Manifest Destiny Essay

1. The expansionist policies of Thomas Jefferson and James K Polk successfully strengthened the United State economically, domestically and internationally. Although the effects of these policies may not have become apparent within the first couple years following, they have definitely shown how they strengthen the country over time. These expansions of the United States set up the foundation for the future of this country, as well as providing opportunities to many. Proper Nouns: Louisiana Purchase, Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, California, Texas, Manifest Destiny 2. During the 1840s, Manifest Destiny was presented as a progressive â€Å"benevolent movement†, though in truth, it endorsed cultural superiority, aggressive foreign policy, and prolonged the already existing sectional crisis. Proper Nouns: Mexican War, Indian Removal Act, James K. Polk, General Zachary Taylor, Oregon Territory Look more:  manifest destiny essays 3. Between the years 1800-1850, the nation was full of battles and prosperity. Territorial expansion was a reason in most of the battles, but also gained fortune for the nation. There were many impacts on national unity between those time periods, but the main influence was territorial expansion. Proper Nouns: Louisiana Purchase, Thomas Jefferson, Mexican War, Missouri Compromise, Oregon Territory 4. Although victory in the Mexican War added 525,000 square miles of land to the United States, the aftermath excited up debates about sectional interests among New Englanders, westerners, and southerners from 1845-1855. Proper Nouns: Annexation of Texas, Compromise of 1850, Kansas-Nebraska Act, â€Å"popular sovereignty†, Free Soil Party 5. During the 1840s and 1850s, the United States was preoccupied with the fulfillment of new influence in the west and how to settle the status of whether there lands would be free or slave states. As a result of the Mexican War, the U.S. men vast new land holdings in the West, stimulating a debate between the North and South over the extensions of slavery into the West. This sectional trouble over slavery’s extension was a major factor in the eventual inauguration of the Civil War. Through emphasizing divisions between the North and South over the control of Western lands, the debate over slavery’s extension clearly influenced the Civil War’s coming. Proper Nouns: Civil War, Wilmot Proviso, Dred Scott Decision, â€Å"Bleeding Kansas†, John Brown.