Effects Of Religion On Manifest Destiny

The term “Manifest Destiny” was, in part, an expression of a genuine ideal on the part of Americans. Yet it was also a justification to a push and to assume territory. The idea of Manifest Destiny was sparked by revolutionary American writings that encouraged appropriation of Canada. These writings rationalized that the Louisiana Purchase and the Untied States’ annexation of Texas ordained American complete domination of the North American continent. More broadly stated, Manifest destiny was a conviction that God intended North America to be under the control Americans. It’s an assertion of Anglo-Saxon supremacy.

During westward expansion, the Native Americans got kicked to the side. The settlers coming west often saw the Indians as a threat to them and their families. However, this was not the main reason the Indians were pushed aside. The settlers saw the Indians had fertile land and wanted it for themselves. The Indians were the opposite of what the settlers thought they were. The Indians often helped the people moving west across the plains; giving them food, supplies, and acting as guides. However, the U.S. Government did not see this side of the Indians, instead they forced the Indians onto reservations. During the time of the expansion of the United States to the present, the Native Americans went through many things so that the United States could expand; they were pushed onto reservations, and forced to give up their culture through the Ideas of Manifest Destiny and Social Darwinism.

The Indians were well adapted to the land, therefore they were able to use swamps to their advantage and also use the same swamp to the colonist’s disadvantage. Indians who frequently migrated and had no special meaning for their personal equity, never placed an identity to it. Unlike the Indians, the colonists believed their property was meaningful. Lepore explains that religion contributed a major part to the colonist idea of their own, “the colonists’ sense of predestination…, their natural affinity with the land, and their cultural proclivity to conflate property with identity, all combined to produce this oneness of bodies and mind.” The colonist viewed the Indians as savages due to the misunderstanding values of land, property, and equity. In addition, the colonists, who were mostly Puritans believed the war was God punishing them for the failure of the colonists to convert the Indians to Christianity. On the other hand, the Indians had other spiritual faith that collides with the colonist religious

During the sixteenth century European pilgrims migrated across the Atlantic Ocean to settle in North America. North America had just been introduced to the Western Civilization. The America’s were home to the indigenous people, that were made up of several tribes that were called Indians by the early settlers. Together the Indians and settlers began to thrive. Growth and development in the new world was made possible by the abundant amount of natural resources.

While some were driven on what they believe was God’s will others saw Manifest Destiny as the historical inevitability domination of North America from sea to sea. Before, manifest destiny, many Americans had small families not by choice, but for the mere fact that many of the people would die before they would reach forty. By the mid 1800’s technology began to rise, and the life span for many Americans increased. The U.S. population grew from more than 5 million in 1800 to more than 23 million by the mid century. By the increasing of families in town many of the towns became overcrowded. At this point many Americans looked to the west for possible permanent homes.

Manifest Destiny is a term used to depict the purpose for the US venture into the West. Manifest Destiny is a term begat by John L. Sullivan in 1845 when discussing the extension of Texas. He accepted, alongside different expansionists, that it's inescapable that the US populace would spread crosswise over North America on the grounds that the land is given by Providence to the United States and that it's common that the land ought to be a piece of the nation.

Manifest destiny was the idea that the US was destined to expand from sea to sea. This idea brought on a growing amount of land and a growing amount of freedoms. As seen in the picture, the angel is leading the way westward and shining the light of freedom. This idea of more land made the Americans hopeful that they would gain liberty and opportunity with the growing nation. The natives, slaves, and free blacks sought liberty themselves. Just like how the Americans sought freedoms William Apes stated that “ they want what I want” (Apes, GML 388). The idea of more liberty and freedom is what drove the Americans and the minorities during this time.

In the 19th century the settlers in America believed they had a mandate from God to expand west, this is called the Manifest Destiny. This expansion would involve not merely territorial aggrandizement, but the progress of liberty and individual economic opportunity as well. The Manifest Destiny shaped America throughout the years. Three main things that revolve around the Manifest Destiny are the moon race with Russia, western expansion, and how we found more resources and advancements in technology.

