Source N We had no choice but to accept the terms dictated by the invaders. The army of General Scott occupies our capital. Under this treaty, Mexico surren...

This question asks you to evaluate the reliability of a source about American attitudes toward westward expansion, specifically the ideology of Manifest Destiny. You must consider content, provenance, and your own knowledge.

What the source says: The senator claims it is America's "destiny" to extend liberty across the continent, that western lands are "largely empty," that Mexico cannot govern its territories, and that Native Americans lack "fixed settlements or organized governments." This is a clear expression of Manifest Destiny ideology.

Provenance and purpose: The source is a senator's speech from 1845, designed to build political support for territorial expansion. As a rhetorical piece, it deliberately presents arguments favouring expansion while ignoring counterarguments. The timing is significant: 1845 was the year Texas was annexed and tensions with Mexico were rising toward war.

Testing reliability with own knowledge: The claim that western lands were "largely empty" was false. Numerous Native American nations occupied these territories, many with complex societies and agricultural systems. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 had already forcibly relocated eastern nations. The criticism of Mexican governance was a political justification for what would become the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). John O'Sullivan coined the phrase "Manifest Destiny" in 1845, and the senator's language directly reflects this ideology.

Reaching Level 3 (5-7 marks): The highest marks require you to distinguish between what the source is reliable for and what it is not. The source is reliable evidence of how expansionists justified their policies and what they believed. It is unreliable as a factual account of conditions in western territories. A top-level answer makes this dual judgement using both the source's content and provenance alongside specific own knowledge.