Manifest Destiny

At the time the United States was founded, our Government believed that god had given them a right, a Manifest destiny, to conquer the vast amount of land that the United States now occupies. Once this was accomplished the American People asked their government, “What next?” The U.S political, and economic policies were a continuation, while the social policies were a departure of previous policies on U.S expansionism.

As the nation grew, our government began to look for new sources of income and new ways of acquiring resources. Thus, the government’s economic policies remained similar to those of the “Manifest Destiny” Ideal. Document C says, “…Americans must now look outward. The growing production of the country demands it…” Due to the immense growth the nation had seen as a result of massive immigration, we had a new need for expansion. The government also needed new lands that held massive economic resources to help cope with the immense growth in population. Document A show the heavy competition of the “world powers”, Germany, Russia, and Britain, for resources in Asia. These countries placed colonies in those smaller nations and effectively gained not only valuable resources, but also money, population, and land for a very small cost, as well. The United States believed that the nation needed to acquire a vast amount of all those things, money, land, and more resources, in order to be considered a “world power.”

The Government politicians thought that by annexing nations that they saw as inferior or Uncivilized, the nation was fulfilling the ideal of “Manifest Destiny”. Document H says “… the power to acquire territory by treaty implies not only the power to govern such territory, but to prescribe upon what terms the United States will receive its’ inhabitants…” By using treaties, the U.S Government was annexing new lands and gaining “territories”. However, the government, at the same time, was denying the inhabitants of the new land the right to U.S citizenship. The U.S government was interested only in the land gained by these annexations and not the people living on the land. Document E shows