Dbq Westward Expansion

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Recommended: Territorial expansion in the early 1800s

Manifest Destiny is the idea that the U.S. will eventually own and govern all of North America. We will not achieve this through military conquest, but through a natural flow of events. This idea surfaced during the time when James K. Polk was president. The benefits of westward expansion outweighed the negative consequences because of the economic development, opportunities, and decrease in travel time.

One of the main benefits of westward expansion was the economic development. Trade with China was easier. Because we know had settlements on the Pacific coast, trade routes were more direct, making trade easier and faster. Travel times were also significantly reduced. As can be seen in document D, a trip that would have once taken 2 weeks could now be traveled in less than 6 days. This gave many people more places to trade with. Because of the expansion west, news town, cities and states were popping up, creating new places to buy and sell goods. But, relationships with natives were strained by intruding on their land and resources. Because of this intrusion, the buffalo population was depleted. According to Document F, it was common to see 5,000-10,000 …show more content…

During the gold rush, many people would leave everything behind to go try to find gold in order to pay off debts. As people would leave their jobs to look for gold, the prices of the things necessary for life increased and more people were needed to fill those positions. The land was cheap in the west, more specifically in Texas. When Mexico declared independence, they knew they needed to increase their population. They did this by offering the land super cheap. Unfortunately for Mexico, Texas decided they wanted to be part of the United States and asked to be annexed into the U.S. (Document A). This was beneficial to Manifest Destiny. But relations with natives (and Mexico) got worse as we pushed them out of their

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