Manifest Destiny – Opportunity of expansion Discussion
Humanities
Manifest Destiny was what some described as Americas desire to spread westward (Keene, 2013). Manifest Destiny drew interest to people with the opportunity of expansion and riches. The Journey west was over 2,000 miles long and took six months. The Mexican War of 1846 took place because Mexico and America could not decide on a boundary between Texas and Mexico. “The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the war, it settled the border dispute and ceded the United States a vast swath of new territory in the southwest which would one day be California, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Utah, Colorado and Nevada (Keene, 2013).” The war was necessary for the advancement of land.During this time period people resorted to fighting, there were many battles fought in the two years of this war. Some great American leaders in war came in to appearance at this time as well. “Since 1848 Native Americans and Mexican Americans have struggled to achieve political and social equality within the United states, often citing the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo as a document that promised civil and property rights (Public Broadcasting Service).”
Mexico declared it’s independence from Spain in 1821. The Mexican war only took place 25 years of being independent. Mexican government was not as established as the united states. This gave US army a greater advantage to start with.
Keene, J., Cornell, S. & O’Donnell, E. (2013). Visions of America: a history of the united states (2nd ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.
“War 1846-1848.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/kera/usmexicanwar/war/.
