Westward Expansion essay

John O'Sullivan, an editor of both the Democratic Review and the Morning News at the time, termed the Westward Expansion "Manifest Destiny" (Wilsey, p64). The Americans used different methods to acquire the land in the west. There were several reasons for the migration, and there were negative and positive impacts of the movement. One of the reasons for migration is a certainty that the United States had a God-given mission to lead the world in the transition to democracy. O'Sullivan believed that the Manifest Destiny was a higher calling and it surpassed any international agreement and laws (64). President Jefferson like most of the first people to move west associated owning of land and farming to freedom. He believed that the country’s survival, its independence, and virtuous citizenry were intertwined with land ownership and especially the ownership of small independent farms (64).

It motivated Jefferson to come up with ways to get more land for the United States. The price of property in the west was relatively low, and it was one of the incentives for the Americans settlers to move west. The United States used different methods to acquire land in the expansion. Later during the Battle of San Jacinto, Texan fought Mexicans winning the war which led to Texas becoming a free state (Dyuff, p118). The plucked cartoon of an eagle best portrays the war. The two pictures show the condition of Mexico before and after the Mexican war. In the first picture, the eagle looked healthy and dispatched on top of the cactus, and it is facing eastward. The second eagle shows the same eagle but its feather is plucked, and it is facing west.

It helped connect the west and east of the United States (Ambrose, p176). It provided a means of transportation for the people to move from the east to the west. There were benefits associated with the westward movement. The white Americans are the people who widely benefited from the move. For others, the move only caused pain and agony. The lives of the Indians were not valued. The Americans could not spare any Indian life. In Doctor Scott advert for an electric hairbrush, he mocks the Indians by saying that the by buying the brush won't save them from the wrath of scalping. He further states that the brush could save anyone else from dandruff. The lives of the Indians were worth less than dandruff.

The Chinese also suffered much as a result of racial discrimination at every level of their society. The massacring of the native Indians was also a way of getting rid of them. Women who moved westward suffered more than the men. They faced numerous hardships. New life in the west was mainly male dominated. The fact that one is in America physically does not mean they are Americans. Being a real American means that you get to enjoy the privileges associated with the title. Some of the privileges include that you will not be killed like in the case of the Indians (Indian brutality). Secondly, an American enjoys the freedom of movement in the country and cannot be forced out of the country like the Chinese (42).