Manifest Destiny Essay

Manifest destiny and westward expansion was a tremendous key component to the growth of the nation economically because of the impact it had on native americans, women empowerment, and expanding the population of the country.

Manifest Destiny is a term coined by John L. Sullivan in 1845 when talking about the annexation of Texas. He believed, along with other expansionists, that it’s inevitable that the US population would spread across North America because the land is given by Providence to the United States and that it’s natural that the land should be part of the country [Doc 1]. The idea of westward expansion and Manifest Destiny had positive and negative effects on the politics, society and the economics of the United States and

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.

It had become the nation’s manifest destiny to extend its influence beyond its continental boundaries into the pacific and Caribbean basins (history.com). It expressed the belief that it was Anglo-Saxon Americans’ providential mission to expand their civilization and institutions across North America (history.com). The term later became a catchall. The phrase gained republic adherents as time passed (history.com). It justified American efforts not only to conquer new territory but also to seek out new markets for its goods across the oceans. It was a God-given right to expand US territory, used to justify territorial growth and expansion of economic markets and conquest. The supporters of the phrase “manifest destiny” believed that white Americans were superior, exceptional people, and that they had the right to place their own economic and territorial interests over “inferior” people. It rested upon excluding or eradicating American Indians, African Americans, and Asian and Hispanic immigrants (teachinghistory.org). They did not fit in the ideal America that was thought up. The Catholics were generally ignored and women were deemed unimportant (teachinghistory.org). The United States had a manifest destiny to expand, but at the time, seizing Texas would force the country to grapple with slavery. Southern slaveholders hoped to expand slavery westward, while abolitionists, including members of the new liberty party, opposed this expansion of slavery. Manifest destiny

The Manifest Destiny was the attitude prevalent during the 19th century period of American expansion that the United States not only could, but was destined to, stretch from coast to coast. Manifest Destiny was mainly accomplished by the Monroe Doctrine, the annexation of Texas, and the Mexican-American War, but we were not a true continental power yet. After 1850, the Civil War, westward expansion, and the rise of big business made the United States a true continental power.

Manifest Destiny is a term used for the attitude that was prevalent during the 19th century. It was the idea that Americans were destined by God to govern the American continent. There were many country-splitting issues caused by Manifest Destiny. One of the major consequences of Manifest Destiny was the removal of Native Americans. This meant that Native American land would be expanded on, the government officials of the United States then also had tensions between all of their bordering states and countries, such as Mexico. Another effect of Manifest Destiny includes the expansion of land. Not only that but scholars also argue that Manifest Destiny ultimately resulted in the civil war.

P1 What is manifest destiny? It is the belief that it was USA's destiny to expand over north america and to expand its political, social, and economic influences. Many things like the Louisiana Purchase Lewis and Clark etc. We be in the process of expanding north america. So, let’s begin.

The Manifest Destiny was the belief that the United States was destined to expand from coast to coast. It was the concept that which heavily influenced American policy in the 1800s. Americans supported the manifest destiny because the Southerners wanted more land and Northerners believed expansion would relieve the population. The idea was the driving force behind the rapid expansion of America into the West from the East and heavily promoted newspapers and posters.

The phrase “manifest destiny” suggested that expansion across the American continent was obvious, inevitable, and a divine right of the United States. Manifest destiny was used by Democrats in the 1840s to justify the war with Mexico. In 1845, John L. O’Sullivan, a New York newspaper editor, introduced the concept of “manifest destiny” in the July/August issue of the United States Magazine and Democratic Review, in an article titled, “Annexation.” The term described the very popular idea of the special role of the United States in overtaking the continent—the divine right and duty of white Americans to seize and settle the continent’s western territory, thus spreading Protestant, democratic values. Manifest Destiny, a phrase coined in 1845,

93. Manifest Destiny was the belief or prophecy that intended for the U.S to expand. It was was their Destiny, a God giving calling. The U.S. needed to stretch coast to coast. This prophecy sparked a movement and settlers spreaded out west. This also caused conflict with the indians and obtaining western land itself.

Manifest Destiny was more than just a phrase, and the ideology behind it helped justify the pivotal actions by the citizens of the United States in the development of America. Manifest Destiny was the belief that it was the mission of the Americans to expand and civilize in new parts from the Atlantic all the way to the Pacific. Manifest Destiny was introduced in 1845 in a news article written by John O’Sullivan about the annexation of Texas. To the Americans, Manifest Destiny brought over a new chapter to the United States, and was used to justify many of the annexations and wars the country would later undergo. Places such as Texas, New Mexico, Oregon Country and California were all acquired partially due to the influence of the ideology. The justification for

Manifest Destiny is the big idea of exploration and expansion to the West and further movement of discovery. The United States had explored towards the West previous to this and they did not set up much civilization though. Moving to the West they bought land from other nearby countries like Mexico. America has expanded greatly to the West during this

Manifest Destiny is a term that was first coined in 1845 by a journalist named John L. O’Sullivan, and was described as America’s destiny to expand, and that it was God’s will that America was to expand. According to Genovese, “The notion of westward expansion and domination of the white races struck a responsive chord in many Americans” (Genovese, 2017). The idea of expanding America’s territory was so popular that is was even later used in Congress to justify the claiming of Oregon’s territory. While the idea of expanding America seemed great to the Americans, it was not so great for those who were living on the land that the Americans would later claim. According to Hastedt, “The failure to assimilate and prosper was the fault of those receiving America’s goodness” (Hastedt, 2016). The Americans felt that they were superior to those whose lands they were trying to take, such as the Native Americans and Mexicans, and that they should be the ones to adopt American culture, even if they were there before the Americans claimed the land. The Americans even thought that those whose lands they were taking would be happy to convert to their way of living, as is stated by Hastedt, “The inherent superiority of American Values was sure to be recognized by those with whom they came in contact and would gladly be adopted” (Hastedt, 2016). This mindset would ultimately lead to the expansion of America, turning it into what we know today, but it would also ultimately result in conflict with those that the American’s were attempting to take the land from for the sake of expansion.

Manifest Destiny supporters claimed that their superior race was ordained by God to bring the wonders of progress to the West; the painting includes materialistic things like railroads, telegraph lines and wagons as examples of progress. It also implies the spreading of the Protestant Church as the true religion. This is in my opinion an example of double standards by the supporters of Manifest Destiny (a.k.a. Southern Democrats) because one of reasons they wanted to expand in the first place was to run away from industrialization, yet they want to bring the spin-offs of industrialization to the West themselves. This obvious contradiction supports my argument that Manifest Destiny was more of a political agenda than a Biblical mandate. The expansion to the West also meant that the people already living in those territories were going to have to be removed. As they moved west, the Indian tribes such as the Sauks and the Foxes that lived along the way were forced to move up north where they found harsh conditions. The best hunting lands were occupied by the Sioux, so these tribes had to rely on their enemies for meat and other supplies. The increasing demand for fur affected the Sioux because they relied on Buffalo for its meat. They could only hunt for Buffalo during summer, and now they had another group of people competing

Manifest Destiny is the ideology that America was destined by God and by history to expand its boundaries over a vast area. This ideology gave a clean conscience to the superior “American race” to venture further into the continent to develop new settlement. With no regard to those who may have settled there way before them for like native americans. What came out of Manifest Destiny was a large division in the country and a civil war. The conflict of the North and the South would later be pitted on the creation of this ideology.