The Concept Of Manifest Destiny

Manifest Destiny was the idea that it was America’s destiny to spread across the entire continent of North America. It was started by a group of expansionist called the Young American Movement and they were affiliated with the Democratic Party. By their idea, America was able to double its size and obtain new land from Mexico and Britain. However, this also caused pain to the Native Americans. In the end, America obtained new land, and its people achieved what they believed to be their God given right to expand and move west.

Manifest Destiny was a popular way of thinking when it came to moving westward of the United States. The settlers and travelers who ended up staying in western lands claimed that Americans had a God-given right to increase the size of their country. While Manifest Destiny may have worked when it came to moving to new lands west of the modern-day East United States region, it created a new set of problems that divided Americans.

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.

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

Manifest Destiny is our god given right to expand from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans. During Manifest Destiny there were many different cases that helped out country like expanding to Texas through the Mexican American War, and finding gold in California which will be later called the gold rush.

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.

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)

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 nineteenth century marked a period of time of growth and development for the United States. During this time, the U.S. experienced important advances in science, technology, industrialization, and civil rights. This is also the time period where the U.S. began its expansion from east coast to west coast. This is known as the conquest of manifest destiny. Unfortunately, this destiny came at a price. The price paid for this was by the Native American people who were essentially forcibly moved off of their land for the achievement of this goal. A question arises as to whether this was justified and whether there were other ways in which these goals could have been achieved

The Manifest Destiny was a theory during the 19th century that many Americans believed. They believed that they were destined by God to expand from coast to coast. Andrew Jackson’s concept of the Manifest Destiny lead to the Trial of Tears because he believed it was a God-given right to attain land so he was willing to do all in his power as a president to expand the United States. He was blessed with the opportunity to expand the United States due to the global wars that transpired between France and other countries. In some word Andrew Jackson was an opportunist when it came to expansion. He also believed that the Americans were supposed to obtain the land whatever the cost. The Manifest Destiny was a theory during the 19th century that many Americans believed. They believed that they were destined by God to expand from coast to coast.

America’s manifest Destiny was the right God gave to us to be able to gain land from east to west of the continent- to justify them for declaring war on Mexico when really Mexico has a more requisite reason for attacking the Americans. They let U.S. citizens move into Mexico with conditions they had to follow, but instead after many people decided to immigrate there they then annexed themselves (the land) in order to later join the United States again. And they had no right to do so for the land they had settled in was still part of Mexican territory.

Manifest Destiny, which commandeered American life during the 1830s and 1840s, seemed like a true sign of progress for the country as the United States by the end of the 1840s acquired all of the land it has now with the exception of Hawaii, Alaska, and several small pieces of land. These new territories included the Pacific Northwest - Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana - and cessions from Mexico - California, New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas - not to mention the considered addition of Cuba in the Ostend Manifesto. As beneficial as this territorial expansion may have seemed, it reinvigorated sectional struggles over the question of slavery in territories and the country overall. These conflicts that would accumulate to become the Civil War included the underlying ideological distinctions between the two regions, new abolitionist movement, the Compromise of 1850, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act as the violence stemming from sectionalism would increase and the differences between the North and South would become irreconcilable.

Throughout the American history, we have seen “Manifest Destiny” at work, and how it has helped grow our nation. The idea of Manifest Destiny helped in creating revolutions that would help them find freedom in the U.S., but it also had some negative effects. Most believe that “Manifest Destiny” began in the 1840’s, when John L.O’Sullivan coined the term “Manifest Destiny” in 1845, but if we look closer we can see that even all the way back to the first settlers we can see that“Manifest Destiny” was already at work as in, the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The term is defined and recognized as, the Americans belief that it was their destiny given to them by God, to expand into the Western territories “ The whole continent was to be theirs.”1 We

In a short history, American manifest destiny was a big mistake for Indian people in the past. The Indian people lived on the land before the Americans came. However, manifest destiny is the affliction Americans have that makes them believe God and took control all their land. For example, American settlers took their land and forced them into another uncomfortable place, less nature resource, and difficult to survive. Moreover, America settlers brought diseases into Indian tribes that made a lot of Indian people sick and dead. In addition, American settlers had a negative impact to the environment and natures resource such as more hunting and fishing that cost extinction, more cutting trees to build houses due to deforestation. In conclusion,

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).