Christ Blackman
Pete Stobie
Introduction to Graduate Studies
March 8, 2010
Bibliography
Koning, Hans. The Conquest of America: How the Indian Nations Lost Their Continent. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1993.

In this text, Mr. Koning discusses how the natives of what is now the United States of America lost their land, culture, and livelihoods due to our manifest destiny. Our lifestyles and ultimate waste and hoarding of resources have been established on the premise that our American way is the better way. As we proceed to attain and use more, America spreads its hand and control even further through the uses of its corporations and other services. Koning (1993) has revealed that in 1845, author John L. O’Sullivan coined the term Manifest Destiny. At that time, America was growing at a staggering rate with the independence of Mexico and some Native American nations. People like O’Sullivan felt even larger expansions were inevitable. This phrase justified our divine right to expand westward and to exercise hegemony over our neighbors and ultimately is a defense of what we now call Imperialism. This was a complex set of ideas encompassing opinions of race, religion, culture, and economic necessity. Throughout the nation, settlers traveled in search of land to further expand their wealth and prominence. In Texas and Florida, they found oil. In California, Nevada, and Arizona, they found gold. All the while, settling into these “uncivilized” regions spreading what they felt was progress and democracy. The fact that the lands were already occupied was of little consequence of the ultimate goal of controlling the land. It was, after all, our destiny. In the wake of many wars fought with the indigenous people of this land, we have filled our coffers with the booty of our empire and by the blood of the natives.

Perkins, John, The Secret