Insight about the Mexican War and the Manifest Destiny

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Recommended: The Annexation of Texas

You may ask yourself, What is the Mexican War and how did it begin? or What is Manifest Destiny and who came up with it? Those are all very good questions, so let me take the time to give you some insight about the Mexican war and Manifest Destiny.

The Manifest Destiny was the belief that the United States was destined to expand from coast to coast. It was the concept that which heavily influenced American policy in the 1800s. Americans supported the manifest destiny because the Southerners wanted more land and Northerners believed expansion would relieve the population. The idea was the driving force behind the rapid expansion of America into the West from the East and heavily promoted newspapers and posters.

Who came up with the term Manifest Destiny? It was John L. O'Sullivan who came up with the term Manifest Destiny for justification for white settlers to take the land they coveted. It was in an article called "Annexation," where he first coined the term. The editorial addressed the right of the united states government pertaining to the annexation of Texas. The Democrats took the phrase and ran with it in which they used it in a campaign for the annexation of many territories. John O'Sullivan wanted to use the phrase to give insight and influence to the public.

What about President James K. Polk? What was his take on Manifest Destiny? Well James K. Polk was a passionate expansionists who backed annexation. In Polk's inaugural address on March 4, 1845, Polk underscored his faith in America's manifest destiny. Polk stated "This heaven-favored land," he proclaimed, enjoyed the "most admirable and wisest system of well-regulated self-government ever devised by human minds." Polk later went on to ...

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...ue to the war and divided families creating a political border along the annexed territories. The war could have been avoided and dealt with in a different manner.

To conclude, the United States and Mexican war turned out to be a violent and shattering event for Mexican citizens that lasted from 1846-1848 in what is now the state of Texas. It changed the course of the Mexican and American history for years to come. There were many misunderstandings and lack of truth when the war was over. With the United States winning and Mexico losing, Mexico lost vast amount of land and money in which had to be given to the United States. Mexico suffered more severely in the war and to start they were only trying to protect their land. The United States only wanted to expand its territory. Lastly, this was the Mexican war and how it came about with the United States.

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