Manifest Destiny

Manifest Destiny was the belief that the United States was to expand from the Atlantic seaboard to the Pacific Ocean. It was used by Democrats in the 1840s to justify the war with Mexico. The United States used Manifest Destiny when Texas gained their independence and when they wanted to become a state of the U.S. Polk moved to occupy a portion of Texas which part of Mexico which started the Mexican-American War. Another way that the United States used Manifest Destiny was with the Louisiana Purchase which allowed us to gain most of the territory in the West of the United States today. The states that we gained from the Louisiana Purchase were, Louisiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Oklahoma, and New Mexico.