Sixth Grade
Worksheets
Manifest Destiny
In the 1800s, the country started to grow quickly. Some people started to believe that the country should go from one ocean to another. They used this idea as a reason to go to war or take land from other countries. This idea was called Manifest Destiny.
The term was used for the first time in 1845. The person who used it did not think the country should go to war to get land. He didn't think the government should have any part of it. He thought that people should just move west. When enough people lived in an area, they would apply to become a state. This is how the country should grow.
It wasn't that easy. Other countries owned the land in the West. Thomas Jefferson helped with this problem in 1803. He bought land from France. This land went from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains. He doubled the size of the country.
People quickly began to move onto this land. But some people wanted to go farther west. They went into Texas. This land was owned by Mexico. In 1836, they declared their freedom. Texas applied to become a state. The two countries went to war over the land. Mexico lost.
After the war, there were some that wanted all of Mexico to become part of the country. Not everyone agreed. The treaty helped end this talk. Mexico lost land - a lot of land. The land would become many states in the West.
