As a southern land speculator, I would argue for Manifest Destiny and westward expansion. If our country is to be a powerful nation we must use any means to become powerful. By acquiring more land moving westward we can open up more land for slavery and create more jobs in new villages as well as public work projects like railroads and canals. With so much opportunity out west, I can acquire land and sell it so those eager for that land.
Dealing with the problem of Native Americans, President Jackson is correct in controlling the problem because hey are inhibiting us in achieving our Manifest Destiny, so they should be pushed aside from our progress. As we move west, however, we may civilize the Indians, such as the Creeks, to make it easier for myself to rent or buy their lands as not to deal with treaty negotiations with the Federal government which may negatively affect the money I receive from selling land. With Jackson acting like a “father” figure towards the savages, our country will reach Manifest Destiny.
We have fought so very hard for these lands, they are the lands we deserve. When dealing with gaining land, Zachary Taylor, “Hero of Buena Vista,” was prominent in fighting for more lands even though his reputation seemed to “rest on Mexican skulls. ” As our country yearns for Manifest Destiny, Taylor took part in it as a general and also led to the statehood of California and land acquired as New Mexico. Even though Taylor dealt with the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, which effectively weakened the commitment to Manifest Destiny, westward lands continued to be controlled which added to our expansion goal.
When John Steuart Curry finished his “Tragic Prelude” mural, the Kansas legislature was right when they prohibited it from being hung on the statehouse walls. Most people would react to this mural as depicting Kansas as an unfit place to live with inclement features such as tornadoes and prairie fires. People could also see that Kansas is full of murderers and religious fanatics. How will I be able to sell land l acquire in Kansas if I cannot get the best deal for the land? The depiction of Civil War battles in Kansas would not help the cause of Manifest destiny.
American Progress shows that our country can tackle the vast and rough ern area. With our technology such as the telegraph while expanding resources, people, and ideas westward, our country can achieve its destiny. As a Native American, I would argue against Manifest Destiny and westward expansion. A man who wants to have our people pushed aside from our land is one whom I disagree deeply with. I do not want these white Americans to move westward. By them achieving their Manifest Destiny, us Native Americans will soon have no land.
We are not Jackson’s children, we do not need to be civilized by his people, and the removal of our people is not for our own good. Even incorporating us into their civilization is not enough, they want us out of the picture in order for them to achieve their expansion toward the West. Unfortunately, we are being forcibly removed through the Trail of Tears, where the grueling journey has left a significant portion of our people to perish under frigid weather, illness, and starvation. The people of the United States seem ruthless in what they want.
They are land hungry, and they will take what they want. They have waged merciless war on Mexico to claim Texas as well as other lands from the Mexican people. Their generals they label a ‘hero” like Taylor, who, just like many Americans will murder to achieve their expansion. As these Americans continued to move westward, our fellow Shawnees, Kaskaskias, Peorias, and others had to cede land to the white settlers so they can settle in their new land of Kansas. A place we used for living, now used for civil disputes and fanatic killing by the Americans.
The white settlers have been chasing their destiny by chasing us away. Their “progress” is leading to our decline. The American cultural and racial superiority has made them far more greater than us as they they journey determined on carriage and we flee in horseback and travois. If this id what the American settlers want, then there are surely storm clouds on the horizon. As a northern abolitionist, I would argue against Manifest Destiny and westward expansion. The process in which we desire to obtain this destiny is against my beliefs and is not for the good of this country.
I am a firm believer that we should not tamper with the Native American people and that they have a legal right to their homelands. Trying to “civilize” them will not help either cause in the long run, as some Native American people like the Cherokees have acquired slaveholding. Fighting for land against Mexico is another issue I stand against because we abolitionists see this war as a war of aggression which is being fought to expand the territory of slavery in our country. As we acquired more land in the midwest, specifically Kansas, civil outbreaks and damages to the land occur because of the clash between pro-slavery and abolition.
With John Brown leading abolition in Kansas, he may be portrayed as a radical murderer. Most if not all issues revolve around slavery and the fight against it. If the United States want to achieve American Progress, then they should do so morally without popular sovereignty causing problems for the new formation of states. Slavery is a thing of the past and this country should admit states as free. This is the only sane and moral option if we want to achieve Manifest Destiny.
