Manifest Destiny

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Created by
claire bear

Cards (8)

  • Manifest Destiny
    The notion that Americans have a God-given right to have a nation that extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans
  • Manifest Destiny was articulated by newspaper editor John O'Sullivan in July 1845
  • Reasons for westward expansion
    • Need for more access to mineral and natural resources
    • Discovery of gold in California in 1848 (California Gold Rush)
    • New economic and homesteading opportunities
    • Religious refuge (Mormons)
  • The Preemption Acts during the 1830s and 1840s made vast tracts of land available for cheap to anyone who wanted to buy it, set up a homestead and get to farming it
  • The migration west was largely made by the middle class and not the poor
  • Around 70,000 Mormons migrated to Utah over the next 20 years after fleeing persecution in the Midwest
  • James K. Polk

    Elected in 1844, was a big believer in Manifest Destiny and wanted to annex Texas and Oregon
  • Oregon Territory

    1. Both Britain and the US laid competing claims to the territory
    2. Americans claimed it due to increased settlement by missionaries and farmers
    3. Polk negotiated an agreement with Britain to divide the territory at the 49th parallel