...How did the manifest destiny influence the growth of the United States during the 19 century? The Manifest Destiny was a belief that the American settlers thought that justified their actions of expanding and moving across the continent to spread their traditions and institutions no matter the harm they brought to others to achieve it, while enlightening more ancient nations. The United States sought to expand the country from the frontier of the Louisiana Purchase all the way to California. The westward expansion used the issues of power, wealth, and morality to expand our country or in other words reach our “Manifest Destiny’’. Many Americans believed that God blessed the growth of American nation and even demanded of them to actively work on it. Since they were sure of their cultural and racial superiority, they felt that their destiny was to spread their rule around and enlighten the nations that were not so lucky. Their race gave them the idea that they had power over others so they started with the Indians. This is how Andrew Jackson beat the Creek Indians at horseshoe bend and forced them to give up...
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...O’Sullivan a New York journalist, coined the term "Manifest Destiny", which defines the recognition that Americans had a destiny given to them by God, to expand into the western territories “ The whole continent was to be theirs”(American Nations 300). John L. O'Sullivan was the first to popularly describe the pattern of western expansion throughout history, going as far back to the first settlers and their expansion to the west. O'Sullivan's term "Manifest Destiny" was used as a justification to acquire new territories. The War of Mexico was fought between the United States and Mexico in 1846 - 1848, over the Mexican territory. President Polk believed in the “Manifest Destiny” and felt he had to spread it across the country . The Mexican territory was a great way to expand “Manifest Destiny", he tried to acquire the lands by secretly negotiating, and renegotiating, but failed. In the end, Polk started a war on false pretenses, to gain the new territories. He declared war on Mexico, claiming the Mexico was invading U.S. territory. Polk used “Manifest Destiny” to justify starting a war with Mexico, when the Mexicans would not sell “The area that Polk wanted, lying in the path of the American expansion..” (The American Nation...
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...Manifest Destiny and the Oregon Fever Jimmy Richard HIST101 D008 American Military University Dr. Peter Cash During the 19th Century, “Manifest Destiny” was the belief or idea that Anglo-Americans were chosen by God to expand Northern American republican institutions and Protestant churches from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific coast. (Henretta, Edwards, & Self, 2012) Many great Anglo-Americans such as Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Polk, Pioneer Daniel Boone, and Army volunteers Captain Meriwether Lewis and Lieutenant William Clark, just to name a few, had been interested in expanding Anglo-American exploration and presence in North America. Motivated by economic wealth and prosperity, political power, or just plain curiosity,...
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...In 1803, the United States started its movement through the Louisiana Purchase. There were also many other movements to support Manifest Destiny. The California Gold Rush and the Oregon Treaty are both examples of movements that support Manifest Destiny. Many people question whether this movement should be called Eastward Encroachment or Westward Expansion. The movement should be called Eastward Encroachment because of it causing assimilation, massacres, and negative impacts on native people. This movement should be called Eastward Encroachment because of all the negative impacts it has had on natives. In module 6.4 (War on the Plains) it shows how thousands of Natives died because of the movement, including soldiers, women, and children. 6.4 War on the...
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...During the mid to late 1800s, the United States felt two waves of expansion, Manifest Destiny and Imperialism. Manifest Destiny, as a definition, stands for the westward expansion to reach the Pacific coast during the mid-1800s; Imperialism stood for the external expansion into locations beyond the North American continent. During the years of Manifest Destiny, with government support, the United States expanded and went on to add eighteen states through advances such as the Louisiana Purchase, the Mexican War, and multiple treaties and deals with foreign governments. Such expansions towards the Pacific Coast brought the United States great resources and a large portion of land, propelling the country into an industrial age of progress and prosperity. Later in the century, Imperialism began and sought to expand the United States beyond...
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...Is Manifest Destiny necessary for America’s growth? This question has posed a large debate for many people. However you may think, there are many reasons as to why Manifest Destiny was justified. Reason one being that moving westward caused America to prosper and grow because of economic opportunities. Secondly, our country spread its democracy and cultural ideas to different people groups. Lastly, there was a population increase in the country, not only Americans, but immigrants started to flee to America in hopes of finding a new job and a new life, and to gain wealth. Ultimately, there are many reasons as to why Manifest Destiny was justified. The gold rush was possibly one of the largest events in America’s history that led to many economic...
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...America has changed over the course of history. From late 18th and 19th century the United States expanded from sea to shining sea. People said Manifest Destiny was about our god given right to expand from coast to coast. It started with many land purchases, wars, trails, and land occupation. Those little reasons made the people think we should head west. That’s how we got here today. Mountain men had an important part in Manifest Destiny. Mountain men were men who were fur trappers and explored the western land. They help the economy by trapping beaver pelts. They were people of exploration they explored the Rocky Mountains and most of the western land. They helped settlers that were moving west by guiding them to best place. They did this because they became natives of the land because they got help with the Native Americans. They helped them threw the harsh winters. Mountain men were very friendly with Native American tribes. Mountain men had a part of Manifest Destiny but they are just a vaccine of information. The Santa Fe Trail was one of the many trails that had settlers moving west. It...
