Manifest Destiny Dbq

Between the years of 1820-1850 a tremendous amount of change occurred in the U.S., thousands of people started to move to and populate the western territories of the United States in order to start a new life there. “Manifest Destiny” was a phrase coined by John L. O'Sullivan, which was the belief that Americans had the god given right to expand westward and spread their democratic ideals. Many believe Manifest Destiny was a positive movement that had many benefits, but it can be argued that it was a destructive act of greed that resulted in the causality of others. The expansion of the United States involved many aggressive moves made by the U.S., and overall caused more problems than solutions, politically and socially, but did hail some
Polk responds to this by ordering General Zachary Taylor to cross to cross the Nueces and approach the borderline but not cross it, this provoked the Mexican soldiers into firing at the Americans first, as planned. Overall, due to the expansion west, America engaged in this conflict with Mexico and effectively started a war. This changed things political because, there were new borders, now that Texas was a state, as well as the relationship with Mexico, Although Texas was an addition to the U.S., it could have been obtained by less forceful means, and this aggressive act could have been avoided, but the Americans decided to act as a steamroller and take everyone down that was standing in their
California wouldn’t become a state until 1850, but it people would still trek there in order to start their new life. In 1849 there would be a dramatic changes socially, because of the large amount colonization from “Gold Rush”. California became a more attractive place to settle once people found out it was rich with gold, which was very valuable at the time; Many people took their chances moving out there in hopes of finding their riches, but with all of this promise came a cost. Between 1849-1853, 50,000 immigrants had arrived, but were very diverse, since only one-third were Americans, and the rest came from China, Mexico, Chile, South American Countries, Great Britain, France and Australia. The westward expansion caused many social issues, because it was not safe place live, A Chilean migrant explained this: “We had no friends or relatives to lend a hand, personal safety could be found only at the barrel of a gun or the point of a dagger”. The expansion west proved to be a very dangerous venture, as it did not guarantee financial stability, because only a small percentage of Americans were able to make their fortune. Westward expansion caused many social issues to occur, because of the lack of government, it was nearly lawless, which made very risky to live in such a place, it didn’t