Philosopher John Rawls, in his book A Theory of Justice, postulated that an ideal society excludes bias from its decision calculus. Specifically, people in the Original Position, a hypothetical scenario of forming a new government, ought create a system while behind a Veil of Ignorance, where “no one knows his place in society, his class position or social status; nor does he know his fortune in the distribution of natural assets and abilities.” Practically, however, there always exists an implicit bias in one’s decision-making: people want actions that favor them. Consequently, a southern land speculator, a Native American, and a Latin American government official would have different reasons to support or oppose westward expansion and Manifest Destiny based on their situation in society. The southern land …show more content…
Like many historical events, the motive for these expansionists was economic. John Gast eloquently captures this idea in his painting “American Progress.” This picture romanticizes Manifest Destiny with the symbolism of an angel bringing light, or American civilization, westward. One can interpret this as newfound economic opportunity, which is exactly what happens. With more land, there exists more opportunity to invest, or speculate. Southerners would be able to set up more plantations to cultivate the highly-sought crop of cotton. Simply put, cotton was king; this single crop was the basis of the southern economy and moreover the national economy. Northerners participated in the lucrative shipping industry that involved transporting thousands of