...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 was a nineteenth-century belief that held that the United States was destined to span across the American continent. Manifest Destiny, to a significant extent, played a major role in dividing the Union from the 1830 to 1860. Manifest Destiny stimulated the territorial expansion of the United States from sea to shining sea. The admission of these territories as new states lead to the major divisions and conflicts across the country on the issue of whether they are to be admitted as free or slave states. The American expansionist belief known as Manifest Destiny took decades to develop until solidification in the minds of Americans. During the nineteenth century English-Americans settled in the West starting in Texas and continuing...
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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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...The new country of the U.S. began rapid expansion. Initially, by the 1830-40’s America was expanding into the southwest. John L. O’Sullivan, Ney York journalist captured the phrase “manifest destiny” in the 1840’s. The idea of manifest destiny was developed. Manifest destiny was the belief or doctrine, held chiefly in the middle and latter part of the 19th century, that it was the destiny of the U.S. to expand its territory over the whole of North America and to extend and enhance its political, social, and economic influences. (Dictionary .com). Manifest destiny was substantial in the U.S. to justify an imperialistic grab of Mexican land in California, Texas, and New Mexico. Expansion into the western frontiers offered opportunities for self-advancement....
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...The belief of Manifest Destiny during the 1830’s to 1860’s along with territorial expansion in the United States played a major role in uniting the country. Territorial expansion contributed to the unification of the U.S. economically politically and socially. The term manifest destiny originated in the 1840’s expressing not only the expansion of land but also individual, political and economic expansion as well. Manifest Destiny created this vision for Americans that they had the right and the authority to unite together and take the land west of what they owned. Socially slavery would become an issue, economically the economy would become stable, and politically allies would be created through war. The belief of manifest destiny and action of territorial expansion unified the United States through multiple different scenarios. The political affect of expansion united the Americans in such cases as the U.S. Mexican War. War would bring the common people together to fight against a common enemy (Doc. 2). We can see that because of Americans ideal belief in manifest destiny it created a situation where we wanted land and decided to take it deliberately causing the U.S. Mexican War unifying the people of the United States as a whole. Wining this...
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...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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...In the early 1800’s, the words “Manifest Destiny” were cleverly coined by John O’Sullivan to describe the speedily growing country. These words inspired many Americans to travel west. This simple phrase meaning obvious fate helped shape our nation and greatly affected how it is today. In this mind-set we fought a war with Mexico over its claims to much of the western territory in North America. Our country grew with the addition of new land when the war ended. At the time, many Americans felt it was their duty to move west. By 1848 the unbelievable had happened, the United States tripled in size from the original few eastern states with a total of about thirty states. Many Americans felt that it was their right and duty to move west because...
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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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...Manifest Destiny is a belief in the nineteenth century that the extension of the United States was both inevitable and a God-given right and both James K. Polk and Theodore Roosevelt believed in this. According to Classroom Synonym, “Roosevelt was a strong nationalist who believed in the idea of manifest destiny. This meant that it was considered America's destiny to be a powerful country and expand its character and values by influencing others.” Also, according to UVA Miller Center, “New York Jacksonian Democrat, John L. O'Sullivan, accuses opponents of Texas annexation of “limiting our greatness and checking the fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying...
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...Manifest Destiny is a term for the mentality predominant amid the nineteenth century time of American development that the Unified States could, as well as was bound to, extend across the nation. This mentality helped fuel western settlement, Local American expulsion and war with Mexico. The expression was first utilized by John L. O’Sullivan in an article on the extension of Texas distributed in the July-August 1845 release of the Assembled States Magazine and Vote based Audit, which he altered. The term show predetermination began in the 1840s. It communicated the conviction that it was Somewhat English Saxon Americans’ opportune mission to extend their human advancement and establishments over the broadness of North America. This development would include not simply regional...
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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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...John L. O'Sullivan devised the term manifest destiny in 1840’s in place of a growing belief that the United States was destined by God to expand. The idea that the United States had a God given right to expand its territory was used to justify territorial growth and conquest of the west. The term manifest destiny didn’t just become a catch phrase which justified American efforts to conquer new territory but also to seek out new markets for its goods across the oceans. Manifest destiny was a defense of what is now called Imperialism. The settlers from the United States that gradually moved into the Mexican province of Texas was one of the clearest examples of manifest destiny in the nineteenth century. A series of reactions led to the annexation...
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...In his paper “Benito Cereno” and Manifest Destiny, Allan Moore Emery offers a well-structured and informative presentation of the development of American expansionism, placing Melville’s novella in contemporary political and historical context. More specifically, the paper deals with the concept of Manifest Destiny developed in Benito Cereno, which Emery defines as “the mind-set of those many Americans who fancied themselves citizens of an elect nation, destined by Providence to govern the globe” (49). In his argument, Emery employs an interesting analogy: San Dominick is a symbol of the Spanish empire. Its “disorderliness” stands for the “anarchy” found by American expansionists in Latin America, while this confusion is attributed to Cereno’s incapability as leader and his weak style of command. Delano’s plot to take control of Cereno’s vessel anticipates American interventionism in the Caribbean, it is argued. However, Manifest Destiny is portrayed in an adverse fashion, considering the fact that the invasion of San Dominick is not motivated by the desire to change the condition of the oppressed, but by mere desire for material gain. The term exceptionalism is not explicitly mentioned, but Emery is clearly hinting at it being the justification for territorial expansion. Manifest Destiny is, as claimed by Emery, a mere rhetorical camouflage for a largely political enterprise (54). Another interesting political instance, according to the author, is when Delano attempts to buy...
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...As the 19th century rolled around the notion of Manifest Destiny had been buzzing around in the air. The nation not only thought that they could expand west but that is was their “destiny”. This principal was symbolized as “the western territorial expansion of the united states”. This idea of spreading to the west had been brought about because a few factors. Starting with the Treaty of Ghent which ended the War of 1812, up until the begging of the Civil War. The war of 1812 I believe played a great role in the stereotypes of Native Americans. However the nation was still in a period of ethnic cleansing, keep that in mind. “Soon after Black Hawk’s war, President Andrew Jackson signed into law the Indian Removal Act. This particular piece of...
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...Ryan Barker Professor Todd Leahy History 110 22 Nov 2014 Manifest Destiny John L. O’Sullivan’s vision of Manifest Destiny seems almost to be an interpretation of god’s will in his propaganda of why we should take more land and expand the United States. The negative tone that is conveyed on Mexico is flagrantly abundant as he states that Texas is already in the occupation of the United States and we should clear away any remnants of Spain. He states that the territories are sparsely populated and are of more use to a country that will have more than 250 million residents in the future. He leads on to say that California is also freely available as it is being settled by Americans. Slavery is pointed out to not be an issue in this, but racial undertones line the entire 3 pages. He refers to “Anglo Saxon” or white people as those who are destine to take the rest of this continent and even slurs the French in Canada stating that they can be attacked as well. From the words used in this paper O’Sullivan was not intending to spark a cohabitation with Mexican and African Americans in these new states. The overall purpose of this piece in my opinion is to stir the expansionist feelings inside of Americans to start an empire and further the United States power through violent means. It seemed to be a way to light a fire in the white puritans hearts that they are better than the rest of the world and should spread and multiply because of this. This is obviously a very effective...
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