Territorial Expansion Argumentative Analysis

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The benefits of territorial expansion did not outweigh the costs because of the many lives that were lost and injustices such as the ones against Native Americans. Many Americans were motivated to move west because of the desire for farmland, gold, or a new life. Many Americans also believed in the doctrine of Manifest Destiny, that it was the United States' fate to expand its borders from the east to the west. However, these benefits did not outweigh the costs.

The biggest of these costs was the issue of slavery. Whenever a new state wanted to be admitted into the Union from the territory the US acquired such as the Mexican Cession, it would upset the free and slave state balance, and a compromise would have to be made in Congress to keep
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Territorial Expansion Argumentative Analysis

In the centuries preceding the Civil War, territorial expansion was a topic of thorough discussion. Some of the argument was over states that included slavery, and states that outlawed. A great deal of the discussion, however, was much deeper. Although the opponents of expansion were successful at first, the supporters eventually won out. The opponents of expansion brought up many valid points which held back the American dream of manifest destiny for many years. In 1803, the beginning of the desire…

Words 316 - Pages 2