Manifest destiny is a term used during American expansion in 19th century to show that America was destined to stretch from one coast of the state to the other. This destined stretch led to settlement in western states. It also led to removal of Native American and there was with Mexico. American Revolution leaders had three critical gambles in 1780s. To start with, they fought for independence from the great British Empire thus becoming the first colony in American to get independence from their mother Empire through revolution. In addition, the American united in thirteen unprecedented states. These thirteen states formed a republic and a form of government which was very risk. They rejected the rule of Monarch and aristocrats. By 1789 United States of American had the largest republic in the world. The others were just small cities scatte
...red in Europe. America finally won war against British and signed a peace treaty in 1783 after securing the generous boundary of West to the Mississippi, south to Florida, eastern boundary of Atlantic Ocean and Great Lakes to the north (Laure 2).
According to Vernon (520), there were established several foreign policies during the settlement of the American continent. There was a Puritan type of governance that held a very tight control over the social and political structures of the communities. They were easily run using town meetings. Voting rights were narrowed down to men who belonged to the church only. The voting members had a direct role in the administration of government.
In addition to that, there was the Massachusetts colonial charter that enhanced the creation of broader form of government (Vernon 520). The charter allowed the
colonial government to consist of general court of shareholders, council of assistants, governors and deputy governor that would create the laws. As time moved the council of assistance took much of the political power and they demanded the enforcement of the charter resulting in the creation of a more representative government.
According to Vernon (553), there was a policy of independence which was declared to set the American citizens free from the colonial power. It entailed separateness and equality as the key characteristics which were the meaning of a sovereign nation. The document had an inclusion of a declaration that stated the right to be free, d independent and having the power to conclude peace, levy war, contract alliances, establish trading activities and do all other acts that independent states are entitled to. At the same time the continental congress called for unity and confirmed equal status to exercise sovereign governmental power.
Another foreign policy included the establishment and maintenance of diplomatic relations between the United States and other nations and other international organizations. The policy also entailed peacekeeping functions which included working with allies for the assurance of regional and international security and also to input efforts to control arms (Vernon 562). This policy was mainly to keep peace in America and also to maintain peaceful coexistence between the United States and other nations including other world organizations.
There was also an economic policy which covered a range of international economic issues that included trade, terms of trade. These terms of international trade were to favor international trade and provide a good and suitable environment for foreign trade, curb illegal business that might ruin the economic state
of the nation (Vernon 588). Traveling policies were also enacted which included both national and international travelling requirements, emigration and immigration policies. This policy helped the natives and some foreigners to settle in the United States.
The interaction between Native American and the European rivals Americans an enormous advantage to win the British colony. These European rivals included Spain, France and Ditch. These rivals sought trade from the Native Americans so that they can exploit resources in the new world. Through trade they knew that the Native Americans would be very important to their success in merchandise. According to Ingui (173), the Europeans being Christians wanted to convert the Native Americans into Christianity. The factor of trade and conversion of Native Americans into Christianity was the key reason for the interaction. The three European rivals; France, Dutch and Spain had personal reasons to seek relation from the Native Americans. Spain was the powerful Monarchy in Europe and America and they needed to get the best of the resources from the New World.
Spain enslaved Caribbean indigenous people to work in their farm and also mine gold and silver. Ingui (170) argues that, they established camp for militia in San Augustan while the Catholic Missioners were busy converting Indians to Christianity. The indigenous people traded with the Spaniards and they intermarried with the Indian women. The French on the other side took advantage of existing inter-tribal alliances and rivalries and established trade with the Huron and Montagnais. Most of the work was done by the Native Americans like trapping and skinning of the animals. The little the Native Americans gathered exchanged for textiles and weapons with French traders.
The priests learned local language of Huron and therefore they managed to convert some of them to
The British Empire became too large to manage after seven years of war by 1848. The nation of United States was very stable from 1788 to 1860. The war changed in 1963 with proclamation of emancipation. President Lincoln was assassinated in 1865 but he was almost achieved most of his aims. Mark (173), the work of Lincoln fell to the newly elected president. The big question was the fate of the newly released slaves. The right of the slaves to vote and own new land for settlement. President Johnson had to come to an agreement by establishing policies which were referred to as reconstruction. The United States constitution was ratified to guarantee citizens equal rights. This allowed the African Americans to be elected in the office.
There were implications related to the European interaction or colonists to the Americans. The positive implications included an improved technology in terms of weapons for hunting (Kathy 15). There was also introduction of new breeds of cattle and crops which improved the nutrition of the Native Americans. There was also education system which was introduced to the Native Americans. The negative implication to the Native Americans included Christianization of the Native Americans to leave their religion and convert to Christianity (Kathy 14). The Europeans livestock were let to graze freely everywhere especially in the Southern states where the farm of the Native Americans were seriously affected leading to foot shortage. There was also spread of diseases like small pox epidemic which was thought to come with African slave with Spanish soldiers from Cuba to
Mexico.
President Thomas Jefferson purchased territory of Louisiana in 1803 from the government of French. This westward expansion was significant to the nation’s wealth and it doubled the size of the United States (Gary & Seidman 155). By 1840, nearly seven million Americans had moved to the west and were staying there. They had left their homes in the east to search for economic opportunities, land ownership and farming freedoms. This western frontier offered possibility of independence among all citizens and an opportunity for upward mobility.
The westward expansions of America also lead to the Mexican war. This was because they went and settled further into the Mexican territories of California, New Mexico and Texas (Garry and Seidman 185). The then president Polk also falsely accused the Mexicans for shedding innocent blood on the American soil. This made an explicit sectional conflict which haunted the process of westward expansion. This war was relatively not popular because many Americans in the North objected it to what they saw as war for the expansion of slavery.
According to Gary and Seidman (188), the westward expansions also lead to a compromise in 1850. There was first the ending of the Mexican war which added more than one million square miles of land to America, an Area that was larger than the earlier purchased land by the state. After the acquisition of this land there arose a compromise of what would be the state of slavery in these new American territories. There finally emerged a proposes compromise by Kentucky senator Henry Clay which stated that California was to enter the soviet union as a free state, and also the slavery status in
the remaining Mexican territories was to be decided by the inhabitants themselves, and lastly slave trade was to be abolished in Washington D.CAccording to Ingui (173), the American values changed following westward expansion. More settlers moved to the Midwest where the infrastructure improved and the cities were connected. The new fields of agriculture developed and also in medicine. The culture of American developed in writing and language. There were more slaves to work in the settler farms and this led to expansion of the population of people of diversified cultures. Laure (1-2) argues that, the Manifest Destiny which gave the United States of America an attitude to stretch and expand its territories to the west of from one coast of the state to the other caused a lot of divisions. When Americans got access of the farms owned by the settlers they did not stop slavery. Therefore, slaves started revolting against their masters. Then lead to the release of the slaves from the captivity. They demanded right to vote and own land because they were landless. This led to an agreement of the policies requested by the slaves and be amended in the Americas constitution. The policies were harmonized in what was termed as reconstruction.
Works Cited
- Capozzoli, Ingui M. J. American History, 1877 to the Present. Hauppauge, NY: Barron's, 2003. Print.
- Lawson, Gary, and Guy Seidman. The constitution of empire: Territorial expansion and American legal history. Yale University Press, 2008.
- Ruttan, Vernon W. United States development assistance policy: the domestic politics of foreign economic aid. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996.
- Sammis, Kathy. Focus on U.S. History: The Era of Expansion and Reform. Portland, Me: Walch, 1997. Print.
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