American Expansion essays

American Expansion essays American expansion to the Pacific was introduced to the people of the country by several different means. The reasons for expansion did not exclude Politics, economy, nor society. Primarily the contributions that that the rise of expansion can be attributed to include Manifest Destiny, land hunger, suspicion of British intentions as well as trade opportunities. Each was valuable, some more than others, to impel the wheels of expansionism to begin. The most important contributor to American expansion is Manifest Destiny. This term, developed by an American journalist basically state that America had a divine ( god-given) right to extend its power and civilization across the width of the North American continent. Perhaps it was the scattered missionaries in the Northwest, along with the introduction of Manifest Destiny made the idea of traveling thousands of miles, was, in fact worthwhile. Manifest Destiny was so important of an issue that the election and campaign of 1844. The Democrats were swayed by the idea and part of their campaign was that they should uplift their ennobling democratic institutions over the expanse of North America. The idea of God giving the population the right to expand their society could be accepted by God-fearing Christians, of which, most of the population was. They all could understand the idea of Manifest Destiny because it dealt with God, not property, wealth or social standing. It was an is sue that could allow people of all backgrounds to prosper. Land hunger was the second most important contributor to expansion. The land out in this wide open, western unknown was free! People wanted land because at this time land equaled wealth, and people who were not wealthy, could not buy land. This first come, first serve style allowed the people who were hungry for land to obtain it, even if they did not have the means by which to buy any land back east. This way they could even make a profi...