Westward Expansion Essay

787 Words2 Pages

ESSAY ONE

The 1800’s were a tumult time full of new changes and a booming population. With the American Revolution ending 20 years earlier, the new country was starting to get on its feet. Manifest destiny, or the colonizing belief that America was destined to control all lands west to the Pacific and South to the Rio Grande, was growing popular among citizens and they had to need to not only explore this continent they took over, but to settle new lands. Westward expansion began in 1803 when President Thomas Jefferson purchased Louisiana territory from France. This purchase nearly doubled the size of the country. Jefferson believed that expansion was the key to growing America and highly encouraged it. It was through this exploration …show more content…

After all, the south needed slavery and if the western states were all free, that would leave them outnumbered in congress. The solution to this was the Missouri Compromise, passed in 1820. This allowed Missouri to be a slave state and Maine to be free. It also stated that slavery would be illegal north of the southern boundary of Missouri. While this sounds like a fair trade, this compromise did not apply to new states not included in the Louisiana Purchase. Because of this, the southern economy because completely dependent on cotton and the forced labor. On the other hand, northerners believed this infringed on their own economic opportunities and this caused tensions to rise between the …show more content…

He served two terms and was overall very popular. He is most known for his achievements in foreign affairs and accomplished many things through his presidency. Many people may consider his feats as simply luck but that is not the case. The most defining moment in his presidency was the Monroe Doctrine. This stated that any act by European powers to colonize in the western hemisphere would be considered an act of aggression and America would have to intervene. This allowed for America to gain full control of nearly all North America and is the reason our country is the size it is today. If it were not for Monroe’s skillful political process, the country would not be nearly as powerful as it is. This doctrine has been long lasting and hundreds of years later was still used by American presidents. Moving on to domestic issues, the Missouri Compromise was also passed under Monroe. This unfortunately allowed slavery to be continued and essentially protected the institution. While this is a terrible thing and isn't a perfect accomplishment of the president, the compromise kept the Civil War at bay for a few years. After all, it wasn't until this was repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854 that the civil war began

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