Manifest Destiny

At the start, America was a small country made up of only 13 small colonies. Over time, it became apparent that America would need to grow. Population was increasing. More people were immigrating to the US, seeing its potential. America needed to expand, and quickly. So, a new idea was created. Manifest Destiny was the idea that American expansion was not only necessary, but morally justified and inevitable. This idea stated that it was right and morally justified for Americans to expand by nearly any means necessary. The rising popularity of this belief led to several important events that would impact the American nation for many years to come.

The first was the Indian Removal Act. As already stated, America needed to expand, but there was one major problem - a group of people - keeping them from doing so. The Native Americans, who had arrived at the Americas first, had been pushed west many times by the ever expanding American population many times before. But, this group of people was still standing in the way of American expansion, so the Indian Removal Act was published. The Indian Removal Act forced all of the Native American tribes to move west of the Mississippi. Some tribes went peacefully. But others didn't, refusing to give up their lands. As a result, they were forced to go west, on a journey that is now known as the Trail of Tears. Over a quarter of the Native Americans that made this journey did not reach their destination alive.