Russell Gonzalez

Bill Ziegenhorn
02/23/2016

The United states was destined to expand from coast to coast, to Manifest its Destiny. The
idea of divine sanction for territorial expansion. As stated in Howes book, Thomas Jefferson
looked forward to creating an empire for liberty that would include Cuba and Canada. In this
empire he expected white family farming to have room to expand for generations to come. The
process of settling and conquering the west would prove to not be an easy task, for every
opportunity that would arise an equal problem would present itself. Between the 1820s to the
1850s Americans sought out the west as a place for new beginnings, whether it be for religious,
economical or personal gain. While it might have been a great new start for Americans when
they moved out west it, for some groups this move was not as beneficial. As the idea of
manifesting ones destiny would spread west so would the idea of preserving White Supremacy.
With the expansion would come wars, the mass movement of natives, and the death of many
lives.
During Andrew Jacksons presidency he had a vison national development, which
resulted in The Indian Removal Bill. As Howe stated The bill illustrated imperialism: a
determination to expand geographically and economically, imposing an alien will upon subject
peoples and commandeering their resources. Indian tribes all over the country were effected by
the bill, but the ones mostly effected were the Five Civilized tribes of Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw,
Chickasaw, and Seminole. The white settlers bitterly resented the Native presence, these tribes
were inhabitants of these lands, but due to our belief of White Supremacy instead of trying to

work with them through treaties they were unfairly removed. Not only were these tribes
occupying rich cotton soil, they were threating American sovereignty. While white American
men basked in the spoils of their conquest, many native American tribes had to unwilling migrate
past the Mississippi. In Georgia 12,000 Cherokee were forced to migrate towards Oklahoma, due
to harsh conditions 4,000 lives were lost. A heavy price that natives had to pay for American
expansion.
As the American population started to grow, the need for new land and opportunities
compelled the government to look further west towards California, Texas, and New Mexico, for
expansion. Just as in the early days with the conquest of new land came great reward, with this
new westward expansion the United States would be able to utilize the pacific trade routes and
open a new world market with China and other Asian countries. California was also very
attractive due to its great climate, which would allow for more great farm land. Later one as we
know the discovery of gold in California was also a great economically benefit. Texas was its
own republic at this time, yet the due to wanting California and New Mexico president Polk
lobbied to annex Texas into the Union, which would allow him to interfere with Texas/Mexico
conflict. As these territories were claimed by Mexico, the United States tried to purchase these
lands, yet the Mexican Government refused to sell. These refusals lead to President Polk
accusing the Mexican army of invading the Unites States and killing American, justifying his
request to congress to declare war on Mexico. As Howe states in the book The conquest of
Mexico by the United States turned into a longer, harder, more expensive struggle than the
politicians who provoked the conflict had expected.
This war was the deadliest in American History, costing the United States 12, 518 lives and over
one hundred million dollars.

With this new expansion west the debate of slavery still remained. Would these new
territories be free or slave, and this debate resulted in some major problems. The Missouri
compromise only really determined state the were north or south of the 30 60 line, but with these
new areas there was much debate of where they landed on that line. This resulted in the
government allowing the states themselves to decide, which would prove to be a very violent
affair. Due to such hostile debates, and people having strong beliefs about this issue, it would be
one of the underlying problems that would lead our country to the civil war.
During this period the United States accomplished its goal of manifesting its destiny.
Andrew Jackson had a vision of extending the area of freedom. For some this westward
expansion did extend their freedom, for others the extension of someones elses freedom took
away theirs. The Mormons were able to escape the harsh prosecutions of the east and manifest
their destiny out west to Deseret, which we know now as Utah, but for every happy tale of one
group like the Mormons theres is one of another that wasnt able to have the same faith, like the
Creek Indians that had their lands taken away for the destiny of the white man.