urchase, but some doubted
whether the president had a constitutional right to acquire new
territory, because the Constitution did not specifically list that as a
federal function. And debate soon arose over which parts of the new
lands would become free states and which would become slave states. At
the time, there were 11 free states and 11 slave states. A swing either
way would give the North or the South an advantage in congressional
representation. Congress's solution was the 1820 Missouri Compromise,
which admitted Missouri as a slave state, and Maine as free, while
barring slavery "forever" in the Louisiana territory north of latitude
36° 30'. [See Missouri Compromise (sidebar)]
A sense of national destiny
or purpose had been part of the country's consciousness since its early
days. In 1783, future President George Washington (Federalist, 1789-97)
called the country a "rising empire." President James Madison
(Democratic-Republican, 1809-17) spoke of "one great, respectable, and
flourishing empire." But the word "empire" at that time probably meant
something like "sovereign nation" rather than, say, "nation having
dominion over far-flung lands and peoples," as it later came to mean.
Jefferson believed that European settlers would eventually people the
continent across to the Pacific, although he believed that the
territory along the Pacific coast would be "a great, free and
independent empire" populated by Americans "unconnected with us but by
the ties of blood and interest."
A landmark statement of
policy proclaimed in 1823 by President James Monroe
(Democratic-Republican, 1817-25) later became a rallying point for Manifest Destiny.
The so-called Monroe Doctrine stated that the U.S. would not tolerate
any new intervention by a European colonial power in the Americas. The
policy put on record that the U.S. believed itself the dominant power
in the hemisphere. In subsequent decades, many U.S. presidents would
take the Monroe Doctrine to heart.
As settlers sought to expand their holdings, they increasingly came
into contact with the Indians who inhabited those lands. In order for
the U.S. to expand as settlers wished, the issue of the Indians had to
be addressed. To address the "Indian problem," Congress on May 26,
1830, passed the Indian Removal Act and President Andrew Jackson (D,
1829-37), who had gained prominence fighting against the Indians in
several skirmishes, signed it into law two days later. Under the act,
the government would negotiate with Indians to relocate from their
eastern lands to land reserved as "Indian territory" in the west. [See Indian Removal Act]
However, while the removal was intended to be voluntary, when many
Indians refused to leave they were forcibly removed by U.S. troops.
Thousands of Indians died during the long westward journey, including
an estimated 4,000 who died along what came to be known as the "Trail
With a policy in place for Indian removal, more lands now became
available for white settlement. Several factors converged to make
moving south or west appealing to many Americans. A key factor was
rapid population growth, fueled by immigration and a high birthrate.
Large families were considered beneficial for working farms. By the
late 1830s, the U.S. population grew to more than 23 million, from some
five million in 1800. It was estimated that nearly four million
Americans moved to western territories between 1820 and 1850.
The government also made much of the land in the Western territories
cheap or even free. By moving to frontier areas, many people in the
East were able to leave an economic depression of 1839 behind them. To
many of those people, frontier living was synonymous with
self-sufficiency, an integral American trait. In addition, merchant
marines saw an opportunity to take advantage of new commerce by
building West Coast ports that they expected would lead to increased
trade with Pacific countries.
There was perhaps no stauncher believer in the ideal of Manifest Destiny
than Polk. During his campaign and after he took office, he made it
known that his goal was to 