Manifest Destiny

Manifest Destiny Manifest Destiny was the only justification for the Americans expansion West towards California.
For a quarter century after the war of 1812, only a few Americans explored the West. Then in the 1840’s, expansion fewer gripped the country. Many Americans began to believe that their movement westward was predestined by God. Manifest Destiny expressed the belief that the U.S was ordained to expand to the Pacific Ocean and into Mexican and Native American territory. Traveling the trails west is one example of M.D. The settlers and traders who make the trek west used a series of old Native American trails as well as new routes. One of the trails was the Santa Fe Trail, was one of the busiest routes. It stretched 180 miles, from Independence, Missouri, to Santa Fe in the Mexican providence of New Mexico. Another was the Oregon Trail which stretched from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon City, Oregon (Settling the Frontier). Then there was the Migration to Texas, the Mexican Government wanted to make the land more secure and stable, so they encouraged the Americans to settle in Texas. Only a few thousand Mexican settlers had migrated to what is now what we call Texas, after 300 years of Spanish rule. After 1820, Texas became an important region in Mexico and then and independent republic. After Mexico had won independence from Spain in 1821, and after freeing the missions from the Spanish Control, the Mexican Government offered the surrounding lands to government officials and ranchers. My last example for the M.D. is the War with Mexico; the war began in 1845 due to violation of territorial rights. A military exploration party led by John C. Fremont, wondered into California sparking tension between Mexico and the U.S. Eventually the U.S. wins the war , leaving California in their control. On February 2, 1848 the U.S. and Mexico signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Mexico agreed to the Rio Grande as the border between Texas and Mexico, and ceded the New Mexico and California territories to the United States. The U.S. agreed to pay $15 million for the Mexican cession, it include present day California, Nevada, New Mexico, most of Arizona, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming. Settling the Frontier qualifies as an example of Manifest Destiny because although settlers had land in the East, they decide to hold land that did not rightfully belong to them. The M.D. was the only thing that gave them logical reason for taking land from the Natives. The second example was the migration to Texas, without M.D. the Americans wouldn’t have moved downward toward Texas. Lastly, the War with Mexico qualifies as an example because there was absolutely no reason for them to have a war with them. M.D. is what the Americans came up with in order to make going to war with the Mexicans seem right or inevitable. The first example (Settling the Frontier), impacted America because in 1846 the two countries(Great Britain and Canada) agreed to extend the mainland boundary along the 49th parallel westward from the Rocky Mountains to Puget Sound, establishing the current boundary between the U.S. and Canada. And although settlers had land in the East, they already decided to hold land that they did not rightfully own, and M.D. was their only reason. My second example (Migration to Texas) impacted America because the Mexican Government wanted to make the land more secure and stable, so they encouraged the Americans to settle in Texas. My last example(the War with Mexico), impacted America because if it didn’t happen we wouldn’t have gained California, Nevada, New Mexico, most of Arizona, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming. Manifest Destiny was the only logical solution for the American democrats to justify the War with Mexico and whatever else they felt needed justifying. With all of that said even though it was nonsense, without these actions America wouldn’t be what it is today. Mexico would be a bit bigger than it is now and the U.S. would have less than 50 states and California may not have claimed its independence from Mexico. This would have led us to maybe not having a flag for the Republic of California. So you see what ever happened was manifested and destined to build our country that we have today.