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The Role Of Manifest Destiny In The United States

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In the 19th Century the idea to move westward would present Americans with new opportunities and a chance for possible wealth. Americans were determined to explore the lands from the Atlantic Ocean all the way to the Pacific Ocean. The term Manifest Destiny in short, is a movement. A movement in which gave Americans the “right” to colonize and civilize west because it’s their calling. Americans believed that expanding throughout the continent would give them new opportunity to share the government, which they believed was so great. They knew land was out there to take and if it was there, then it would be their destiny to claim it as such.

Everyone was so eager to get out there to farm on his own and be the first to settle and sell goods. There was empty land just waiting to be occupied so people would be able to …show more content…

Little did they know, the land already had occupants. Those occupants were a variety of Native Americans. The Native Americans did not want to leave their home. The result of being non-compliant brought the Trail of Tears. Forcing all Native American Indians to move to Oklahoma.

In my opinion, Westward expansion was inevitable. The term Manifest Destiny to me was just used as an excuse to claim more and more territory. America wasn’t the only country to do this. People just want more money and land and were going to do so whether it be unmoral or moral. They just wanted to expand their economic values across the nation. However I do not believe that they were “predestined” to just uproot and move across the nation because it was their calling. The desire to expand comes from greed and never fully being satisfied with what they currently had. It was only a matter of time

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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 was the belief that was created by John L. O'sullivan in the 1840. Manifest destiny consisted of three steps, the creation of manifest Destiny, the process of achieving manifest Destiny, and finally achieving Manifest Destiny. These are the three subjects that will be talked about in this article. Like I said in the previous Paragraph it was created by John L. O’sullivan when he wrote it in his article on Texas annexation and the dispute over the British Oregon trails. There were several diffrent way people used the word Manifest Destiny like the way John L. O'sullivan used it was he believed that “ majority of Americans at the time believed was their mission from God: to expand to west and bring the United States government to unenlightened people.”

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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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American settlers wanted to expand from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean for more opportunities. The settlers decided to make an expansion far west because they believed that there would gain more money, they believed in Manifest destiny because they felt that it was there tight to expand if they wanted to. Some reasons for the settlers to move West were mining opportunities, adventures, expanding railroads for easier access for trade and transportation, and a great deal of land for cheap. Also,” During hard seasons, when crops failed or when farm prices fell, many headed for a new beginning in the West” (Walter Havighurst, First Book Of Pioneers). There are many pros and cons with the expansion, for example some pros are… created new jobs, it was discovered that they could get medicine from plants, they had new ways of trading goods through mining and new transportation, and the people of the South wanted to move slavery to the North but the people of the North did not want slavery to become legalized.

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The Westward Expansion consisted of almost 7 million Americans migrating west, hoping to get land and be wealthy. It is often called Manifest Destiny, because many people believed settlers was intended to expand the west. Because so many people thought this way it was also thought the U.S was physically separated from Europe. This migration of people included people from Spain, France, Mexico, and other countries. The Western Expansion had a part in the foreign policies in the expansion towards the pacific and the way the U.S treated their relationship with other

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Manifest Destiny: the early American settlers believed in moving, the American settlers believed it was their birthright, their god given right to move to The West. Many wanted to go to The West, to start new lives, to get rich or just to start over. President Polk the President of the United States at the time of the dispute with Mexico. Polk wanted the land that is now Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah.

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Like many historical events, the motive for these expansionists was economic. John Gast eloquently captures this idea in his painting “American Progress.” This picture romanticizes Manifest Destiny with the symbolism of an angel bringing light, or American civilization, westward. One can interpret this as newfound economic opportunity, which is exactly what happens. With more land, there exists more opportunity to invest, or speculate.

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The belief of manifest destiny spread and took hold of the country incredibly fast. The common definition of Manifest Destiny is the “god given right to expand westward”. People wanted to expand west for new opportunities. This mass movement of people from east to west started in 1812 and ended in 1867. Although the US hadn’t been granted the land west of them specifically or bought it, because of their military power and belief in expanding patriotism and influence, they were justified in expanding west.

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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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The Market Revolution generated a drastic change in the United States economy and altered gender barriers while at the same time accomplishing this in a provocative manner. This economic boom occurred around the first half of the 19th Century. The economic boom was achieved by inventions such as a transcontinental railroad system which resulted in a better transportation system which improved trade and the cotton gin which sped up the rate of removing seeds from cotton fiber. However like what the great Hugo said, “The brutalities of progress are called revolutions. When they are over we realize this: that the human race has been roughly handled, but that it has advanced”.

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“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

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When Andrew Jackson wanted the removal of the indians he had warned them that there would be a removal soon and to not resist. If they resisted there would be consequences. From this warning they could prepare and get everything ready and have ideas of how to make a new settlement once West of the Mississippi River. They would also not feel so pushed out at once if having time to know their fate.

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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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