During the 1800s, America had foreign policies that impacted its citizens. The Louisiana Purchase impacted the American citizens because it was a big purchase that helped America grow into a larger nation and the declaration of war against Mexico was another event that impacted the American citizens because it made the US go to war which could lead to positive outcomes if the US wins this war or negative results if they lose. The two events also had lots of citizens that opposed the idea due to specific reasons. Two foreign policies that impacted the American people were the Louisiana Purchase and the declaration of war against Mexico.
The Louisiana Purchase was an event that occured in 1803 where president Thomas Jefferson decided to buy a huge chunk of land that helped double the size of America for $15 million. This land was used in a variety of ways and helped America get one step closer to achieving Manifest Destiny which was a American belief or goal that the US would continue to move westward throughout North America. This indicates how purchasing this huge chunk of land has made a huge positive impact on America and also illustrates how the newly purchased land was also used to trade with nations that the US could not reach before and the nations on the new land. Trade was possible because the US built up a little bit of relationship with the Natives on the land. This purchase also led to the Lewis and Clark expedition where the US sent out two explorers to explore the new land. Lewis and Clark discovered many things on this new land such as new species that were not familiar to them, foods, and many new materials from trading with the Natives of the land. This proves how the Lewis and Clark expedition helped America get more familiar with the land and how the relationship building up between the natives helped enhance America with newer resources that seemed unfamiliar to the US. Many American citizens also opposed the action of the Louisiana Purchase because they believed that the president of the US did not have the right to use the country’s money as the people who control the money are the government. The citizens used evidence to back up their claim, including that the president is still a lower rank in the hierarchy then the government meaning that the president had no right to be controlling the nation's economy. Not really sure what you mean here?At this time period, this huge chunk of land would practically be useless because it would serve no purpose in America as it is such a small nation, the only purpose that it would serve is making America more known to the world. This is a negative thing because citizens also feared that becoming an imperialist nation, which America wanted to stay away from because during this time period, America was still a tiny, baby nation, would mean going to war, which would most likely destroy America. The US recently broke apart from Great Britain after the American Revolution and is currently a very fragile country, going to war at this current time would not be very favorited for America because of how small the nation and the military is, illustrating why some citizens oppose the purchasing of this land that would double the size of America. Therefore, this is how the American citizens both supported and opposed the Louisiana purchase.
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The declaration of war against Mexico was another event that occurred which had many citizens arguing about whether or not it was a good thing that would benefit the country. This event occurred in 1846 where America decided to go to war with Mexico because of all the negative actions that Mexico has been making to America. For example, one of the main reasons why the Mexican American war started was because Mexico set border disputes on Texas which angered the US because at that time, Texas joined the US, meaning that Texas was a part of the US. When Mexico decided to come in and try to take Texas back to becoming a part of Mexico, it angered America because Mexico was basically breaking into American territory to raid it and take land from the US. Texas joined America after the Texas Revolution which was a war breakout in Mexico regarding Texas and how they want to be a free state. Texas was successful in this war and had nowhere to go because they just finished this war meaning that they were an independent nation, but was still very weak and in debt from the war. The US decides to give a helping hand to Texas, asking them if they wanted to join and become a part of the American nation, which Texas quickly accepted because they had nowhere to go and that America was a pretty stable nation at this time period. This indicates one action made by Mexico that led to the Mexican American war as well as how America gained more territory from when Texas decided to become a part of the American nation. The decision of declaring war against Mexico was the majority decision, the minority suggested the US not to interfere with Mexico because they feared the results as there is a possibility that America would lose this war. The loser of this war would have to give up land and pay a lot of money for war damages for both nations in the war, which could make both nations have a chance of entering a depression. The minority opinion also reflected upon the Washington Farewell Address as another reason to not go to war with Mexico. The Washington Farewell Address was a list of precedents set by president George Washington that he would feel would be good for the nation and make the nation more successful. One precedent that was listed on this Address was staying neutral to all nations because interfering with other nations have a possibility that America would suffer because of all the wars they would get into from building up as an imperialist. These wars would be very expensive which at that time, America was still a small nation with little power, illustrating how becoming an imperialist nation would destroy the US nation. This indicates why some citizens would want to avoid the war with Mexico and how much trouble it would cause for America if they lose the war. America went on to win this war however, which set boundaries between the US and Mexico as well as gain lost of land from the winning of the war including Texas and other states that they purchased from Mexico after their victory. Therefore, this is how the declaration of war against Mexico made positive impacts on America and how a minority opposed this, due to issues from losing the war.
Ultimately, these are two foreign policies that had both positive and negative impacts on America and how helped America grow into a more successful nation, regardless of how positive or negative the impact was. The Louisiana Purchase helped America double in size and make new trade routes but also made America become more known to the world due to the huge growing in size of the nation. The declaration of war against Mexico and the Mexican American war was another policy that helped America grow, because they won a war against a nation that was much larger than they were and also gained lots of new land, from the effects of winning this war. This is how both foreign policies were put into good use of making America a more successful country no matter how positive or negative they were on the American nation.
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