President Polk & Manifest Destiny: Hand in Hand

The United States' policy during the early to middle nineteenth century can be seen as five general concepts of American foreign policy: isolationism, expansionism, imperialism, idealism, and exceptionalism. Each of these concepts was prevalent during the crisis leading up to and including the Mexican-American War of 1846. The War of 1846 is viewed by Mexico as an act of US imperialism. Brack, a historian, claims that “the process of becoming a continental power required the United States …

…College of the Armed Forces, the Mexican American War was important for two specific reasons. One, it made the United States a world power and two, it made sure that Mexico would never be a world power. I agree with this argument because this war helped shape America, as we know it today, which spans “from sea to shinning sea” and gave us the necessary resources (land and natural resources) to become a wealthy nation.