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US expansionism
American imperialism and expansion
American imperialism and expansion
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Sophia Rowe American History: Our Hope for the Future October 12th, 1492, Columbus sailed across vast ocean, stumbling upon what soon would be known as the New World. At this early time, Columbus and other explorers had no idea the massive nation that would later become the United States. Columbus’s hope for the future, was merely to find more resources and wealth, however his arrival impacted much more than himself, sparking an exploration movement. Since then, a lot has changed. From colonists sailing on the Mayflower, to an independent nation, to what seems like countless conflicts and wars, America, and the future promise she holds, has stood strong throughout it all. Motivation, sacrifice and commitment, was and is the …show more content…
Settlers arriving from Europe sought the hope and future of the American dream before America even existed. Their hope for the future consisted of religious and tyrannical freedom. Pursuing that dream, required sacrifice, sometimes death. But the motivation to establish a colony, to own land and to provide for your family, encouraged those to look past the risks. To fight for rights, to fight for freedom. It’s the same motivation that pushed settlers past the harsh waves of the Atlantic Ocean, the same motivation that inspired colonists to govern themselves by establishing assemblies and law, and the same motivation that made colonists into …show more content…
At such a crucial point in our history, a man by the name of Abraham Lincoln took a stand. But what was most peculiar, was his logical thinking. He did not pick one extremity, nor did he deny the rationality of the other. Why? Because he was committed to uniting the nation, to keep the young United States together. It was now not just an issue of slavery and morality, but the perpetuation of the ideal democracy. While his personal wish was that all men be freed, his official duty, to protect the United States, took precedence. Eventually Lincoln concluded that emancipation could be declared based upon the Constitution and the integrity of the country. Lincoln gave this statement to Americans, “I would save the Union. I would save it in the shortest way under the Constitution.” Now, after that lovely history lesson I should explain my point. The civil war was the most divided the United States has ever been. It was not by personal bias or ideals that saved the Union, but objective and rational commitment. Abraham Lincoln was motivated enough for change, and wise enough to know that change requires sacrifice. He based his reasoning on the Constitution, a declaration of common values within the United States, but even the Constitution required sacrifice to be
America’s Manifest Destiny first surfaced around the 1840’s, when John O’Sullivan first titled the ideals that America had recently gained on claiming the West as their ‘Manifest Destiny.’ Americans wanted to settle in the West for multiple reasons, from the idea that God wanted them to settle all the way to the West co...
Lincoln was a very smart lawyer and politician. During his “House Divided” speech he asked the question, “Can we, as a nation, continue together permanently, forever, half slave, and half free?" When he first asked this question, America was slowly gaining the knowledge and realizing that as a nation, it could not possibly exist as half-slave and half-free. It was either one way or the other. “Slavery was unconstitutional and immoral, but not simply on a practical level.” (Greenfield, 2009) Slave states and free states had significantly different and incompatible interests. In 1858, when Lincoln made his “House Divided” speech, he made people think about this question with views if what the end result in America must be.
If Lincoln was really the Great Emancipator he would have freed the slaves the first chance he got, but he didn’t. An amendment that helps prove this is the Corwin Amendment. This Amendment stated that slavery laws can only be changed by the states (Doc. C). In Document D, Lincoln stated that, “...to the effect that the Federal Government shall never interfere with the domestic institutions of the States, including that of persons held to service.” This quote shows how Lincoln agreed with the Corwin Amendment, and by agreeing to this it proves that Lincoln’s main goal was to keep the nation together. If he was really the Great Emancipator he would have disagreed with this amendment and stated his true state of mind. Also according to Emancipation Proclamation it said, “I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free;” (Doc. H) This sentence from the Emancipation Proclamation talks about freeing the slaves, but if you go into detail you will realize that the only slaves he is freeing are the ones in the South, and since the South is another nation they won’t even listen. This also clearly shows how he wasn’t going to free the slaves in the border states. Also according to the Emancipation Proclamation he gave the South about 4 months to
In the early nineteenth century, most Northerners and Southerners agreed entirely that Americans should settle Western territories, and that it was God’s plan, or their “manifest destiny.” Northerners and Southerners who moved west were in search of a better life and personal economic gain; were they had failed before in the east, they believed they would do better in the west. The Panic of 1837 was a motivation to head
One of Lincoln’s most famous quotes is “A House divided against itself cannot stand.” This describes his presidency well- focusing on maintaining the Union. In the beginning, Lincoln tried to stay out of sensitive affairs involving the North and South in an attempt to keep them together, promising the South little interference. Despite this, he played a key role in passing the Thirteenth Amendment, doing whatever it takes to end slavery for good and ending the Civil War.
