Westward Expansion
Westward Expansion
Westward Expansion: Make a follow-up of a student’s weekly discussion and respond with your opinion regarding to her post
and the Mexican War of 1846-1848, were both impactful on the Westward Expansion. The Westward Expansion was the idea of gaining as much land to provide for the United States population. When considering the two events, the Mexican American War would be most impactful. The war gained a larger amount of land, almost half of the land belonging to Mexico. The war allowed the United States to gain New Mexico and California and the border was established at the Rio Grande (OpenStax, 2019). The Independence of Texas did not gain land for the United States because the Texans wanted to be a slave state and the U.S did not want that. The Texas Independence led to the war with Mexico and was a stepping block to the “first large-scale success of the United States military force on foreign soil” (NCC Staff, 2022).
Manifest Destiny, the idea of White Americans taking over the land because it was a God given right. President Polk wanted to spread democracy over the continent and was willing to do whatever was necessary to do so, it was the Manifest Destiny mentality (NCC Staff, 2022). With the Mexican American war, President Polk had every intention of gaining the land one way or another, declaring war by lying about the Mexican army invading the American soil (History.com, 2009). President Polk was also willing to gain Texas, even if it meant another slave state. Manifest Destiny, as John Gast’s painting conveys, the White Americans would move forward, pushing the Native Americans and Mexicans and their customs out of the United States lands.
References:
History.com Editors (Ed.). (2009, December 15). Westward expansion. History.com. Retrieved September 12, 2022, from https://www.history.com/topics/westward-expansion/westward-expansion
NCC Staff. (2022, May 13). The Mexican-american war in a Nutshell. National Constitution Center – constitutioncenter.org. Retrieved September 12, 2022, from https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/the-mexican-american-war-in-a-nutshell
OpenStax. (2019). U.S. history. OpenStax CNX. Retrieved from https://cnx.org/contents/p7ovuIkl@6.18:gMXC1GEM@7/Introduction (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
