Manifest Destiny is the belief of the nineteenth century that America was destined by God to expand westward. The author of Our Country: Its Possible Future and Its Present Crisis believed that God established Anglo-Saxons as the superior people whose purpose was to spread Christianity. (Doc B) This idea of spreading a superior culture or religion has been a motive for expansion for decades before this. Despite this support for expansionism, there were those who were against it.
Manifest Destiny is a unique, yet mysterious fundamental series of events in American history. No other country’s history contains such an eventful history as the United States. Amy Greenberg’s book, Manifest Destiny and American Territorial Expansion, provides documented evidence that settlers believed they were destined for expansion throughout the continent. In other words, many religious settlers believed that it was a call from God for the United States to expand west. On the other hand, people believed that Manifest Destiny vindicated the war against Mexico.
Manifest Destiny is a term used to describe a particular ideology and belief that white European-Americans were inherently superior than that of natives and other ethnic groups and were destined by God to secure claim expand their territories across America from "sea to shining sea. " Under the guise of religion and racist ideologies white European- Americans used extreme measures to wipe the native inhabitants from their land in order to reach this goal. Independence had been won, the war of 1812 had been conquered, and American settlers wanted to create a more homogenous society with more territory and preservation of their religion and racial superiority. In order to achieve to actualize their vision U.S. policy makers justified their reactions
In the 1800’s Manifest Destiny became a widely-held belief among settlers, their mentality was that they were destined to expand across North America pushing the natives out of their land. This attitude among western settlers fueled the removal of Native Americans and war with Mexico. The thinking of some of these settlers was both inevitable and justified by their God to expand and take more land with no limit. Geographically speaking, modern day America is the result of this “Manifest Destiny”. This was also happening around the time the United States experienced its second “Great Awakening”, which was another protestant religious revival movement happening in the early 19th century.
The idea of Manifest Destiny was a powerful belief that changed American history. Manifest Destiny was the idea of destiny and duty of the United States to expand westward across the North American continent. The expansion was used to spread democracy, capitalism, and Protestantism, and assert American dominance over the land. Manifest Destiny fueled westward expansion, territorial races, and conflicts with indigenous peoples and other nations, leaving a lasting impact on the United States and the nations around it. The Manifest Destiny's idea stated that the United States was destined to expand its territory from coast to coast.
Manifest Destiny was the belief that many Americans held, that the United States was destined to someday hold land “from sea to shining sea”. Emigrants came to the new world seeking their own land and freedom. For some it was freedom for religion, and for others freedom from the feudal system of Europe. With seeming unlimited land for the taking, anyone could be a lord of the new world.
Manifest Destiny was a very popular theme sweeping the United States in the years following the War of 1812. Although this idea began with the earliest settlers and their belief that God gave them a mission to spread their civilization across the lands of North America, the 1800’s would bring new meaning to this mission the settlers were given. Manifest Destiny focused on the United States expanding its territory to cover all of North America in order to Christianize and civilize the native people. It was a widely held belief that it was the divine right of the American people to claim all the land throughout the North American continent. A belief that would lead to the mistreatment of the native people, multiple wars, but ultimately reach
Manifest Destiny was a phrase used by politicians and leaders in the United States in the 1840s to justify and promote territorial expansion across the North American continent by providing a sense of mission to citizens. It promoted this sense of mission by fomenting a desire to establish a large empire-like nation in which the ideals of democracy, freedom, and progress are ostensibly protected and promoted. It strongly characterized U.S. internal and external policies and has continued to do so to this day. In theory, one aspect of this desire was its principle to bring the ideals of democratic self-government to any peoples capable of it; in practice, however, this often meant excluding Native Americans and those with non-European ancestry.
A Look Inside: “The Coddling of the American Mind” In the September 2015 issue of The Atlantic, the article, “The Coddling of the American Mind” co-written by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathon Haidt, was published. In this article, Lukianoff and Haidt make the argument that students of American colleges have become increasingly sensitive towards speech that could be deemed “offensive” or “triggering. And in an effort to appease students as well as avoid any possibility of a lawsuit being brought against them, colleges have become more willing to accommodate classes, by removing this type of speech from the curriculum.
Introduction When the United States began as the 13 colonies, the idea of Manifest Destiny began to spread rapidly throughout the country. The term Manifest Destiny refers to the nineteenth century idea that God had chosen the American people to expand westward across North America towards the Pacific Ocean. This idea was heavily favored by Americans and was desperate to be achieved. Many events that occurred throughout the nineteenth century in the United States helped shape Western America and contributed towards westward expansion.
Manifest Destiny is the expansion westward into new territory for a better economical society and an increase of resources for those who expanded. White Americans fulfilled their desire to stretch from coast to coast and receive land and resources in the process. On the other hand, African Americans were forced to expand as labor for their slaveholders. In 1872, John Gast painted a picture of an angel leading a spread of civilization depicting Manifest Destiny (Document 2). As Manifest Destiny is occurring and colonists are expanding westward, slavery is brought along with it.
In the 19th Century, there were strong supporters of the ideology of Manifest Destiny. Manifest Destiny was basically the belief of expansion by settlers expanding all over America because god supposedly destined the Americans for expansions by their resources. This resulted for the Americans to find a modern mode of transportation that would make traveling from the east to the west coast easier. This resulted in a mega construction known as the Transcontinental Railroad. The railroad not only helps with transportation but with trading.
“The expansive future is our arena, and for our history. We are entering on its untrodden space, with the truths of god in our minds, beneficent objects in our hearts, and with a clear conscience unsullied by the past.” This is telling the reader that we have a huge desire to go and capture something that no one can stop us from.” Manifest Destiny” is supporting of expansion, discovering new lands and resources. “Manifest Destiny,” “American Progress,” “Reporting to the President, September
Manifest Destiny was the term used by John O’Sullivan to describe America’s desire to expand West due to reasons including both the vast amount of unclaimed land and the opportunities Americans wanted to explore. During this time, Americans believed that it was their God-given right to expand West, and therefore they were entitled to push away any groups that were in their way. Due to the mindset that the Americans could do as they pleased with the groups of people who got in their way, Manifest Destiny affected many groups of people, including the American Indians and Slaves, and continued to build up the preexisting tension between the North and South. One of the groups of people affected greatly by Manifest Destiny were the Native Americans. Manifest Destiny affected the American Indians by spreading foreign diseases to them as they moved Westward, through the Native American territory.
If Native Americans were not compliant, Americans would murder them. Although Manifest Destiny was seen as an inevitable movement among Americans and resulted in the formation of the American West in the Nineteenth century, it was truthfully an act of invasion and subjugation against peoples who had settled the land for hundreds of years earlier. Manifest Destiny led to an obvious upsurge in racial
