Please respond to the following discussion post by providing additional information regarding the Mexican War of 1846 and The California Gold Rush. The assignment should be one page but is not an essay and does not have to be in essay format. It is simply a discussion question. You may use a reference but it is not required. The Mexican war that began in 1846, was a major benefit to American expansion. The claim of territory given from the wars end, allowed the U.S. to claim: California, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and some parts of Colorado and Wyoming as its territory. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo made way for land located on the Rio Grande to be seen as part of the U.S. and Mexico. Due to it being the new border between the two. The U. S. did not walk away freely however, they spent 18.5 million all together between acquiring debt off Mexico and paying for lands Mexico had lost during the conflict. Citizens of Mexico were granted citizenship once the states had become annexed in to U.S. This increased the population of the U.S. By increasing population, one can only surmise, these individuals, had children that most likely traveled to new areas in hopes of making a financial boon. This meant new parts of the U.S. would generate higher populations, and possible new territories would be developed. (Mexican-American War,2009) (OpenStax. (2019)) Texas had been annexed into the U.S. by this time, and helped to increase in the U.S. drive and ambition to become a larger territory. The California gold rush had in fact started as well during this time, unknown to the major players, U.S. and Mexico. During a dig for a sawmill, Marshall found gold on his and Sutter’s land. This brought people in by the hundreds, trying to reach their dreams of becoming wealthy. These new people brought with them, all diversification of ethnicity. These new people would soon find that the gold they sought was not in the area any longer. This meant they would either return home or start out again in a new area, in the Americas, to try and win their fortunes. When new people moved into new territories, the y brought up new constructions, such as churches, newspapers, salons, barber shops and mercantile. These new areas would soon have people thriving in them and the territory would expand more, allowing a bigger population. A bigger population meant the need for more territory to be taken. To accommodate the population of the U.S. (Mexican-American War,2009) (OpenStax. (2019))(Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2019, July 26)) The idea of Manifest Destiny is one that devine right and duty was given to the white man, to seize, and settle the American West. Thus, spreading protestant and democratic views. We can see how in both of these issues; The Mexican War and The California Gold Rush can fit into this divinity process. Both allowed for a larger population of people to conform to the protestant way of life and turn from Roman Catholicism, both allowed for democratic reasoning in the law systems after being claimed inside the U.S. The democratic parties wanted to grow the territory’s and in doing so were more than willing to take on slave states These states would be able to make those allowed to be counted inside the legislature system larger, meaning they would be able to have more representatives inside the legislature to help push their agendas.
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