Ap American History - by Alberto Alonso - 937 Words

Alberto Alonso December 8, 2012 A.P. American History DBQ Essay #2 ------------------------------------------------- 1. â€Å"The opponents of the annexation of Texas and the Mexican War attacked slavery as the root cause of expansion, but in fact it was no more important than other causes.† Assess the validity of this statement, using the documents and your knowledge of U.S. history from 1820-1860 to support your answer. During the early-mid part of the 19th century (mainly 1820-1860) Americans objected many things they didn’t like. Taxes, the government, even presidents were some of the rejections of the people. But the one thing the people did not like during this time period was the annexation of Texas and the Mexican†¦show more content†¦Why? Because†¦I think†¦our people [should move there]!† The author of Document E obviously believed in the idea of manifest destiny because he wants to see people in San Francisco, which is in California. The manifest destiny idea helped encourage people to have more pride in their nation, which allowed them to expand fro m the East coast of America to the West. However, not every idea of expansionism was happy. Others people wanted to expand America because of fear. In Document F it states, â€Å"None can fail to see the danger to our safety and future peace if Texas remains an independent state, or becomes an ally or dependency of some foreign nation more powerful than herself.† After Texas won its independence from Mexico in 1835, Texas could not cede the American Union because it needed to enter America with a free state (a state with no slavery) because of the Missouri Compromise (the Missouri Compromise was passed in 1820 in which stated that there would be no slavery in the Louisiana Territory above the 36th parallel). Since there were no other states to enter with Texas, Texas had to remain as an independent state for about ten years (1835- 1845). During that time, people urged for a state to enter as a free state with Texas because, since Texas was not a part of America, it could do w hatever it wanted. Things like joining a different nation or starting a war with America were options that were available for Texas. That is why many