During the first half of the nineteenth century, the United States was thriving and seeking to extend its borders throughout the North American continent. This expansion of the country was fueled by the ideology of Manifest Destiny. Yet, as some may argue, this was not a benevolent movement but rather an aggressive form of imperialism; the way in which Americans expanded, annexed territories, and forced the removal of many previous inhabitants was not justifiable.
From the very start, the United States could only move in one direction; westward. With the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the country more than doubled in size. The movement of people into the interior of the American continent rapidly increased. This is movement was unorganized …show more content…
This has been seen to end successfully on a few occasions, such as the Louisiana Purchase or when establishing the boundaries with the British in Oregon country. However, most territorial disputes resulted in an abrupt war, such as the Seminole Wars in Florida and more importantly, the Mexican-American War. While the United States’ interest in the Southeast grew, conflict in the region did as well. The United States had already annexed Texas into the union, however, dispute over the boundaries between Texas and Mexico damaged relationships with the US’s neighbor in the south. New Mexico was also in dispute, in the 1820’s, the Mexican government provided American traders with many opportunities in the region. This sped development of the region, however the Mexicans were soon starting to be outnumbered by the Americans in New Mexico. A similar trend happened in California, as Americans gradually arrived into the region, developing businesses and farms, many hoped that California would one day join the Union as well. In 1846, after hearing news that Mexico rejected an offer to buy off the wanted territories, President James K. Polk sent troops to the Texan-Mexican border and declared war, he later went on to order small armies to New Mexico and California . This can easily be seen as a very aggressive move by the United States, James K. Polk was strongly committed to acquiring New Mexico and California. Many other Americans shared the same dream, blinded by the ideology of Manifest Destiny, they stopped at nothing to get as much territory as possible, and in many occurrences, resulted to taking out the previous inhabitants of the