I believe many of the motivators for the Europeans to move to and colonize North and South America was due to material gain and religious freedom. First I would like to talk about several of the material gains that were either made or expectect to be made in the move to explore North and South America's. When the plans were being set out for the new colonies and the different propels that were laid out some of the ideas that were look at heavily were the material gains. One gain was the level of workload in some areas. It was believed that by moving to the United States that farming living conditins and making a living for themselves would be made much easier. An example of this was the Holland plantation. The settlers of that area could see their lives and the life of their colony decreasing sevearly due to the heavy amount of work required and only made harder by area that they lived in. They finially made the decision to leave Holland for the United States after seeing that a lot of their children were becoming decrepid at a young age because they had to take on their own work load but also that of their parents which was too much of a burden for most of them to handle. The also had a problem with their youth for several different reasons would decide to leave their colony and pursue
In a speech that Lincoln gave prior to his presidency, we can see how ambiguous his stance on slavery truly was. This speech, known as the ‘House Divided’ speech, was given on the 16th of June, 1858, and outlined his beliefs regarding secession, but did not solidify the abolition of slavery as his main goal. Lincoln states that the nation “could not endure, permanently half slave and half free,” and that the slavery will either cease to exist, or will encompass all states lawfully (Lincoln). At this point in his life, Lincoln’s primary concern is clearly with the preservation of the nation.
Then, once the Civil War began, he was merely trying to preserve what was left of an unstable union. The true “Emancipators” of slavery lie in the grass roots people of that time, the abolitionists, Frederick Douglas, and the slaves themselves. The slaves earned their freedom. Lincoln was merely a man who let the events of his era determine his policy. “I claim not to have controlled events but confess plainly that events controlled me.”
Coming to the new world, settlers had no rights. But here they could start a new life, but only if britain was out of the way. So the settlers made colonies, and those colonists came together to gain there natural born rights. Fighting
To start off, Columbus’s legacy was positive because he promoted advancements in technology for the world. In the world today, there has never been the ability to connect, discover, and collaborate as it is today. His impact was so positive that one of the most important presidents in US history, Franklin D. Roosevelt gave a statement about him declaring Columbus Day, in document J you find: “The promise which Columbus's discovery gave to the world, of a new beginning in the march of human progress has been in process of fulfillment for four centuries.” This illustrates that it is undeniable that Columbus contributed to the world because he was willing to take a chance and risk his life to build bridges that would create an everlasting bond
His personal beliefs had always been opposed to slavery. He believed that the Founding Fathers had put slavery on the road to extinction, and he wanted to continue it down that path. Lincoln acted very professional; he always put the nation before his personal perspective. It transformed the fight to preserve the nation into a battle for human freedom. According to the history book “A People and a Nation”, the Emancipation Proclamation was legally an ambiguous document, but as a moral and political document it had great meaning.
During a time of extreme hostility within a divided Union and bloody battles fought over equality and reputation, words and actions had to be carried out carefully. Without courage and without someone like Abraham Lincoln, the outcome of the struggle to uphold the Union may have been a failure. To go against everything that the Southern economy was running on for the sake of the Union took a lot of bravery. Lincoln was conflicted on whether or not to pass the thirteenth amendment before or after the war ends. He worried that he passed it after the war, the Emancipation Proclamation would be overturned and slavery would continue.
Abraham Lincoln (12 Feb. 1809-15 Apr. 1865) the 16th president (civilwar.org) of the United States of America was one of the main public persons that influence the civil war in many aspects. Even though the civil war may have been the last resource the nation had, it could be argue that Lincoln’s governments try its best to find a different solution. The civil war was a conflict that destroyed the nation; it perhaps could have been avoided if the second party had work for a solution. But it is true that maybe both parts could have looked out for the benefits of the people as a whole instead of their personal benefits. Lincoln principal positive effect on the civil war was actually before and during the war when Lincoln’s government had many attempts to prevent the confrontation, and when this one began he took the right decisions to win the war. One of the biggest effects on the civil war was the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, which gave the slaves their liberty. Many would agree is that Abraham’s Lincoln effect on the civil war was positive but Lincoln made many mistakes or misjudgments during the war as well. Perhaps the biggest mistake Lincoln did was underestimating the South what caused many unnecessary deaths. He also did had misjudgments that cause many causalities. Since the beginning of time humanity has fought for what they thought was right. In April 12 of 1861(civilwar.org) The US would begin a fight for civic and moral rights, a civil war that perhaps was the last option for a country to reunite its values. Abraham Lincoln was the president of the time and the person the influence the most the course the war took. I strongly believe that Lincoln’s decisions influence or had more positive effects on the country. Being the president at times like the civil war is without doubt it is one of the toughest jobs, and one way or another there is going to be correct and incorrect decisions but I can agree president Lincoln did what he thought it was the best at that moment.
Settlers come here for a reason, which is to find a way to make it through life while also feeling safe in doing
The sacrifice Abraham Lincoln gave to the country did not just involve his time, but his life as well. Leading up to his death, Lincoln became known as many things, a leader, an orator, and a martyr. There is extensive research into his life on the type of man he was and had to become through the war. He had to change from a lawyer to a man willing to go above and beyond for his homeland. Many argue that he was a God-fearing man, others that he did not have a God to even believe in. The main idea though that stayed constant during the war was his great desire to keep the Union together. Other viewpoints had to grow and progress just as Lincoln had to up until his death.