in sectionalism that created the backdrop for the Civil War.
...nize and settle the west in the end, some of them where because of new lands, minerals, and finally to expand the US territory. There were many things done to colonize and settle the west such as wars, treaties, and good old exploring the land to colonize the land. There were many costs to the westward expansion of the US, including 20,000 settles dying due to difficulties during the settlements, 13,283 soldiers killed during the US-Mexican War, and hundreds of millions of dollars wasted on wars, treaties, and sales of lands. There were many benefits of the US expansion on the optimistic side. The US doubled its size, GDP , and population during this time. The US also won respect among other countries and gained more trading partners. There were many effects that westward expansion had on US culture.
After winning the Mexican-American War in 1848, the United States gained the western territories, which included modern-day California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, as well as parts of Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, and Oklahoma. However, controversial topics, that helped cause the Civil War, arouse with the addition of these new territories. Primarily, the people of the United States wanted to know whether the new territories would be admitted as free states or slave states. In order to avoid fighting between the slave states of the South and the free states of the North, Henry Clay (Whig) and Stephen Douglas (Democrat) drafted the Compromise of 1850. Although the compromise was created to stop conflict ...
The biggest cause was a social difference between slave and anti-slave states. Also, the growth of the abolition movement added to the turmoil. Most importantly is the land gained from the Mexican War, and what should be done with the land gained. To try and resolve the conflicts over the land, congress kept making compromises. The first major compromise was the Missouri Compromise, which was an imaginary line across the thirty-six and thirty degrees latitude. Anyone above was a free state and anyone below was a slave state. However, when new lands were added to the United States, people did not want slavery to expand and created the Wilmot Proviso which banned slavery in new territories. This outraged many people so they then decided to allow slavery to be determined in each state by popular sovereignty. However, with this idea came threats for individuals to vote for one side, and caused many fights in Kansas, hence, the Bleeding Kansas. All this social issues contributed to the Civil War.
Permissiveness coupled with a self-righteous entitlement is not considered very flattering on anyone, much less a developing young country. The loose handle the US government had in the 1800s on its land-hungry constituents contributed to the worst (but among the most overlooked) genocide in recorded history. The few preventative actions taken by the federation to slow the quickening roll of excessive expansion were overruled or overlooked by the citizens. Deciding that the east coast was no longer enough to satiate their appetite for possession, they looked to the west. Imagining themselves to be Moses, claiming their promised land, the settlers surged westward, citing Manifest Destiny, a concept that suggested providence had intended the