UNITED STATES HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT - JMap

Anchor Paper – Thematic Essay—Level 5 – A
United States. Therefore, the United States was able to achieve the
objective of expanding to the Pacific. The Mexican Cession fulfilled
America’s destiny for greatness by providing the nation with Pacific
trading ports to Asia, rich farmland, and valuable minerals. Now,
American democracy reigned from ocean to ocean and the population
moved westward. In a time period where a presidential slogan could be
“54º 40’ or fight!” signifying expansionism, the Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo was a successful foreign policy initiative. 54º 40’ was a
rallying cry to expand into Oregon and under the Polk presidency,
Manifest Destiny nearly completed the present territorial breadth of
the United States (without the upcoming Gadsden Purchase).
Manifest Destiny was a successful foreign policy initiative in the
name of American interests.
During the Cold War, under the advisement of George Kennan and
the Long Telegram, the United States followed the foreign policy of
containment. This was a major departure from Washington’s advice,
as the United States made a series of alliances to better contain the
Soviet Union and China. The interests of the nation were extremely
anticommunist as reflected by the McCarthy hearings that continued
into the Eisenhower presidency and infringed on personal rights in
order to promote anticommunism. The United States also followed a
theorem called the “domino theory” in Southeast Asia which stated
that if one country like Vietnam fell to communism, the entire area
would succumb to communism. The United States, as the leader of
NATO and the free world, was against communism and it was the
interest of the nation to stop the spread of communism. The United
States had been providing aid to stop an insurrection in French
U.S. Hist. & Gov. Rating Guide – June ’13 [7] Vol. 1