FINAL ESSAY 4
Finalessay
Finalessay
ManifestDestiny
ManifestDestiny is a term that was coined in the 1840sto show that white settlers would occupy the United States from theEast Coast to the West Coast. This likely situation came to be as aresult of a largenumber of people who were migrating and settling in different partsof the country. As the country had a need to expand so as toaccommodate the people, it gave rise to the opposing views amongpeople about some foreign nations that attempted to control somewestern parts of the United States. The other effect of thisphenomenon is that the United States engaged in a war with Mexico asit aimed to push its border into the territory of Mexico. For a bigpart of the 19th Century, Manifest Destiny remained an undefinedspirit with no clear objective and articulation. Some people justviewed it as a dream and belief that was held by others on the otherend of the political divide and were not willing to support them inthis quest because they did not have any compelling reason why theyhad to do it in the first place. As a result, it was quite hard forpeople to remain work towardsexpanding the boundaries of their country.
Itis evident that Americans were divided on whatManifest Destiny meant.Some of them had the reservation that it was merely a Republicanmission towards achieving an expansion of the United States. Otherpeople in the country viewed the phenomenon as an opportunity toestablish their country as an Anglo-Saxon, white, Protestantrepublic. There is also a faction of individuals in the country whoheld that Manifest Destiny was the result of racism, Jacksoniandoctrines, and anti-Catholicism that spread across the country.
Themain reason why people were quite divided on what the concept meantwas that they belonged to different social and political classes and,therefore, interpreted it about their expectations.
ManifestDestiny an argument for wars of conquest
ManifestDestiny was for a larger part, an argument for wars of conquest. Thereason behind such a view is that people knew that the only way theywould be able to expand the size of their country and achieve itscontrol would be through fighting and winning wars. This occurrenceisalso seenin the way the country stood firm to defend California from beingcontrolled by the French and the British. The country also wentfurther to annex Texas to be part of its territory an element thatled to Mexico severing its ties with the United States.
Animationwith the war of Mexico
Thisoccurrence seems to have a resemblance with the war that the countryhad with Mexico. In both engagements, the United States appeared towin as it took part of the territory of Mexico. Both situations werealso followedwith some moments of tranquility where leaders from both the Americanand Mexican side came together in a bid to find a lasting solution tothe problems that had led to a war between the two countries.
ManifestDestiny- an argument against the annexation of All Mexico
Itcan also bearguedout that Manifest Destiny is an argument against the annexationof All Mexico. Thisisbecause the country is quite large with people who have differentperceptions from those in the United States. Also, most of theindividualsin the United States were interested in having their country havingthe whites as the majority. Through annexing the whole of Mexico,this could be in complete contravention to what they had intended inthe first place. It isclearly shownin the Mexican War that the United States was only interested inpicking up new lands without the people who occupied such areas. Thiscouldbe the reason why most Mexicans were pushed into their country as theUS took ownership of their land. A move to annex the entire of Mexicowould also be quite expensive much as it would appear to be lesspractical. The only way that this would deem achievable would bethrough retaining the Mexicans in their territory even as it woulddeclare part of the United States.
ManifestDestiny as developed in the early republic in any way related to theWar in Iraq
Theideals of Manifest Destiny developedinthe early republic are in a way related to the War in Iraq. What theargument stems from the fact that the United States always aims toshow its might through being able to conquer other lands. In theearly republic, the country expanded through taking into itspossession the resources that it found in such places. In fact, theUS was only concerned with areas that had a likelihood of havingresources such as minerals while it avoided areas that did not haveany economic advantage. In equal measure, the war in Iraq wascharacterized with cases of the US taking up some of the resourcessuch as crude oil from the country after subduing it. Some peopleeven argue that oil was one of the motivators that made the US setfoot in Iraq.
References
Cox,K. (n.d). U.SHistory to 1877 Mexican War Document Analysis and Essay Project,1-32.