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Chapter 17 vocabulary manifest destiny and its legacy
Manifest destiny postive effects
Manifest destiny postive effects
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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).
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.
A significant amount of American’s interpreted this as a god given right to expand. Declared in “John L. O’ Sullivan, “Annexation”, The United States Magazine and Democratic Review, Vol. XVII, July 1845.” (Document A) “[O]ther nations have undertaken… hostile interference against us… hampering our power, limiting our greatness and checking the fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by providence [God] for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions.” To summarize, this meant that countless Americans believed that Manifest Destiny gave them the means to take and take with no repercussions.
Manifest Destiny was made up as a way to promote the expansion of slavery. Texas and America realized they could just take more of Mexico’s land, and that is what they did. We now have Arizona, Nevada, California, New Mexico, and Utah because America decided they wanted that land. This is extremely unfair for Mexico to just get their land taken because their military isn’t as strong as America’s is. Sure it is great to have these US states, but to unrightfully take it out of Mexico’s hands is not
Paper #2 William Jennings Bryan claimed, “Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.” A notion of westward expansion ignited the idea of Manifest Destiny, which raised the question on whether or not the United States should pursue the entire continent. Nearing the 1850s, Americans began to believe they were a superior race that had a sole responsibility, or God-given right, of expanding westward across the continent.
Manifest Destiny was a nineteenth century concept of American expansion. This concept gave Americans the belief that they were destined to move United States territory into the West, and that America should fulfill its duty of settling and civilizing all the land that was available to them. There were many different aspects of Manifest Destiny, such as its overlying racist ideology, as this concept gave citizens of the United States a mindset that it is America’s duty to civilize the “uncivilized” world to the West, inhabited by the Native Americans. American expansion West oppressed the cultures of the Natives, and replaced them with forced conversion and adaptation of American culture. The system of expansion Manifest Destiny brought about also had a positive influence on the economic culture of America, expanding its borders, allowing for railways to be built, trade to expand, and new goods to be discovered.
There were many negative and positive aspects to Manifest Destiny. Manifest Destiny was the idea that the United States was meant to expand from the East Coast to the West Coast. Many people agreed with this idea when John L. O’ Sullivan first used it in his essay, “Annexation in Democratic Review.” Although many people disagreed with this motive, causing it to be quite a controversial subject. One positive effect of Manifest Destiny was the discovery of new land, plants, and animals.
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.
The year 1845, the American newspaper editor John O’Sullivan first coined the phrase, “Manifest Destiny”. This term is the belief that the United States should expand their territory from coast to coast. The Americans thought God was in their favor and should have the ability to take land. Without a doubt, might does not make right since the Americans did not have the right to be justified in the American acquisition of Texas and Mexico. The Americans were invited by the Mexican government to trade and settle in the northern territory, under these circumstances: learn Spanish, adopt the Roman Catholic religion and bring no slave nor democracy, which was not followed by the Americans.
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.
The benefits of the Manifest Destiny outweighed the consequences. This is because the U.S was able to get more resources, increase population in the west, advance trade, and improve technology. These benefits have contributed to the economic development in the U.S. Furthermore, as the U.S were fulfilling the Manifest Destiny, they also imposed the Homestead Act, which helped evolve frontiers. The discovery of gold in the west, specifically, in California lured more people to the west.
Independence from Great Britain was a milestone leading the Americans to building and excel in establishing the United States of America as a country in a whole. Americans felt as if it was their abounding duties to expand westward and settle throughout North America. The term of Manifest Destiny first came about in 1845 by journalist John L. O’Sullivan. O’Sullivan used the term to acknowledge the Americans expansion westward as a “God given” right. The process of Manifest Destiny from 1783 to 1870 promoted development and expansion westward to help form the United States as it is today.
According to the text the main concept of the Manifest Destiny was so that the United States can use all the space that they had, and to use it to spread out and become a better and bigger improved nation. Based on what I read, it states that many Americans believed that the United States should use all of the space available that there were, and to spread out to the pacific ocean so that their nation can grow at a faster rate with more space. The cause of the removal of mostly all native Americans in 1835 was that when Jackson was president, he created a plan that was going to be used for buying property that the Native American's owned or by forcing them to leave their land by force and cruelty. The effect of this plan ended
“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.