During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries the United States saw many issues and conflicts rise and pass, some more important than others. However, all of these issues, whether big or small, led to further division of politics in the United States. The most dividing issue during this period of time was the idea of Manifest Destiny, or territorial expansion.
             Manifest Destiny was the idea that it was the right and, well, the destiny of the United States to take over every bit of North America from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. Most citizens were in favor of expansion, although some politicians felt it contradicted the constitution. Strict constructionists were against territorial expansion, while loose constructionists felt expansion was the United States' destiny. Strict constructionists focused their argument around the fact that the constitution never directly states that the federal government has the right to acquire land. Those that viewed the constitution liberally, or loose constructionists, countered the opposing viewpoint by claiming that the right of expansion falls under the government's implied powers.
             One of the supporters of Manifest Destiny was James Polk, a democrat, who served as president from 1844 to 1848. Polk was strongly in favor of expanding the United States to the Pacific Ocean. Polk's ideals of expansion won him the election of 1844. That year, Henry Clay, a well known and respected political figure ran and was expected win by a large majority over the unknown Polk. The only problem was that Clay was nervous and hesitant about territorial expansion. He did not want to get tangled up with Mexico and he was also unsure of the constitutionality of expanding, keeping to a strict interpretation of the Constitution. Polk won because the majority of the public believed in Manifest Destiny. Along with influencing the presidential elections, Manifest Destiny played a ro
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