In the 19th century, the Manifest Destiny was a belief that was widely held that the destiny of American settlers was to expand and move across the continent to spread their traditions and their institutions, while at the same time enlightening more primitive nations. The American settlers of the time considered Indians and Hispanics to be inferior and therefore deserving of cultivation. Expansion westward seemed perfectly natural to many Americans in the mid-nineteenth century.
Polk himself had always been an expansionist, and this boosted his popularity with voters. Polk did not want war, but he wanted American claims met and he wanted more territory. Polk was, first of all, determined to defend the borders of the United States, which he believed extended to the Rio Grande. Second, he was prepared to pay handsomely for as much territory as Mexico was willing to sell. The Santa Anna Mexican president at that time sent 6000 troops to Texas and during the conflict there were several battles that took place. Abraham Lincoln gained notoriety when he lashed out against the Mexican War, calling it immoral, proslavery, and a threat to the nation's republican values. He believed the war was
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The expansion of the railroad developed a stronger united nation. Positive to the expanding of the U.S. territory was that over-populated cities in the north would become less populated as people would soon start leaving to own their own land in the west. The west then became established with settlers and immigrants moving in. Another positive to the U.S. expanding their territories was that the Pacific Ocean was a new source of income to people living or traveling to the west coast. The U.S. soon had docks and trading posts for people wanting to trade from other countries. This created even more income for the U.S. government and their economy. Now the U.S. could build up their nation to make it big and