Essay on Manifest Destiny and American Politics

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

Although many Americans perceived the Manifest Destiny as a benevolent movement, it was in fact an aggressive imperialism pursued at the expense of others. The movement promoted cultural superiority and extended the already existing sectional crisis. Advocates of the Manifest Destiny envisioned a vast empire that prioritized liberty. Included in this empire would be Canada, Mexico, Caribbean and Pacific Islands, and hopefully the rest of the world.

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.

The way that the concept of Manifest Destiny would have affected American politics and government in the mid 19-century would be many. The meaning of the term Manifest Destiny would be “the expansion of the United States throughout the American continents was both justified and inevitable”. Due to this many people had craved the idea of expansion and as of a result, people running for president would say that they would expand the United States. Another effect for anyone running for president had a more likely chance of winning. One great example of this would be James, K Polk.

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 a term coined by John O'Sullivan. Our 11th President James Polk was a supporter of Manifest Destiny. Manifest means clear, obvious, and apparent. Destiny is defined as something meant to happen or should occur-fate.” Question is, what was the cost of Manifest Destiny for all people living in North America? The answer is a lot. Certain people in North America were hurt and pushed back by the creation of Manifest Destiny, while others were successful and made more progress in their lifestyle. Then, there were other groups of people who realized the power of manifest destiny and became concerned with the idea in itself and tried to hide away from it or ignore it to avoid further conflict with themselves. They were all affected and all handled Manifest Destiny in different ways. (notes)

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

Americans wanted to head west, this mindset was given the name of “Manifest Destiny” by John O’Sullivan. Manifest Destiny was a term that was prevalent during the 19th century. It expressed the belief that America’s mission was to expand their civilization across North America; this expansion would create liberty and economic progress through territorial gain. President Jefferson, Madison and Monroe, all collectively believed in the Jeffersonian’s mindset, these presidents encouraged such movement; they actively thought that it was best for the United States to expand coast to coast. This expansion created a cultural war. Manifest destiny affected the United States’ relationship with others such as Mexico and the Amerindian Indians because of the way they treated these individuals to gain land from them.

Manifest Destiny was the widely held belief that the United States of America were destined to expand over a vast area through the will of God. The President of the United States of America, James K. Polk, who had been elected into office in 1844. Polk won the election by showing his support of the re-occupation of Oregon and the re-annexation of Texas. In doing so he was able to appeal to both the southern and northern expansionists. Polk spearheaded the tasks soon after entering office. Manifest Destiny is what urged The States to expand their territory, forming the country we have today.

After the success of the rebels of the American Revolution, Americans desired to shape their country in their own vision. While many ideas were significant during this time, one was silently brewing but wasn't in full effect until the 1840s. This long lasting idea was known as Manifest Destiny. In the middle of the 19th century, ideologists believed that the United States was "destined" to expand to the Pacific Ocean and beyond. Many prominent figures have assisted to fulfill Manifest Destiny, but the historical figure who made Manifest Destiny a reality was James K. Polk.

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.

93. The manifest destiny was belief in which Americans believe that America had a divine obligation to stretch the boundaries to the Pacific Ocean. A symbol of manifest destiny was the figure “Columbia” that moves across the land leaving the darkness with light.

The Manifest Destiny was important in the 1840s; it was the belief the American way was the best and should be used in all areas. However, there was some different beliefs on the extent of expansion of the American way. Some believed in little expansion westward, others believed in the entire North American continent, while even a few extremists believed the entire world. In expanding even further westward to the Pacific Coast, it still raised a question on slavery. Should it be allowed to expand to the new territories, or should it be kept from expanding further than where it already existed. It is this difficult question that had a major part in the start of the Civil War.

Manifest Destiny, which was widely believed that American settlers were destined to expand throughout the continent, plus economic and national security fuels territorial expansion across the country. As James Smith (2014) writes, “Constitutional changes of the Reconstruction period embodied a Northern idea of American identity and national purpose which led to conflicts over new definitions of citizenship, particularly regarding the rights of African Americans, women and other minorities.” He also adds that “the nation’s transformation to a more participatory democracy was accompanied by continued debates over federal power, the relationship by the federal government and the States, the authority of different branches of the federal government, the rights and the responsibilities of individual citizens”(2014). “Repeated attempts at political compromise failed to calm tensions over slavery and often made sectional tensions worse, breaking down the trust between sectional leaders and culminating in the bitter election of 1860, followed by succession of Southern

The country became divided when different people did not agree with each other when talking about the topic of gaining more land. John O’ Sullivan believed that the United States had Manifest Destiny because they aren’t connected to the past of other countries, according to document 1. The United States can take all of that land because they aren't associated with all of the bad things that other countries have done, so they deserve that land to use for the future, as O’Sullivan has said, “the beginning of a new history.” Some people didn't agree with taking more land, like Sumner, who was a States legislator from MA and later served 24 years in the Senate. He didn't agree with the United States and the citizens of the United States that they should move into Texas and later, claim it as their own, Sumner described it a a “disgraceful robbery” in document 8. The country also became divided because if more