Question

19th Century Americans used an ideology of Manifest Destiny to guide their expansion westwards. What are the defining features of this thinking? Provide at least two examples of how Manifest Destiny ideology shaped how Americans settled and acquired new regions?

Answer 1

Manifest Destiny was the idea that the United States was destined to expand westwards, until the country comprised all the territory from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.

Step-by-step explanation:

One of the first manifestations of Manifest Destiny was the Mexican-American War: the US entered this war with the goal of annexing a large territory that was in Mexican control. Since the U.S. won this war, it obtained the territory in which the states of Texas, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and California are currently located.

Another manifestation of Manifest Destiny occured during the Spanish-American war. Once again, the United States won, and it obtained the former Spanish colonies of Puerto Rico, and Phillippines.