The Manifest Destiny was the expansion to westward lands, which Americans believed it was what God wanted. This was a form for Americans to expand westward and acquire more land. As Americans moved westward the Missouri Compromise of 1820 was established, which was that states north of the Ohio River were free states and states south of the Ohio River were slave states. As Americans expanded westward, the south wanted the new land to be slave labor, while the north wanted the land to be white labor also known as free-soil land. During the expansion the Americans settled in Texas bringing their slaves with them. Approximately 1,000 slaves were in Texas and the number of American people settling in Texas was 15,000 which outnumbered the Tejanos by 5,000 people. The Manifest Destiny led Americans expand into Texas, making the Mexican President want to have control over the Americans, but the Americans captured the Mexican military leader and gained their independence. Texas was no longer part of Mexico. The Manifest Destiny led to the Civil War because it was an opportunity for the south to expand and get more slave states, but not without the north having their opinions/views on …show more content…
After the Americans had settled in Texas and thought that they had gained their independence from Mexico, Mexico did not recognize the independence of Texas. The president of the US at the time was John Tyler, he annexed Texas just before he left the presidency. When James K. Polk became the new president, he ordered troops to go to Mexico and intimidate Mexico. The invasion took place south of the Rio Grande River. This event resulted in American deaths and caused a war between Texas and Mexico. After the war was over the US acquired 1/3 of Mexico. With the new land acquired the Americans didn’t know if the land was going to be free land or slave land. This event was significant to the beginning of the Civil War because as the US was expanding and acquiring more land the northerners and southerners were competing for the acquired