In the 1840s, the United State looked West to expand. The North wanted Free
Soil; the South wanted new lands for slave states. Democrats and Whigs both
advocated for expansion, but they did not always agree on how to do it. John L.
O'Sullivan named territorial expansion, Manifest Destiny. Using his essay, The
Democratic Principle, define what Manifest Destiny means. What problem was it
to solve? How did Manifest Destiny influence John Polk's Inaugural Address and
presidency? Does this idea lead to the Texas Annexation and the Mexican War?