Opposition of expansion doctrine and the issue of slavery essay example

Terms Used: Lewis and Clark, Jefferson, Henry Clay, John Tyler, Calhoun

Introduction
United States has come a long way through from where it used to be in history. The present map of US is driven by the doctrine of manifest density that caused enormous expansion across North America in the last century. Although, expansion of the boundaries would be useful but dangerous too because it comprises the land of Native American who were living in most areas of the western region and it has highlighted one of the most prominent issue of the country, slavery. Most importantly, the native black Americans were facing slavery in 18th century and in the following 19th century, political parties and many political leaders remained divided on the subjects of State control on their people and the act slavery.

Significance

The expansion of United States has raised many issues in the region. One of the important issues was slavery and the state role. Politically, the issue came under discussion in much of the debates of political parties and their leaders used the sentiments of their followers to promote their ideas. Primary expansion of United States was attributed to Lewis and Clark expedition. It took place shortly after the purchase of Louisiana State (Lewis and Clark expedition) on the orders of US President Thomas Jefferson. This Expedition was otherwise known as the ” Corps of Discovery” to a deeper understanding of the newly acquired territory of the western United States (Biddulph and Adey 315-333). Thomas Jefferson, who commissioned this expedition, was an eminent American politician who spent all his life against the slavery. He drafted and declared the independence of America as United States of America. As US president, he signed a law in 1807 that banned the importation of slaves in the country. Due to the issue of slave trade and the involvement of British government in this issue, he regarded Britain an adversary to United States. After Jefferson, several decades of American history comprises of this long lasting debate. The two major parties of that time included the Whig Party which was led by Henry Clay and the Democratic Party which was led by Andrew Jackson. To be specific, more than two decades from 1828 to 1824 these two parties have shared the rivalries over this very issue.
Primarily, Henry Clay Frick was an industrialist but there are many other things that he contributed and thus made him an important person in American history. He was a supporter of the artistic creation an altruist. He was also well known for his most attractive ability to made people towards an agreement that gave him the success on the slavery issue. He opposed the American war with Mexico and the annexation of Texas State. On a broader horizon, he was against the doctrine of expansion which was promoted by Democratic Party. Henry Clay was also a nationalist, really cared about the country, around his life to protect it. Clay was eager to make almost any sacrifice to conserve the union, no sympathy with slavery. He has always put the states’ rights first and slavery before. He was supported and admired by Abraham Lincoln.
Calhoun was an American politician and political theorist and remained the Vice President from 1825 to 1832. Calhoun was a supporter of the power of the state and ruled that the doctrine, he proposed as his theory of ” Doctrine of Nullification”. He was renowned as categorizing slavery as useful. However, he proposed the minority rights bill against the majority rule. He termed slavery as a “ positive good” rather than a “ necessarily evil” as opposed to Thomas Jefferson.
John Tyler was an American politician who remained U. S. State Secretary, governor and senator before being elected as the president. He remained the president of US from 1841 to 1845. He opposed democratic Jackson on the issue of invasion on Florida. Although, he acknowledged the evils of slavery and its ills, but he never approved the idea of national emancipation and never freed any of his slaves even at the time of the Civil War. Like Henry Clay, he also considered that unnecessary expansion of federal territory and any compromise on the issue will actually divide the states. He considered that states should be regularized and given the authority more and the influence of Federal authorities should be limited. According to him, the issue of emancipation should be considered at state level rather than Federation.

Conclusion

The United States as an independent state formed after the declaration of independence in 1776, and this country has had a long prehistory of slavery. It is believed that its original inhabitants came to America from Asia for thousands of years. Many important leaders and politicians of United States addressed the issue of slavery. Among the prominent leaders, Andrew Jackson was the first who revisited the country’s foreign policy towards British government on the issue of slavery. Consequently, throughout the 19th century, the issue of slavery has reshaped the views of Native Americans and deeply influenced the changing dimensions of foreign policy of the country.