...Manifest Destiny was the belief that the United States was destined or endowed by God with the mission of expanding across the continent, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Many people believed that it was the obvious destiny or America, which was “chosen” by God as a superior nations, to expand, as it is said, “from sea to shining sea.” The phrase was first coined in 1845 by journalist John L. O’Sullivan. He believed that the United States had been given a mission by God to spread democracy, not by force, but simply by spreading across the continent. Obscure at first, the phrase only became popular when Whig Robert Winthrop, who opposed manifest destiny, ridiculed the idea in public. There were many interpretations of manifest destiny, but most reflected the widespread feeling of Nationalism that was sparked by the conclusion of and victory in the War of 1812. The term manifest destiny was widely used and interpreted, but it always seemed to outline three basic themes. Those themes were virtue, mission, and destiny. Manifest destiny focused on virtue of America’s people and government. American Exceptionalism was the belief that America’s history was above the norm and uncommonly “good”. Exceptionalism showed in the beliefs of people who thought that God had selected America as a “City on a Hill”; a role model and an ideal for the rest of the world, especially still-developing areas. Also, many people believed that America’s people, the “Anglo-Saxon race” were, in terms of...
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...Manifest Destiny The Effects and Repercussions Manifest Destiny is a term coined by John L. O’Sullivan in 1845. It started out as a measly little statement published in a popular American journal called the Democratic Review, but what it turned into was something more. Manifest Destiny was a popular idea circulating in the 1840’s and 50’s by people to describe the mission of expanding American from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. The Merriam-Webster dictionary refers to it as “a future event that is sure to happen : a destiny that is clearly seen and cannot be changed”. And that’s just was the expansionists believed. When America was just beginning to take shape, Americans realized that it was inevitable that they would expand from the...
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...Manifest Destiny the belief the expansion of US though American territory was both justified and inevitable. People believe they had to expand their civilization across the United States. So how did the idea of the Manifest Destiny change America in the early to mid-1800s? It helped motive western settlements, Native American removal, and a war with Mexico. The motivation of western settlements was not just for economic motives but religious. Many of the settlers believed God blessed the growth of the American nation. This lead to the painting the symbol of Manifest Destiny, the woman that looks like an angle moving with the settlers replacing darkness with light. Then the economic motives with the fur trade then also when gold was discovered...
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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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...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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...During the 19th century, American settlers wanted to expand westward for new territories. This expansion was known as manifest destiny. Many Americans wanted to enlarge the size of their country, so they could compete with other larger countries. Others wanted to expand America for economic reasons such as more land for farming, or for industrial purposes. While some viewed the expansion of the U.S. as a good thing, many others opposed the idea for various reasons. In the 1800s, the expansion of the United States gained many supporters and opposers. The expansion of the United States began in the 1800s. In 1803, while Thomas Jefferson was president, France had owned a large area of land between the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River...
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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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...Manifest Destiny, the idea of expanding westward and bringing on new technologies to the people that inhabit the unforgiving lands, began to spread across the United States in the 19th century. People in the eastern United States had varying ideas of how to generate profit, how to govern themselves or how the federal government should govern them, and how to provide a safe and healthy environment for their families. The citizens of the North primarily functioned on factory work and manufacturing profits, whereas the citizens of South was primarily based on farming and slave labor. The two often fought when it came to internal improvements, tariffs, and slave versus non-slave statehood. Expanding westward would present the two divided areas...
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...which further created turmoil and provoked the initiation of the Mexican-American War. Although the leadership of President Polk over the United States was one reason Mexico had to provoke the war, in the end, the beliefs of Manifest Destiny, the Texas annexation, and the weakness of the Mexican government during this time period were some of the factors which led the United States to provoke the Mexican-American War. These factors are considerably important because they show how the United States was focused on Westward expansion seeking to claim the territories of...
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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 Manifest Destiny was the expansion of the colonies and treaties, colonies claimed the land extending to the pacific ignoring European powers and violating treaties (Greenberg, 2012, 4). Manifest Destiny is the idea of continental expansion by the United States,from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans, which occurred out of deep desire and need to conquer new lands and expanded borders. However, expansion was done out of racism, which violates the ideal of equality, and is unconstitutional. Andrew Jackson was in favor of Manifest Destiny because he wanted Mississippi and Alabama freed of indians to enable those states to grow in population. “By opening the whole territory between Tennessee on the north and Louisiana on the south to the settlement of the whites it will incalculably strengthen the southwestern frontier and render the adjacent States strong enough to repel future invasions without remote aid’’ (Jackson, 2012, 61). Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act a law in 1830. He made it sound like it would benefit everyone however he was doing it out of racism. Zenas Leonard believed...
