Is there a direct connection between Manifest Destiny and the American Civil War? Explain.

In our reading this week, we learned about the United States’ ideology of Manifest Destiny, and the territorial gains which resulted from it: Texas, California, and the American southwest. As these new territories are settled, a great debate reverberates throughout the nation: will these new areas be slave states or free-labor states.

Is there a direct connection between Manifest Destiny and the American Civil War? Explain.

Here are your discussion questions:

Is there a direct connection between Manifest Destiny and the American Civil War? Explain.
Based on Lincoln’s speech in 1854, did he agree with the Kansas-Nebraska Act? Did he agree that slavery should continue to spread into newly developed territories?
At what point did the Civil War become inevitable? Explain.