westward expansion dbq essays

westward expansion dbq essays Beginning in the early 1800s the United States began a mission of westward expansion. The concept of Manifest Destiny encouraged Americans to spread their civilization all the way to the Pacific Ocean, and even down into Mexico and Central America. However, with a rapidly developing economy, the United States began looking to foreign countries for new markets and materials. With the strengthening of the U.S. navy and nationalism, the United States began to participate in a race for foreign markets. After the Spanish-American War, U.S. citizens were even more zealous in the idea of imperialism. Although pressured with questions of the constitutional rights of new peoples, the United States was able to open new trading markets with valuable sources, such as the Chinese. Expansionism from the nineteenth and early twentieth century was, in fact, a continuation of past United States expansionism, and yet also a departure. Beginning in the 1830s and continuing to the 1860s, the Unite d States adopted the popular belief of Manifest Destiny. They believed they had a divine mission from God to extend their power and civilization across North America. The U.S. continually expanded westward, trying its best to protect themselves from foreign influence, meanwhile gaining such territories as Oregon, California, and New Mexico. However, after their economies began to flourish, the U.S. began to look toward foreign continents to fulfill their needs of worldwide markets and raw materials. Many American conservatives also believed that overseas territories could offer a safety valve for unhappiness at home. Expansionists looked to achieve their gains by economic and diplomatic means, instead of military action, as they did in the past. One concept that was applied to the competition among nations for new land was Darwinism. This theory stated that only the strongest nations survived (Doc. B.) This meant that the United States h...