During the first half of the 19th century, the United States experienced westward expansion into territories, like Oregon, Texas, and California. The main incitement for the expansion was the Doctrine of Manifest Destiny. In 1845 an American columnist, John Louis O’Sullivan, introduced the term “Manifest Destiny,” which applied to the idea that America was destined to expand. According to the doctrine, America had a God given right to expand its democratic institution because Americans were morally and racially superior to the uncivilized people in their way of expansion. Therefore, O’Sullivan and many others used the phrase “Manifest Destiny” to promote and justify the annexation of Texas and the Oregon Country to the United States. As a result, the idea of westward expansion led to the events, such as the victory of James K. Polk in the United States’ presidential campaign in 1844, the United States’ treaty with Britain over Oregon, the Mexican American War, and the revival of the issue of slavery in the United States.
Throughout the United States’ presidential election of 1844, many Americans strongly believed that God had manifestly destined the United States for expansion to spread their democratic institutions across the entire continent. In addition, the annexation of Texas had become a huge topic opened to discussion. The Whig party had nominated Henry Clay as their candidate. However, his position on Texas was confusing, so it hurt his chance to be elected.
In the 19th century there was a popular doctrine or belief that the westward expansion of the United States not only could happen, but that it was destined to stretch from coast to coast. For awhile, the nation’s leaders were unable to resolve the divisive issue of slavery. This belief was called Manifest Destiny and it eventually provided a larger stage for the growing conflict over slavery in America.
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 was the belief that God wanted the United States to own all of North America (Hall 301). But John O’Sullivan really only envisioned that white men were the only ones privileged enough to receive liberty (Hal 301). The Manifest Destiny was caused by the American people it gave them a sense of superiority over the other peoples who lived in North America. The declaration of the Manifest destiny wanted to expand the U.S. territory over the whole of North America and to extend and enhance its political, social, and economic influences. Eventually the United States won the war it had ended on February 2, 1848 when Mexico signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The treaty added an additional 525,000 square miles to United
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.
In a letter that he wrote to Henry Clay in 1837, he stated “[b]y annexing Texas, we shall not only create [slavery] where it does not exist, but breathe new life into it, where its end seemed to be near” (Document B). William Ellery Channing feared that the annexation of Texas would lead to an unnecessary increase in slavery. This controversy revolved around the imbalance of slave states to free states in America if Texas was annexed. An imbalance in the Nation was not preferable for America. However, a solution was found. As more states were conquered by the Americans, the ratio of slave states to free states would return to a balance. By doing so, America showed that it could politically assess the situation and come to a reasonable solution. This made the political aspect of America stronger, and showed what it is truly capable
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.
The author’s purpose was to highlight the territories of California, Oregon and Texas with the intention to promote Manifest Destiny and westward expansion in a published Whig journal. Whigs promoted rapid economic and industrial growth, including the expansion of territories through Manifest Destiny, by demanding government support for a more modern, market-oriented economy, suggesting high tariffs, and funding internal improvements. The term Manifest Destiny was coined by John O’Sullivan, the editor of the 1846 Democratic Review. He claimed in his article that California will “fall away from Mexico…and a population will soon be in actual occupation of [it].” In stating this, he was foreshadowing the end of the war and the forced Mexican cession of the territories of California and New Mexico to the United States in exchange of $15 million.
Industrialization of the United States was in full swing by the 1840s. Which evidenced that the continued expansion of the states was an issue and the idea of a Manifest Destiny was of major importance. John L. O’Sullivan once stated, “Our Manifest Destiny is to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions” (America: A Narrative History). The idea of a Manifest Destiny originated in the 1840s by the Anglo-Saxon Colonists to expand their ideal civilization and institutions across North America to become a super nation. There were conflicts during this expansion, but they only led to major successes that molded the states into the superior country it is today. The Manifest
By the time James Polk became president in 1845, an idea called Manifest Destiny had taken root among the American people. The belief that the U.S. had a God-given right to occupy and expand gained favor as more Americans settled to the west. Manifest Destiny was
Following the ratification of the treaty, some politicians felt the manifest destiny of the United States was to annex all of Mexico. The territory gains between 1845 and 1848 were enough to satisfy all but the most zealous advocates of manifest destiny. John O'Sullivan criticized the opponents of Texas annexation. He went beyond the immediate issue of Texas to argue that it is the fate of America to grow to encompass much, if not all of the North American continent. O'Sullivan is credited with inventing the term "manifest destiny" to describe his expansionist views for America. This phrase was coined in a New York Morning News editorial. (Wexler,153).
During the 19th century of the American expansion the United States but was heading to stretch from coast to coast. But this attitude helped fuel western settlement, Native American removal and war with Mexico. The belief of the Manifest Destiny had numerous parts for many things, each was serving people in different ways. The Manifest Destiny was supported by many Americans. The components created separate reasons to overcome a new land. Manifest Destiny was used among the Americans in the 1840’s as a defense for U.S. territorial expansion. It was an idea that was taken to be true that God had destined that “the white man” to a godly mission of American movement and defeat in the name of Christianity and democracy. John O’Sullivan first initiated manifest destiny in America in 1845. He edited the annexation of Texas was published on 1845 edition of the United States Magazine and Democratic Review. in 1845 to promote the annexation of Texas and the Oregon Country to the United States. And to give the name and description to the creed of victorious Americans. Though the next two decades of the nation needed more territory, so then began the enormous territory growth. The nation stretched. The
In 1844 the Whig Party nominated Henry Clay for president. In the campaign Clay refused to take a stand on the Texas annexation issue. This choice aggravated the northern abolitionists, who opposed the admission of Texas to the Union as a slave state. The Whig then divided to ensured victory for the Democratic candidate Polk. After the Mexican War had been declared, disagreements over allowing or forbidding slavery in the territories obtained during the war further broken the party.
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.
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
During the mid-nineteenth century, the rise of new territories increased the desire of Americans to expand into new territories in the western region. The term “Manifest Destiny” was first introduced by a magazine editor, John O’Sullivan, written in the United States Magazine and Democratic Review in 1845 to express the idea that the United States had a unique role in expanding the nation (OpenStax College 316,483). Manifest Destiny is widely defined as a justification of continental expansion as a calling to the American citizens to unify the land into the Union. I view Manifest Destiny as white males expressing their ideals of white supremacy unavoidably expanding new territories not yet defined by others (). With the new western land came the revival of the issue of slavery, should new territories become free or slave states? In several cases, the white settlers inflicted their morals about their policies and views of slavery in new territories acquired and bypassed all other principles of different races. They saw that their morals were above all and that they received a message from God to colonize the new land for themselves. Although Manifest Destiny posed conflict against Native Americans and slaves, new land and trade routes steered the United States to enter a realm of economic prosperity.