Essay On Manifest Destiny

Would America have the same power we have today if we didn’t expand westward? For American settlers, the idea of Manifest Destiny is that it was their one purpose to expand the United States from sea to shining sea. This is so freedom and democracy could spread, this idea of expansion has always been present in successful civilizations in human history. Since the beginning of American settlement, people such as the pilgrims have always been driven to spread their religion and beliefs and gain more land which is their Manifest Destiny. However, the term “Manifest Destiny” wasn’t coined until 1845 by John O’Sullivan. At the time the term was used to justify westward expansion into the western frontier as the United States was growing. Americans

The threat of other nations stopping America’s Manifest Destiny influenced Americans to expand westward in fear of their destiny being taken away. Americans believed it was destiny to take over North America and the threat of it stopping only motivated them more. A quote from John Winthrop in 1630 says “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it”. This quote is justifying westward expansion because it shows how the continent is underdeveloped and that it needs to be enlightened. This quote is saying that it is the destiny for people to expand so that the primitive creatures like the Native Americans could be exterminated. America's purpose to expand so that other nations could be exposed to their way of life. The idea of manifest destiny and the threats from other nations motivated Americans to expand westward because it was America’s destiny, and they didn't want other nations to stop their destiny.Land hunger inspired Americans to move westward because the United States needed to gain more land for

In a lecture we saw gold Rush population statistics and it said that in one year California’s population of Americans grew from 14,000 to 100,000 people. The population grew so fast because gold provided many economic opportunities. Gold could be sold for money and there is a big gold mining market such as manufacturing shovels, pans, etc. This motivates Americans to move westward because of access to gold and other resources. Many Americans moved westward for economic benefits from being able to access new and valuable resources such as gold, otter pelts, lumber, and buffalo that could be used to establish trade.In conclusion change was unavoidable and the Americans’ hunger for land, belief in Manifest Destiny, and access to new resources only helped feed into the events that happened. The idea that America was destined to seize the whole of North America would alter the course of American history as we know it today as it would start the Civil War. After that, due to America’s hunger for land, Oregon and California’s development would go exponentially faster as thousands of people flooded these states during the gold rush and Oregon trail. And as a result of the hunger for land, the Indian Removal Acts and the Mexican American war would be put into