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President James Polk's Manifest Destiny

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A man by the name of John O’Sullivan, during this time developed the idea of Manifest Destiny, the concept that America was destined, by God, to spread freedom and democracy from “sea to shining sea” and that only America would be capable of this feat (Intres, 2016l). President James Polk took this idea on as his presidency platform and through a series of negotiations with Britain to obtain the Oregon territory, and the Mexican- American war to obtain nearly half of Mexico’s land, completed Manifest Destiny (Intres, 2016l). However, with this increase in America’s land mass and the annexation of Texas, a question arose which would from this point on tumble into a disagreement that would literally tear the nation in two…How far would slavery …show more content…

These 7 states met in Montgomery, Alabama, in February of 1861, nearly a month before Lincoln had even been inaugurated, and formed a completely separate nation from the United States of America, calling themselves the Confederate States of America (Intres, 2016m; Brinkley, 2005). Mimicking the governmental set-up of the United States, the Confederate States of America voted in Jefferson Davis as their president and a cabinet of advisors was appointed (Intres, 2016m; Brinkley, 2005). Politically, this divided the Democratic Party between the north and the south, leaving the Republican Party fully in control of the house and senate in the United States of America (Brinkley, 2005; Foner, 1995). Due to this, a variety of economic actions were taken which favored the north, speeding up its economic development (Brinkley, 2005). These Economic actions included the Homestead Act of 1852, the development of a new national bank, and an effort to properly finance the war by levying taxes, issuing paper currency, etcetera (Brinkley, 2005). The one large downside to the change in economics during this time period was a reduction in the number of men employed in the industrialization production due to increased mechanization taking the place of hands on workers (Brinkley, 2005; Foner, 1995). In contrast, the economy of the south was completely devastated with the war and the destruction it brought to the plantation life and the ability to ship their cotton produced (Brinkley, 2005). While strong in knowledgeable man power on the battlefield, economically the south had few of the resources necessary to be successful in a long-term war against the north (Brinkley,

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