BCOF/Ralph Waldo Emerson

I thought it was very interesting the prophecy of Ralph Waldo Emerson, "the United States will conquer Mexico, but it will be as the man swallows the arsenic. Mexico will poison us." How right he seemed to be. The acquisition of Mexico also brought more slave states--adding to the slave power--which became the poison of choice. I think that this would be a great opportunity to discuss with my class that sometimes things that appear to be a good can actually back fire and cause more problems-poison. The larger the United States became the harder it was to manage all of the differences--mostly political. This has been a big eye opener to me as to all that led up to the Civil War. Perhaps the Manifest Destiny happened so quickly that our nation wasn't adequately ready to deal with all the cultural and political differences. This could be a great lesson.