Manifest Destiny Case Study

2. Define and explain the concept of Manifest Destiny. What groups tended to support the idea and why? How did the idea influence U.S. foreign policy of the mid-nineteenth century? What were its most significant consequences? Manifest Destiny is a label created by John L. O’Sullivan as a justification of American expansion. Many Americans, such as O’Sullivan, believed that America needed to expand West to fully achieve its destiny and to protect the interest of its citizens. The American Yawp, chapter 12, describe the manifest destiny best, “The precepts of manifest destiny, grounded in the twin beliefs of virtuous American institutionalism and the uplifting effects of agrarian republicanism, rode the wagon trails westward in

Manifest Destiny created problems with Native Americans including the Indian Removal Act. In the mid-nineteenth century, Native Americans were in control of most of the land east of the Mississippi River and almost all the West. Americans believe that “ Expansion hinged on a federal policy of Indian removal. The harassment and dispossession of American Indians - depended on manifest destiny’s belief in the divinely ordained process of putting land to its best use” (yawp). American’s desired expansion so much they removed Native Americans from their homes, places they had lived for years because it meant a little more land for them. In 1830 Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, this would start the treaty negotiations with Native Americans. Although, this was really and act forced Native Americans to move and give up their lands that were east of the Mississippi for land in the West. “...state and federal governments pressured the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Cherokee nations to sign treaties and surrender land” (yawp). When the Cherokee nation tried to defend their land, they sued the state of Georgia for the protection of their lands. They even went to the Supreme Court after Georgia revoked legal state agreements that they had with the Cherokee’s, that had guaranteed rights of movement and jurisdiction of tribal law. Even the Supreme Court couldn’t help the Cherokee Nation because Georgia law does not apply to Georgia law. In 1838, President Martin van Buren used the New Echota Treaty and forcibly removed any Cherokee that was still on the land. “ Sixteen thousand Cherokee began the journey, but harsh weather, poor planning, and difficult travel resulted in between 3,000-4,000 deaths on what became known as the Trail of Tears” (yawp). Some Native American Nation’s still dislike/fear the American government. We have taken over Native American land and left them with