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American Origins
Americans in the antebellum period (1840-1860) constantly tested their limits, both as individuals and as a society, confronting the challenges of settling and governing the vast country that lay to the west of the original coastal states. This ongoing confrontation between the ambitions of man and the awesome power of nature contributed to an even more romantic and radical conception of American individualism. Yet these unfettered individuals also had to deal with the practical realities of creating states and territories from western lands. To justify western expansion, Americans evolved the idea that they had a "manifest destiny" to become a continental nation. Manifest destiny made it easier to justify Indian removal and the annexation of southwestern lands from Mexico. But dissenting voices began to be heard, as some Americans questioned whether or not the nation was losing its moral compass. |