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...by the idea of “Manifest Destiny”; the belief that the Americans had a God-given right, based on racial superiority, to spread across the Pacific Ocean (Chavez 2). The motives that were really behind Manifest Destiny was the acquisition of new territory, and the Americans wanted territories which were relatively uninhabited by people they considered inferior. As Americans wandered in search of land towards the west, the reality that the majority of those lands had occupants living in them got overlooked. President Polk shared and guided the dream of manifest destiny, and offered to purchase some territory of Mexico. His aim was to convince Mexicans to get into a negotiation and surrender a portion of their land to America .However, the refusal of the offer by the Mexican government and the unbending of the Polk to populate the area resulted in tension in the two nations. President Polk told the congress that blood had been shed, and he provoked war with Mexicans. With the end of the Mexican War, the United States absorbed one third of that nation’s total area. Even though American’s gained a considerable amount of land, it created great political sectionalism in America. The Mexican American War was for the most part determined by Manifest Destiny that imparted nation building through territorial expansion, promoted the idea of American racial superiority and ultimately supported slavery's growth (Chavez 3). The westward movement of Americans in reply to manifest destiny...
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...Tammy Prater Survey of American History I HIST 2010 Spring 2014 “Manifest Destiny and American Territorial Expansion A Brief History with Documents” By Carrie Duncan Manifest Destiny is an event, and a philosophy, that changed how the United States expanded from thirteen colonies into what it is today. The term, Manifest Destiny, was first used in 1845 by John O'Sullivan, to give explanation for the United States' right of expansion. He stated that"...the right of our manifest destiny to over spread and to possess the whole of the continent which Providence has given us for the development of the great experiment of liberty and federaltive development of self government entrusted to us. It is right such as that of the tree to the space of air and the earth suitable for the full expansion of its principle and destiny of growth." 1 The principle behind Manifest Destiny has been around since Christopher Columbus first discovered the Caribbean. Many years after Columbus' discovery of the New World, Europe and Mexico were wanting to expand, and control new territories in North America. This want for new territory, would cause boundary issues and fears to arise soon after the Revolutionary War with the fledgling government of the United States. These boundary issues and fears would help the supporters, who wanted to expand the United States borders, to push for acquiring new territories in...
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...Expansionism of mid 19th Century With the election of president James K. Polk the notion of Manifest Destiny began to make its way through America. The idea insisted that it was in gods will to pursue the west coast of present day United States. The statement “Manifest Destiny of the mid- 1800s proved to be just as controversial as it was beneficial for our nation” is an extremely invalid assertion. The newly adapted concept (Manifest Destiny) started to prove that America was a Global Power. Manifest Destiny expanded our borders, prompted economic growth, and led to the advancement of the railroad system. The westward expansion led America to have an increase in the quality of the economy. The Gold Rush gave those who had previously failed and lived in poverty on the east a new beginning in the west. The movement westward, created jobs and industry, that stimulated the American infrastructure. The growth sparked the opportunity for some to open businesses to meet the needs of the miners. With people gaining more funds they were able to output more back into the American Market. The newly acquired land approximately doubled the area of the United States. With the increase in land America appeared to also have a rise in the ranks of world power. We were getting our way with England (one of the worlds most powerful nations) in the recent land negotiations over Oregon and Maine. Moreover, America also had a population boom. Immigrants from afar were coming to our...
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...Americans believed that the United State, being one of the strongest of the nations, had a need to become even stronger. This is shown in the "manifest destiny" of the 1840's. Apart from the similarities, there were also several differences that included the American attempt to stretch their empire across the seas and into other parts of the world. Opponents of expansion in the 1840s did not oppose gaining new lands, but opposed the possible spread of slavery in the new territories. The opposition to expansion in the 1890s was based on concerns of controlling people far away of different cultures, but not opposed to the economic benefits. Throughout history, the United States had come off as a nation that would take what they wanted at any cost. This was prevalent in both cases of expansion as the Americans risked war and national safety for the sake of gaining land. During the 1840s, America's Manifest Destiny was the main reason for western expansion, since it was the idea that America was given a God-given right to stretch across the continent. The idea of Manifest Destiny encouraged men and women to move west and have big dreams. Aggressive nationalists invoked the idea to justify Indian removal, war with Mexico, and American expansion into Cuba and Central America. More positively, the idea of manifest destiny inspired missionaries, farmers, and pioneers, who dreamed only of transforming plains and fertile valleys into farms and small towns. 2. The Indians...
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