Manifest Destiny Good Or Bad Essay

Words: 553
Pages: 3

Some people would argue that Manifest Destiny was more negative than positive. They stated that as the U.S. acquired land, they exploited natural resources like buffalo. A buffalo hunter states that “A couple of years before it was nothing to see 5,000, 10,000 buff in a day’s ride. Now if I saw 50 I was lucky. Presently all I saw was rotting red carcasses or bleaching white bones (Document E).” The hunter is describing it as if the U.S. was just killing them to kill them. However, the U.S. was using the resources they had and not intentionally trying to kill them for nothing. The U.S. was using the fur for a good, valid reason because the hides were used for warmth and rain resistance. Since they were used for these reasons, the fur was sold for a …show more content…
Right off the bat as the United States expanded Westward, buffalos became more abundant. The Americans would sell the buffalo hides for the high class to purchase. The fur was a great resource and they were not only warm and fashionable, but they were also waterproof which made them even more valuable. This made merchants and hunter very wealthy which helped the economy grow. Then, once the United States took over California, a man named James Marshall found gold at Sutter’s Sawmill (Target sheet). Everyone was astonished by this finding and wasn’t sure to believe it or not. But then, in a speech said by President Polk, he states that “The exploration already made warrant the belief that the supply is very large and that gold is found at various places in an extensive district of the country (Document I).” Once he pronounced this, people all around the country traveled to California in search of gold. This became a huge fiasco and made the U.S. tremendously wealthier. This also incidentally made merchants very wealthy since many of the miners left everything at home. Overall, from the resources and profits, it shows that Manifest