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Nature Of Manifest Destiny

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It was once said that “America is the greatest, freest and most decent society in existence“. It is an oasis of goodness in a desert of cynicism and barbarism; this country, once an experiment unique in the world, is now the last best hope for the world“. Today, many Americans share these sentiments. In fact, for many, America is more than a country; it is also a philosophy and a way of life. Since its inception, the founding fathers believed that they could create a nation unlike any other. Based on the ideology that individuals should be free to pursuit a life of liberty and happiness, the founding fathers set out to create a perfect union, under god, where democratic principles were allowed to flourish. By the mid 1800’s, this ideology was deeply embedded into American society, and Americans sought to expand the boarders of the United States westward. In fact, in 1845 John O’Sulivian coined the term “manifest destiny” to describe America’s expansion into territories in the west. …show more content…

Accordingly, the intangible nature of the doctrine makes its theoretical underpinnings difficult to define. Although some suggest that the ideas expressed in the manifest destiny are situated around the belief that Anglo Saxons were ordained by god to peruse westward expansion, historian Reginald Horsman also argues that the ideology expressed in the manifest destiny is nothing more than political rhetoric or glorified propaganda used by the American government to conquer and occupy the territory owned by the Mexican government. Although each of these theories provides a different explanation for American expansion, they each demonstrate Americas will to forge forward into unknown

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In 1845, the idea of Manifest Destiny was created by John O’Sullivan. Manifest Destiny continued to have a large impact on the development of the U.S. Furthermore, Manifest Destiny helped unite the U.S. through the common goal to expand, however, it further developed the split on slavery. Documents one, four, and six show that Manifest destiny led to a common goal to expand westward, specifically, unifying whig and democratic parties to a common objective. The first document was from a Whig journal and it is clear that he was for expansion,” the natural progress of events will undoubtedly give us that province[California]”(document one).

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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.

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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.

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In the 1800s, many Americans believed that the mission of the United States was to occupy the entire continent, this idea was declared by John Quincy Adams that expressed that the expansion to the Pacific was as inevitable. The president and the secretaries of states never used the phrase "Manifest Destiny" when they wanted to refer to the expansion of the United States. It was a newspaper editor John O’Sullivan, who put the idea of a national mission, so O’Sullivan declared it was America’s “Manifest Destiny" that was a slogan that he used, and, in the newspaper, he also declares that the United States was destined to extend its territory all the way to the Pacific and, consequently, white settlers began to settle as far west as the

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During the year leading up the war with mexico the united states used major disputes and reasons for going to war being manifest destiny, Rio grande boundary dispute, and slidell 's mission. Manifest Destiny was the word used throughout the 1840s which is the belief that Americans had the right and the duty, to expand westward across the North American, from the Ocean to Ocean. In order to have this destiny, Americans would have to go to war with Mexico. so in 1844, James K. Polk who won the election, He and the Democrats went with Manifest Destiny, a concept that stated that the U.S. was destined to expand across the continent and get as much land as possible. In Polk prestindestce he promised in his four step plan to get land westward and he did getting california and oregon.

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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.

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1. When did the “Aroostook War” occur & what was its cause? An explosive controversy of the early 1840s involved the Maine boundary dispute. The St. Lawrence River is icebound several months of the year, as the British, remembering the War of 1812, well knew.

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However, it was not Gods mission on wanting to expand the US territory it was the mission of Americans. Not only did whites conquer the lands of the Spanish speaking people but they also had taken the lands of Native Americans. Senator Lewis Cass stated that “We do not want the people of Mexico, either as citizens or as subjects. All we want is their territory” (469). This statements shows how manifest destiny had a strong influence on Americans because all they wanted was Mexico’s land and to remove its people and culture for their own benefit.

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Manifest Destiny was a phrase that was made up by journalist John L. O’sullivan back in 1844. The United States wanted to push westward to the frontier such as Texas, California, and Oregon. The reason behind Manifest Destiny was to expand to provide new places to live and jobs. Manifest Destiny is the belief that the Americans could extend themselves from coast to coast. The way Americans conquered the new land were removing the Native Americans from their land.

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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.

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“Manifest Destiny,” written by John L. O’Sullivan, explains how expansion is needed for america and how it could better our nation. The painting “American Progress,”supports expansion by displaying what it looked like when the settlers moved in. The text, “Reporting to the President, September 23-December 31,1806,” by Stephen Ambrose, supports westward expansion by talking about how lewis and Clarke did good things to help westward expansion. What do you think about westward expansion?

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They also believed that America was destined to be a sort-of “alpha country” because it was blessed by God(paragraph 6). The phrase Manifest Destiny was coined by John O’Sullivan in his work On Manifest Destiny. In his text, O’Sullivan tells this fact over and over and uses rhetorical devices to try to convince the reader of it as well. He says the relationship of Americans with land is one of master and servant; and the land being the servant(paragraph 7). The control of the land is not a real control because one can only control something if one possesses it completely and land is not something that can be truly possessed.

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If you are like me you do not know what manifest destiny but after this essay you will know just like I do. Manifest Destiny is a nineteenth century American belief that people had the right to expand throughout the american continent. An example of Manifest Destiny is the belief by President Polk's administration that the U.S. should expand throughout the continent. Many English Americans of various ethnics agreed with O'Sullivan's view. O’Sullivan said in 1845 in to a new york newspaper reporter that it was a God given destiny for the united states to spread all over North America.

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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.

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“Once we became an independent people it was as much a law of nature that this [control of all of North America] should become our pretension as that the Mississippi should flow to the sea” –John Quincy Adams (Henretta, p. 384). In the 1840s, Americans had a belief that God destined for them to expand their territory all the way westward to the Pacific Ocean. This idea was called Manifest Destiny. In the nineteenth century, Americans were recognized for coming together and building up one another for one cause: westward expansion.

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