How did manifest destiny contribute to the annexation of the texas and the creation of oregon?
1 Answer
Manifest destiny was a driving force in the ideal that the US should stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
Explanation:
The vision of one united country encompassing all of the land between the two oceans drove the acquisition of the territory to make the vision happen. This vision was call Manifest Destiny
Europe is a fragmented continent leading to conflicts and wars. The vision of Manifest Destiny was of a unified continent united under one nation, one flag, one government, creating peace and prosperity. The vision was so compelling that it seems that it was certain that the vision must become true. Those holding this vision were willilng to go to great lengths to see the vision come true.
The Louisianna Purchase only gave the United States legal possession of the water shed of the Missouri River stretching to the Rocky Mountains. Thomas Jefferson instructed the Lewis and Clark expedition to continue to the Pacific Ocean. The explorations of Lewis and Clark gave the United States a tenuous claim to the Oregon territory on the Pacific side of the Rocky mountains. The territory also was claimed by Russia , England and Spain.
At one point the United States stated the willingness to go to war with England over ownership of the Oregon Territory ( 54, 40 or war) The Oregon Territory was necessary for the vision of Manifest Destiny. The mass migration on the Oregon Trail was partially a response to the plea for Americans to support the claim of the United States to the Oregon Territory. The Vision of Manifest Destiny drove thousands of wagons westward to Oregon.
Texas legally belonged to Mexico. The rebellion of the Texans against Mexico had created an independent nation of tenuous legal status. Mexico still claimed ownership of all of Texas as well as the rest of the southwest. ( New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, and most of Utah) Annexation of Texas, was intended and did spark a war between Mexico and the United States that gave America an excuse to annex all of the Southwest and California helping to achieve the vision of Manifest Destiny.
It was the vision of Manifest Destiny that drove the annexation of Texas, and the claim to the Oregon Territory
