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Manifest Destiny: A Positive Point In American History

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Recommended: What difficulty did Jefferson face in purchasing the Louisiana Territory? the constitutionality of his actions

Timothy Diyanov 6/12/23 Social Studies/English Language Arts Ms.Cordell / Mr.Van Zweeden Manifest Destiny Manifest Destiny… you probably thought you were reading a fantasy novella, but actually, Manifest Destiny was a very important and positive point in American History. It acted like bedrock and a springboard for American society as a whole and effectively brought us to our current greatness. Manifest Destiny (also known as Westward Expansion) was a belief that it was the destiny of the United States to have control over the entire continent, not only the eastern shore, and it all began in 1803 with the Louisiana purchase, and after some time, ended with the civil war. Even …show more content…

Thomas Jefferson decided to purchase the Louisiana territory and a singular spend of 15 million dollars, had doubled the size of the country, and back in a 19th century agriculture-based society, land is of extreme importance (page 63 and Wikipedia). Jefferson wanted more land for the future generations to live on and farm on, saving them from overpopulation and starvation in the future, and giving room to expand and grow with the population. It was also helpful because a lot of Haitian and Irish refugees came to the new land, helping a lot with the diversity for which the United States now …show more content…

All three of these movements had a gargantuan impact on the country, and all happened because of westward expansion. Abolitionism was a movement to end slavery, and without it our nation would still be under the dark shadow of slavery (History.com). Temperance is also extremely important, it was a movement to end the drinking problem that was growing in America because a nation of drunks will never amount to anything, and huge intakes of alcohol can cause countless diseases and ailments, most of the eventually leading to death (TheMobMuseum.org). And finally, the women's rights movement was a huge step in our progress as a society, since unless everyone has equal rights and equal say in every matter, we will not properly function as a whole (Wikipedia). In the end, those three movements had righted a lot of wrongs that happened in the U.S., further catapulting the country to

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In 1803, The United States of America bought the Louisiana Purchase from France. Because of this purchase, the United States doubled the size of the nation. The territory stretched from the Rocky Mountains to the Mississippi River and from the Canadian Border to the Gulf of Mexico. This purchase is considered one of Thomas Jefferson’s greatest achievements as president. Jefferson was excited to learn what this new land held.

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Manifest Destiny is a unique, yet mysterious fundamental series of events in American history. No other country’s history contains such an eventful history as the United States. Amy Greenberg’s book, Manifest Destiny and American Territorial Expansion, provides documented evidence that settlers believed they were destined for expansion throughout the continent. In other words, many religious settlers believed that it was a call from God for the United States to expand west. On the other hand, people believed that Manifest Destiny vindicated the war against Mexico.

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The land of the Louisiana Territory was sold for about $15 million or about $0.04 an acre. This deal was so good that Thomas Jefferson could not let it go. we in return basically doubled the U.S itself. Another reason the Louisiana Purchase is the most significant event in early U.S. history is that the new land allowed for westward

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While the Louisiana Purchase was a key starting point for American expansionism, aggressive imperialism into the West didn’t begin until the middle of the Jacksonian Period. Many Americans considered Manifest Destiny as a benevolent movement and a divinely ordained right to move west toward the Pacific Ocean. It combined discourses of imperialism and freedom by claiming that it was the duty of the US as a Christian, democratic country to take over lands in the Southwest. Manifest Destiny was aggressive imperialism that created a greater need for slavery, oppressed natives, and lead to the Mexican-American War.

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In this article Chandler addressed a widely glorified view of the manifest destiny spread by common textbooks in circulation in the United States. Chandler describes how this propaganda like belief as such, “One’s opinion about this central aspect of American mythology depends heavily on one’s point of view”(Chandler 153). This statement illuminates the factual idea that the manifest destiny, like so many other american historical events, is told from one perspective, which leaves a huge portion of american history untold. Later on, Chandler narrows in on the idea that the commonly held view on the manifest destiny leaves out the impact this westward expansion had on the “original inhabitants of North America, as well as its ramifications today”(Chandler

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There were many negative and positive aspects to Manifest Destiny. Manifest Destiny was the idea that the United States was meant to expand from the East Coast to the West Coast. Many people agreed with this idea when John L. O’ Sullivan first used it in his essay, “Annexation in Democratic Review.” Although many people disagreed with this motive, causing it to be quite a controversial subject. One positive effect of Manifest Destiny was the discovery of new land, plants, and animals.

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Manifest Destiny was positive for the US. In this essay I will be proving to you why Manifest Destiny was a positive thing to happen in US History. Manifest Destiny was a very important thing in US history I will be showing you why it was positive in my sources. I will be showing you three sources that agree with my thesis and one source that disagrees with my thesis In my first source it explains how the louisiana purchase helped the US and what the Louisiana purchase was about.

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Throughout the 19th century European settlers in the United States were enthralled by Westward expansion, furthermore, defining the Western region of the country as the ‘frontier’ to represent the challenges and opportunities expanding West would institute. Westward expansion was significantly driven by the concept of Manifest destiny which describes the idea that Europeans have the divine power and inherent right to expand across North America (Burton, January 17th, 2023). Westward expansion was legally encouraged and endorsed by the federal government through the Homestead act of 1862. The Homestead Act encouraged Westward migration/ settlement by offering land grants to settlers from the East willing to migrate to the West to develop the land.

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The notion of American exceptionalism swept through the nation, and the concept of moving West was very important in the 1840’s and 50’s. Americans believed that Indians lacked civilization and they wanted to obtain their land in order to expand the United States. They believed that it was their destiny to seize land from native people and admit it into the U.S. as their own. Manifest Destiny was a mentality that American people had in which they believed it was their destiny to proceed West and obtain land through the notion of American exceptionalism, stripping the land from the native people and forcing the creation of Indian reservations. With Texas consisting of fertile soil that was ideal for the growing of cotton, Americans viewed this as a very profitable portion

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