The Idea of Manifest Destiny in the Expansion of the United States

During the 1840s the United States expanded a great deal. The US. gained land in Texas, California, and Oregon. Some of the lands was gained diplomatically, and some of the lands was gained using force No matter how we got it, we got it, and the land that we got was crucial to the success of the development of our country. Many people were caught up in the idea of “Manifest Destiny,” which was the belief that the US, was destined to control all of North America. With expansion becoming a center issue many people argued against it saying it was economically, politically, strategically and morally wrong. First of all, expansion happened during 18405 no matter what the arguments are, and it happened because of many factors.

The main factor was the rapid growth in population. Americans were running out of places to settle and to farm. So naturally, they started moving west, and they didn’t want to leave the safety and the democracy of the United States so Expansion was the only answer. There were many economic reasons that brought about expansion. Farming at this time was a crucial part of American industry, and with the growing population, farmland was being bought out. With the new land Americans were able to start up a lot more farms, which helped the US, a great deal. Many Americans believed that they were destined to control the entire continent, this belief was referred to as “Manifest Destiny,” These persons main arguments was that U.S. control was inevitable, they thought that sooner or later the United States would control the continent, so it might as well be sooner.

They claimed that the US was the country of the future, but that in able to become that country they had to expand to fulfill the countries’ needs. James K. Polk, President of the US. and a firm believer in “Manifest Destiny,” told congress, while trying to get approval to declare war on Mexico, ” Mexico has passed the boundary of the United States, has invaded our territory and shed American blood upon American soilt. She has proclaimed that hostilities have commenced and that the two nations are now at war,” Polk said that us had no choice but to go to war and that it wasn’t a war just to gain land. Though “Manifest Destiny” was sweeping the nation, many men believed that the United States were going about expansion all wrong. These men said that all noble growth has been slow and that the United States was growing way to fast. They also argued that the imperialistic approach to expansion was wrong on many grounds They said it was morally wrong.

They said it was economically wrong, They said it was strategically wrong, and politically wrong. They felt that Annexing Texas into the Union would only make Mexico mad and possibly cause a war. It wouldn’t stop with Mexico, many believed that it would cause conflicts with many European countries WIEI Channing said that annexing Texas would make it so ” our country will enter into a career of encroachment, war, and crime”. In regard to Polk’s Justifications to war Abraham Lincoln stated that, “He falls short of proving Justification,” Anti-Expansionists felt that expansion was happening too fast and too wrong. In the 1840’s the United States gained a lot of crucial land for the Us. It was argued that it was wrong on many levels, but also that it was inevitable. In the end the United States expanded they did so because they had to.