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.
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.
These ideas combined with the ever present belief in American exceptionalism gave rise to the concept of Manifest Destiny. Manifest Destiny was the driving force behind the rapid westward expansion of the United States in the nineteenth century as it was the expression of the belief that there was a “God-given” right to to spread across the continent. (Nash, et al., 2007., p. 379)
Late 19th Century and early 20th Century expansionism was a clear continuation of earlier 19th century Manifest Destiny displaying the ideals of God and westward expansion, and the use of aggression. Manifest Destiny was the God-Given right for the American people to expand westward. Once we did expand to our full country today of America, our expansion was not done. It was time for America to expand out of its contiguous region and become an imperialist nation. Leaders like Josiah Strong, believed it was the God-Given right to spread the Anglo-Saxon culture, and Beveridge, believed we needed to expand our markets and for more opportunities.
During the 1840s, the number of Americans ventured west into Texas, Oregon, and California increased. The states consumed the sense that the destiny was to authorized a nation that can comprised both coasts. President Andrew Jackson had attacked to buy California for $3.5 million in the year of 1835; however, Mexico had rejected the offered from Jackson. The word “Manifest Destiny” means in the 19th century concept that the expansion of the United State throughout the American continents was both justified and inexorable. “Manifest Destiny” was used in the mid of 1840s, yet I believed I can still see evidence of attitude even before the phrase was used.
Manifest Destiny Manifest destiny was the cultural belief in 19th-century America that American settlers were destined to expand throughout North America. Manifest Destiny justified expansion with a sense of mission and purpose, viewing America's expansion as inevitable and predetermined by God. US President James K. Polk was the chief who was most associated to Manifest Destiny. The ideology of Manifest Destiny influenced a variety of policies to aim at or destroy indigenous people. Manifest Destiny ignited partisan tensions over slavery that ultimately led to the Civil War.
During the 1800s in the United States, the idea that the nation must expand its boundaries to the Pacific was very popular. In the 1840s a newspaper editor by the name of John O'Sullivan gave this nation's idea the title of Manifest Destiny. When naming this idea in his newspaper, O'Sullivan, as many others, believed that the country was destined to take over the whole continent. As the idea of Manifest Destiny overspread the nation, white settlers began moving west, Pacific bound in search for wealth. During 1819 John Quincy Adams also was a key role in this age of Manifest Destiny, as he promoted the Adams- Onis treaty, which was a treaty between the Spanish and America, limiting Spanish settlement and made Spain give up their claim
Manifest destiny was the belief in which America was destined to expand through the entire continent. Tragically, hidden behind this God-driven and rightful duty, America tried to justify their violent and cruel actions towards Native Americans. Under religious purposes and political principles, the United States erroneously justified the brutal treatment done to the first inhabitants of America. Immorally Americans felt superior and filled with pride they became blinded to the pain of their neighbors. The government unlawfully took their lands and forced them to leave what belonged to them.
Manifest Destiny was a critical doctrine in the history of the United States that molded the nation's outlook on territorial expansion during the mid-19th century. It was the belief that it was the divine duty and destiny of Americans to expand their nation across North America, from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. The concept was popularized by politicians and the media to justify the aggressive territorial expansion and American exceptionalism during the period. The implications were significant to the process of westward expansion, leading to issues such as conflicts with indigenous populations, border disputes, and territorial acquisition. It is essential to recognize both the positive and negative outcomes that shaped the development
During the 1800s, America was a prospering and powerful country so the People felt that it was their Manifest Destiny, or obvious fate, to settle from coast to coast. Therefore, they set out to get all lands in the West, and were determined to do so, no matter how much they had to give up. However, when the Americans started moving westward, they kicked Native Americans out along the way. They had no respect for other people’s ownership of the land and did anything they needed to obtain it. The idea of Manifest Destiny divided the nation in several controversial topics like Indian territories and slavery.
The birth of Westward expansion and Manifest Destiny in the United States can be traced back to the early 19th century when the country was still in its infancy. Manifest destiny is the belief that it was America’s mission to expand from coast to coast, and to spread its political, social, and economic systems to new lands. This belief evolved into the driving force behind westward expansion, and the American government adapted many policies and actions to make it a reality (Policarpo). One of the most significant events that marked the beginning of westward expansion was the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. The idea that it was the destiny of the American people to expand and conquer new lands was viewed as a divine mission, and it became a popular rallying cry for politicians, intellectuals, and common citizens alike.
Manifest destiny was the founding idea behind most of the governments’ Indian policies. Manifest destiny was the belief that the United States had a “God-given”
Manifest Destiny was the European’s belief that God had sent them to North America to conquer and spread their ideas across the entirety of the continent. They had seen themselves as a vessel for God to use to spread his message and the democracy that came with them. When the Europeans first landed on North American soil, they immediately announced themselves as the rulers of the land and began to occupy the land. When the white settlers arrived on North American grounds, they immediately disregarded the existence of the first nation people. The first nation people were unfamiliar with the European lifestyle and their way of governing the land.
Later manifest destiny became into place it is the belief that the United States had a “God-given” right to aggressively spread the values of white civilization and expand the nation from ocean to ocean. This was dictated toward the Indians and other nation. The Indians were removed from their land so the reservation system came into play. Which was granted by the U.S. government. It states that land is given by the federal government to American Indians beginning in the 1860s.
