Continentalism And Manifest Destiny

If this be a spirit of aggrandizement, the undersigned are prepared to admit, in that sense, its existence; but they must deny that it affords the slightest proof of an intention not to respect the boundaries between them and European nations, or of a desire to encroach upon the territories of Great Britain. . . . They will not suppose that that Government will avow, as the basis of their policy towards the United States a system of arresting their natural growth within their own territories, for the sake of preserving a perpetual desert for savages” . This showed that the United States would state firm in their endeavor to not only Christianize the North American continent but remain in control of the lands they had already acquired with

During this time Manifest Destiny was commonly referred to as Continentalism although the United States looked to expand west rather north into Canada. During the 1840’s the United States found itself in conflict with the British and the Mexicans over occupation of the Oregon and Texas territories, respectively. The conflict with the British would end peacefully, with a divide of the Oregon territory along the forty-ninth parralel. This was beneficial to the United States who already knew they were going to war with Mexico over their annexation of the Texas territory. During this war with Mexico the United States would see a great deal of success which would lead to many Americans, primarily politicians, promoting the idea of annexing all of Mexico rather than just the portion known as Texas. In regards to this John C. Calhoun stated, “We have never dreamt of incorporating into our Union any but the Caucasian race—the free white race. To incorporate Mexico, would be the very first instance of the kind, of incorporating an Indian race; for more than half of the Mexicans are Indians, and the other is composed chiefly of mixed tribes. I protest against such a union as that! Ours, sir, is the Government of a white race.... We are anxious to force free government on all; and I see that it has been urged ... that it is

In 1830 newly elected President Jackson instituted the Indian Removal Act which gave the United States government the ability to negotiate with the Native American tribes of the south and relocate them to lands west of the Mississippi. When implementing the Indian Removal Act Jackson attempted to justify it by saying that he was trying to protect the Native American Tribes from becoming extinct as their brother in the Northern states had become . Jackson would develop a Native American reservation in present day Oklahoma where all Native Americans living east of the Mississippi River would move to with the passing of the Indian Removal Act. The lands that the Native Americans had been living on were continually being claimed by Americans looking to expand their own land in the farming focused southern states. The expansion of slavery and the growth of the southern cotton industry made the Native American lands more and more appealing to Americans that were living around these tribal lands . These Native Americans would have to suffer the travel from the lands of their fathers to Oklahoma, where the federal government had set aside lands for these tribes to begin to rebuild their way of life. This path they would take would become known as the Trail of Tears, because of how many men, women, and children would lose their lives during