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...angelic-like figure. I wonder how Manifest Destiny started and what lasting effects it had. Manifest Destiny had many lasting effects on the U.S. Not only did Manifest Destiny shape the territorial expansion the U.S. had in North America, but it also came with the loss of cultural diversity and environmental degradation. When historians or teachers talk about Manifest Destiny, they praise it and only look at the positive things Manifest Destiny did. Manifest Destiny is a dark piece of the United States' history, Manifest Destiny removed Native Americans from their land, sometimes...
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...The War of 1812 has ended with neither the British or the Americans being declared the victors, and no land has been won. What events led to the creation of the idea of “Manifest Destiny?” How did this war lead to the expansion of America into the vast country that exists today? The War of 1812 began as a conflict to prevent the further violation of American rights by European empires. Following the war, the United States began to have broader ideas for how vast the country needed to be to express the power and development of the country. Numerous social, political, and economic factors took hold of Americans as conflicting ideas and beliefs of both the citizens and the government led to the expansion of the country that the United States exists...
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...“Manifest Destiny” was used as a motto to describe the westward expansion of the United States in the 19th century, credited to John O’Sullivan who used the phrase in a newspaper article in 1845(Brumidi et al., n.d.). This expansion brought success and progression to the future of the United States, however there were many moral drawbacks, negative effects on the environment, and political disputes that came along with the expansion. In April of 1803, the United States made a deal with France, purchasing “828,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River in exchange for $15 million”(National Archives). Around this time, the United States for the most part, was populated east of the Mississippi River, split into two regions, the north and south. The North...
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...The concept of Manifest Destiny, first introduced by journalist John O'Sullivan, encompassed the belief that White Americans had a divine mission to colonize the American West and spread Protestant democratic values. This ideology significantly influenced the American Westward Migration, shaping the geographical expansion and the attitudes of White Americans towards other tribes and cultures. Manifest Destiny propagated the idea of White American superiority over Native Americans, promoting the belief that they possessed superior forms of administration and religion. It fueled a sense of destiny and entitlement among the White Americans, leading them to disregard the rights and territories of Native American Indian tribes and Mexicans living in regions such as...
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...Class: 7th Period What is Manifest Destiny and how is it important to our lives in America? Manifest Destiny is the belief that the United States was Destined by God to extend its boundaries to the Pacific Ocean. Why is this important, though? Back in the early 1800s to the mid 1850s, many Americans believed that Manifest Destiny was very important in making America. Because of this, Manifest Destiny caused many major events in that time period that helped build America into the country it is today. For instance, Manifest Destiny caused the Mormon Trail and the Mexican War, which pushed Westward expansion of the United States and led to freedom. Manifest Destiny of the Mormon Trail. For instance, “Joseph Smith’s...
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...(Kaufman 38). However, when there was no more land to claim, we turned our attention to Cuba and the Philippines, Spain’s footholds in the Atlantic and North Pacific. Unlike Spain, we were doing a favor for these helpless, indigenous people. We used the justification of saving people from the treachery of colonization as a mask for our own desire to get power overseas and neutralize Spain. The Spanish-American War is the defining example of why America cannot remain true to its founding ideals and still have an empire. American imperialism was not more moral than the actions of other European colonial powers, as our desire to grow militarily and economically was masked by altruistic motives that turned out to be thinly veiled racism. In this paper, I will argue that America cannot have an empire because the main goal is to serve our economic and military interests; we trample on the will of the locals, and threaten them if they don’t...
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...foreign policy. Manifest Destiny was the belief that the U.S. was destined to expand westward. The people of America slowly began to believe in the idea of moving westward and taking the land that belonged to Americans and Americans only. The belief in Manifest Destiny was definitely, the most important factor underlying the U.S. foreign policy, and the American Growth. At first people were hesitant about moving westward, but overtime people slowly accepted it and realized its importance. Since they were taking over land that technically didn’t belong to them, new tariffs and policies had to be passed by congress. This is the time period when the U.S. really grew. The idea was first proclaimed by John O’ Sullivan, whom wrote a paper called “The Great Nation of Futurity”. In O'Sullivan's essay, he wrote and believed that America was and is supposed to expand from sea to shining sea. The Manifest Destiny movement hurt many people though such as Indians, Mexicans, and ironically U.S. Citizens themselves. Everyone lost their homelands and many people became upset. Civilians were becoming angered so in order to calm down the citizens, the U.S. Government had to establish new policies and protective...
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...Manifest Destiny, which was first used by journalist John O’Sullivan, expressed the belief that White Americans had a mission to colonize the American West and establish Protestant democratic values. The American Westward Migration was impacted by this concept and increased the likelihood that the migration would spread geographically. The Manifest Destiny maintained that White Americans were superior to the Natives. They believed they had superior forms of administration and religion and were predestined by God to move to the west and expand. This caused them to despise other tribes along the route, including Native American Indian tribes and Mexicans living in Texas, California, New Mexico, etc. Even while many of the individuals who live in the Wild West had...
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