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Manifest

Destiny

anifest destiny refers to the belief prevalent
in 1800’s and much of the 1900’s that it was
Mthe God-given destiny of white US Ameri-
can’s to control and dominate the continent.

The acquisition of

the southwest

n 1830, the Mexican government outlawed slav-
ery and prohibited further immigration into Texas.
IWhite US Americans were outraged and continued
to move into Texas and in 1836 fought against Mexi-
can rule and eventually won.

1830, the same year Mexico outlawed slavery, the
Indian Removal Act was passed by US Congress that A fl yer advertising stolen (expropriated) land for sale to whites.
essentially allowed the seizing and removal of Indians
from their ancestral and sacred lands, slaughtering
thousands in the process. In 1845, Texas was annexed by the U.S., which

lead to continued border skirmishes with Mexico.
The US military soon invaded Mexico resulting in the
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in which Mexico ceded
all of California, New Mexico, Nevada and parts of
Colorado, Arizona, and Utah. Mexicans have a say-
ing. We didn’t cross the border, the border crossed us.
When the Treaty was signed Mexican property was
simply taken.

One American Congressman wrote at the time:

“This continent was intended by provi-
dence as a vast theater on which to work out
the grand experiment of republican govern-
ment, under the auspices of the Anglo-Saxon
Race.” 15

The Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo annexed California, New
Mexico, Nevada and parts of Colorado, Arizona and Utah.

10 The Construction of Race & Racism The Construction of Race & Racism 11