Westward Expansion Dbq Essay

From sea to shining sea. That line from “America the Beautiful” defines the goal of the United States in the 1840’s. But why was this the goal? What caused this drive for expansion? During the mid-19th century, Americans set their sights of land west of the Louisiana Purchase. The problem with this is was that those lands were controlled by either Mexico, Great Britain or Native American tribes. To gain this territory, the US would have to either purchase, negotiate or forcefully take it from its current owners. Americans justified their expansion west by claiming it was their Manifest Destiny, or god given right to cover and control these lands. In addition to this idea, notions of racial superiority motivated white Americans to travel west

This is shown when John Louis O’Sullivan speaks on the topic of expansion. He says the US’s “future history will be to establish on earth the moral dignity and salvation of man -- the undeniable truth and goodness of God” (Doc. 1). In a later article he attempts to quell opposition to the annexation of Texas: “stop thwarting our policy and hampering our power, limiting our greatness and checking the fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence” (Doc. 7). John Calhoun also voices this opinion in a letter about Texas in 1844: “it is their destiny to be united, and of course, that annexation is merely a question of time and mode...It is our destiny to occupy that vast region” (Doc. 11). These example show that Americans believed it was inevitable that the US would control these lands. They believed God had chosen them to conquer the land and this allowed them to justify the war and spending of federal funds required to acquire this territory. Their true conviction in the idea of the United States being the rightful sovereigns of this land allowed them to passionately argue for further

This is shown in cultural items like songs, like We’ll Conquer All Before Us by George Washington Dixon. A line in the song reads “To punish those half savage scamps, who’ve slain our brethren in their camps” (Doc. 5) when referring to Mexicans. Another example of a cultural notion of racial superiority is in John C. Fremont’s campaign poster, where a Mexican is saluting Fremont carrying the American flag (Doc. 2). Even American leaders felt they were superior. Andrew Jackson talked about how the removal of “a few savage hunters” and replacing them with “ the settlement of the whites...will incalculably strengthen the southwestern frontier” (Doc. 3). These example show that white Americans felt they were better than and superior to other races. Again, the ones who portrayed the Mexicans, Natives and Africans as “lesser people” actually believed it, which helped them in the level of effort they put into defending their viewpoints. These portrayals turned public opinion against the minorities, and then when citizens moved west they also felt superior, and felt they should expand even further west, and this cycle continued until they reached the