Two Years Before The Mast Summary

Yes, I believe you can see attitudes of what came to be major issues developing into the manifest destiny. In the book there is an excerpt where it talks about the bountiful lands of California. It talks of how they have plentiful ports, forests for game, waters full of fish, and lands full of cattle. It makes California seem fresh for the picking, while also saying that the governmental system has flaws and anyone can take control. The whole thing makes it seem like it would be so much better if Americans from the east coast were in charge there, for they would surly know what to do with such plentiful land and not squander it like the Spaniards. This shows how this book has the pre disposition of the belief of the Manifest Destiny that the

Dana documents stops at the ports of Monterey, San Pedro, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Santa Clara. He describes the sailor life at the ports at the beaches where they cured hides and the cruelty on the ship. Furthermore he describes the daily life of the diverse Californians of Hispanic Native American and European descent and the land itself. Two Years Before the Mast depicts a multicultural society living in an environment of natural beauty and ideal climate a paradise somehow yearning to be improved by American ingenuity. Again as stated in the beginning paragraph, this book was an important element in the process of reform and the beginning of the Manifest Destiny. Manifest Destiny is a phrase that describes the belief in which the United States had a divine right to the westward expansion of North America. This divine right suggested that the United States was chosen by God to expand their democracy westward. In fact, it is precisely because Dana was able to take part in the perilous sailing realm, while remaining an objective observer of that realm, that he was able to write the book and expose these horrors to the