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Chapter 13 The Impending Crisis LOOKING WESTWARD Manifest Destiny the belief or idea that the US was destined, by God and by history, to rule the entirety of North America; believed it was an unselfish attempt to expand American liberties and it was used to justify expansion Racial Justification advocates of the MD believed that North America were to be populated solely by white Americans; their definition (of white Americans) excluded Indians and Mexicans Americans in Texas Opposition to Further Expansion many politicians, including Henry Clay, opposed the idea of MD as they feared it would rouse the conflict over slavery and threaten the stability of the Union Texas Mexicans launched a colonization law (1824) promising newcomers cheap land and for a 4-year exemption from taxes