While the foundation of America was rooted on religious freedom and the ability to coexist peacefully with different cultures, races, religions and ideologies after the Revolutionary war Americans became to sing a different tune. Manifest destiny is the belief that it is God’s blessing for your country and that your races is superior to all the rest already inhabiting the territory. One fundamental belief of manifest destiny is that society as a whole is pushing towards a greater society. This ideal puts the white American culture on a pedestal and makes this the ideal culture the country is centered and built around. Another idea of manifest destiny is that expanding the country’s borders will help to protect the country. These two ideas where the case for manifest destiny is based around. Many people of that time believed that the Christian culture of that day was more advanced and that they were more enlightened than the surrounding cultures. This belief

The Indians had an identity all their own, and were in many ways reluctant to open up to the English settlers, fearing the effects of their highly controversial way of life. Regardless, despite the devastating bouts with foreign disease that accompanied the settlers, and issues regarding the land the colonists claimed in the name of the king, the Indians were still relatively accepting and hospitable to the setting Puritans. (Drake 3) They traded openly, worked together in establishing villages, and notoriously, the Indians aided the Puritans in teaching them the ways of the land, and in guiding them through the difficult New England winters. Over several years, the two cultures began to mesh, and the bits and pieces

Throughout man kind humans have always wanted to expand their territory. As this can be seen with Manifest Destiny and the expansion westward of the United States. This was due to the belief that it was the American’s duty to expand westward and conquer the continent. The affects of expanding westward can be seen socially through mixing with other cultures and demographics, politically through sectionalism and relationships with foreign territories, and lastly economically through expansion of a more national economy.

Manifest Destiny was a mindset that played a crucial role in the expansion of the United States, and if it had not been thought of, America would not be the way we know it today in regards to how big it is. In this essay, I will discuss how it helped shape America, how it began, how it would affect events that happened later on in American history as a result, and how it led to making America what it is today.

Manifest Destiny, one of the most influential ideologies in American history, was used as the basis to justify almost-continuous conflict from the early- to the late-19th century (Greenberg 3). This conflict included the relentless displacement of Native Americans from their ancestral lands, a war of aggression against Mexico in 1846, and attacks on countries such as Canada, Cuba, and even Central America, by filibusters and military action to gain overseas colonies (Greenberg 10, 25, and 26). While Manifest Destiny first arose as a dominant ideology during the early nineteenth-century, the concept of American exceptionalism, the heart of this ideology, was older than the nation itself. This concept was taken by white Americans as proof that they, and their nation, were unique and marked by God for a special destiny (Greenberg, 5). It would be several decades before the advantages of American settlement would be presented to the world. One advantage being the Louisiana Purchase, which was the expansion westward.

Indians from this point began to be dehumanized even further. Due to the color of their skin they were associated with the Devil. The settlers believed that Indians must be removed in order to progress in the settling of our land. ?God was making room for the colonists and hath hereby cleared our title to this place? (Takaki, 40). The early Puritans believed that they were meant to spread their religion and beliefs across the entire land.

The Manifest Destiny was the name given to the Anglo-American (white) expansion into the West. The Manifest Destiny was based on an idea that white Americans were superior people who believed in God. Americans were to populate North America “sea to shining sea” and spread the religion of Christianity. The Manifest Destiny displayed American’s confidence. Americans moved west for more land, the Manifest Destiny also uplifted American’s freedom and democracy. And it encouraged independence. The United States used the Manifest Destiny to start a war with Mexico from1846 until 1848. The Manifest Destiny communicated American claims to western lands, at once highlighting the nation’s superiority and offering a solution to national anxieties. Ironically, the new territories exacerbated sectional divisions and caused the civil war (Bailey et al., 2015, p 319, and Hardesty 2015).