Patrick Wolfe Manifest Destiny

Conquest is an extremely violent thought, to subjugate and assume control of a group of people and their land with military force. It’s hard to imagine a large following, much less countries, that support imposing brute force onto strangers. Given that conquest is violent, why did Europeans conquer the Americas as they did? The Europeans followed the belief of Christianity, which forbids such massacres and hate, how could they have conquered and killed? Many, like Jared Diamond, promote the idea that it was pure geographical luck which granted Europe easier diffusion of knowledge; metal weapons and political organization which were more advanced. However, this idea becomes problematic because it assumes that no matter the inhabitants of the more fortunate land, conquest would have happened because of predetermined facts like geography. With this argument, one could say Natives would have conquered Europeans or that they would have been able to defend from their conquest if they had the same or better geographical luck. I believe that geographic luck is not enough to enable the conquest of the Americas. I want to argue that the major reasons behind the European conquest of the Americas were largely in their motivation to gain riches to boost their economy and the justification of their conquest by disguising themselves as saviors to the Native Americans.

Although “historians no longer use the word “discovery” to describe the European exploration, conquest and colonization of a hemisphere already home to millions of people”, it was one of the greatest and most important discoveries ever in our history that changed the lives of millions of people. (Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty: An American History (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2008), pg 1.) For some the “discovery”of America would mean an opportunity for a better life, for others the “discovery” brought misery and death.

Manifest Destiny is a term used to describe the reason behind the US expansion into the West. What are the social, political and economical effects of this idea on the people living in the United States colonies and the West?

Conquering this new foreign land was the plan for English settlers that sailed here and landed on to the eastern coast of America. After many years had passed, John O 'Sullivan, a democratic leader, named this progressive movement Manifest destiny in 1845. The term Manifest Destiny originated in the 1840s. It expressed the belief that it was US Americans mission to expand their civilization and institutions across the breadth of North America. Manifest Destiny wasn’t just an idea to have all the land from one ocean to another. It was a cause every man, woman, and child believed in, if you were from the America. Most Americans truly believed that Manifest Destiny was god’s plan that we as Americans will conquer this land and make it our home. It was one of Americas great causes that everyone could support and help achieve. This movement inspired thousands of the U.S. eastern settlers to travel westward. While the idea of moving to western America was in everyone’s mind, there were many events that occurred such as: The Mexican-American war, the gold rush, and how the civil war. These events helped morph and shape our country into what it is today.

While Manifest Destiny and territorial expansion created conflict with foreign nations, including the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), and within the United States, it worked to unify the United States from 1830 to 1860 by strengthening the nation as a whole, creating economic opportunities for people from all different walks of life, and expanding the United States through the annexation of Texas and the acquisition of California from Mexico.

During the manifests destiny era, the white settlers of our new country were full of land-lust, they didn't think twice before taking ownership of land. "...Facts demonstrate at once our disconnected position as regards any other nation; that we have, in reality, but little connection with the past history of any of them,

Before Europeans ever ventured to North America, the land had been populated by Native American nations that had their own distinct cultures and social structures. Native Americans had trade routes and established complex relationships between tribes. They were not merely heathens waiting to be civilized by the Europeans. Yet, Europeans would use those justifications to lay claim on their land.

Define and discuss the phrase "Manifest Destiny." Explain how this belief came to divide the nation. Manifest destiny was based on a belief presented by John O'Sullivan. He was a newspaper editor and publisher. In 1845, he said that the aggressive westward expansion of the nation was vital to the prosperity of the country. He believed that it was every American's right to bring the ideas of freedom, democracy and Christianity to the Indians as well as Mexicans. In his view, these groups were nothing more than savages who needed to be taught the most civilized ways to live. (Faragher, 2009)

By the 1830s and 1840s, the market revolution and westward expansion had profoundly affected all Americans’ lives, reinforcing older ideas of freedom and creating new ones. American freedom had long been linked with available land in the West. In this period was coined the phrase “manifest destiny,” referring to the divine mission of the United States to occupy all of North America and extend freedom, despite any costs to peoples and nations already there. But an old idea connecting freedom and a divine mission to move west and settle land had its origins in colonial times.

During the nineteenth century, the Manifest Destiny happened in the United States, which was the American settlers were bound to expand throughout the land. This helped with removing more Natives from the country, started war with Mexico, and spread economic means across the country in order to get more money.

Have you ever wondered how you got to where you are sitting today, or how your parents came to live where they are living? Have you ever wondered how your great ancestors got to America? Our ancestors paved the way to this country that we call home. They believed that the American expansion was inevitable and predestined by God to happen. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of religion on Manifest Destiny, the relocation of the Native Americans, and the acquisition of land from East to West coast.

Throughout the course of history, America as we know it today has undergo very severe changes. With the belief of “Manifest destiny”, The independent nation grew from 13 states, to 48 states in a very small time span. The entire nation had to go through wars, feuds, and relocation just to expand the young nation. But this experience wasn’t all prim and proper, the nation had to sacrifice itself just to triple it’s size. Was our actions necessary just to gain this land that at the time we needed least? Was The United States of America over their head with their wants and not needs? The real answer to these questions are no, if we didn’t take this huge step into building our country today, our nation would be severely overpopulated and barely

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.

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).

In the late 1400s, Europeans became interested in colonizing other countries. After Columbus’ journey, The Pope wrote a letter to King Ferdinand of Spain giving permission to colonize the Americas. Afterwards when King Ferdinand was granted permission to colonize the Americas, King Ferdinand wrote a letter to the Taino/Arawaks intimidating them that if they do not accept Christianity, then they will face the consequences which were war, enslavement, and having their resources robbed. Essentially, either join or we’ll slaughter you. The reasons King Ferdinand were trying to colonize the Americas were that they wanted power, money, control, more land, etc. The Pope was believed to be connected to God, therefor the European people gave The Pope respect. So if The Pope gave King Ferdinand power, and those who followed The Pope would also follow King Ferdinand, therefor giving him respect, and power. The rest of the European kings also follow the Pope. This essay is about the consequences, justification(reasoning for giving permission), and permission. The consequences of not accepted the Christian rule, and god, were being enslaved, war, raided, etc. The King’s justification for colonizing the Americas were that of obtaining more money, and power. The Pope granted the King of Spain permission to conquer any land that is not Christian, because the Pope justified that everyone should be Christian and that it would make their life a lot better if they decided to accept the rule.