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Manifest Destiny: Ugly Truth Behind Pretty Lies? The point of view upon Manifest Destiny that I found most convincing and close to my own interpretation was “Manifest Destiny as an expression of white superiority is but one explanation for what became a clear rise of anti-Mexican sentiments in the 1850s”. This perspective to me seemed to be the only one that did not skirt around what seemed to be the logical truth and explanations for why Manifest Destiny took place: for the pursuit of Native American lands; anti-Mexican sentiments; for the prospects they were able to gain from western lands; and for political reasons. While a lot of other perspectives saw Manifest Destiny in the light of goodness and or because of religious reasons, I believe there was a bitter and more realistic truth; The interpretation of Manifest Destiny I see as the most obvious is that Manifest Destiny was a cover for many of people’s greed for the future prospects they were able to gain from those western lands. If it was true that people truly wanted to expand in the name of religion then why did the Indian Removal Act occur. The real answer I believe is because they were rapacious for prime bountiful land. With the acquisition of the west, they were able to gain valuable resources. By acquiring the west via The Treaty of Hidalgo, people could then move out west to hunt furs, they could mine for precious metals and start up their own farms or plantations. I don’t think there’s anything pertaining to spread of religion and culture Manifest Destiny in there, only the underlying motive of self success and the government’s thought of strengthening it’s own economy and might through land addition. The Mexican-American war was not of religion, but of the sole purpose of acquiring land. America was then able to rapidly increase in population and
America’s Manifest Destiny first surfaced around the 1840’s, when John O’Sullivan first titled the ideals that America had recently gained on claiming the West as their ‘Manifest Destiny.’ Americans wanted to settle in the West for multiple reasons, from the idea that God wanted them to settle all the way to the West co...
Manifest Destiny, defined by the letter written by John O'Sullivan in 1839, is "for this blessed mission to the nations of the world, which are shut out from the life-giving light of truth, has America been chosen; and her high example... where myriads now endure an existence scarcely more enviable than that of the beasts of the field". In this also shared what I believe is his view on the purpose of western expansion. He discusses the " beasts of the field", meaning the animals the Native Americans follow, are slightly less enviable than a large number of the people already residing in America. Therefore, the mission of the United States is to spread their ways and the word of God to those who live a "savage" lifestyle.
Unfortunately, this great relationship that was built between the natives and the colonists of mutual respect and gain was coming to a screeching halt. In the start of the 1830s, the United States government began to realize it’s newfound strength and stability. It was decided that the nation had new and growing needs and aspirations, one of these being the idea of “Manifest Destiny”. Its continuous growth in population began to require much more resources and ultimately, land. The government started off as simply bargaining and persuading the Indian tribes to push west from their homeland. The Indians began to disagree and peacefully object and fight back. The United States government then felt they had no other option but to use force. In Indian Removal Act was signed by Andrew Jackson on May 18, 1830. This ultimately resulted in the relocation of the Eastern tribes out west, even as far as to the edge of the Great Plains. A copy of this act is laid out for you in the book, Th...
The term “Manifest Destiny” was never actually used until 1845, but the idea was always implied from the Doctrine of Discovery. Without understanding the Doctrine, it is impossible to understand the reasons and fundamentals behind why Manifest Destiny began.This Doctrine was a set of ten steps and rules that European nations followed in order to avoid conflict over land holdings, created in the early 1400s. The first few steps give the discovering country full rights to buy the land from the native peoples. This is important, since it gave the discovering country the power of preemption. Conquered Indian peoples lose sovereign powers and the rights to free trade and diplomatic relations, and the land they occupy is said to be vacant. Religion played a massive role in the regulations of the Doctrine, since “non-Christian people were not deemed to have the same rights to land, sovereignty, and self determination as Christians”(Miller 4). These rules were all meant to favor the ethnocentric, with full understanding of the repercussions on those who lived in the places being conquered.
In the 1830’s America was highly influenced by the Manifest Destiny Ideal. Manifest Destiny was the motivating force behind the rapid expansion of America into the West. This ideal was highly sponsored by posters, newspapers, and various other methods of communication. Propaganda was and is still an incredibly common way to spread an idea to the masses. Though Manifest Destiny was not an official government policy, it led to the passing of the Homestead Act. The Homestead Act gave applicants freehold titles of undeveloped land outside of the original thirteen colonies. It encouraged Westward colonization and territorial acquisition. The Homestead Act was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862. To America, Manifest Destiny was the idea that America was destined to expand across the North American continent, from the Atlantic, to the Pacific Ocean. Throughout this time Native Americans were seen as obstacles because they occupied land that the United States needed to conquer to continue with their Manifest Destiny Ideal. Many wars were fought between the A...
Manifest Destiny was the idea that it was the United States’ destiny to take over all of North America from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Most of the public was in favor of territorial expansion, though some politicians felt it contradicted the constitution.
Americans throughout history have always felt that they were superior. The concept of “Manifest Destiny” has been the fuel to the fire of superiority. Manifest Destiny is the belief that it is American’s are the chosen ones and have the obvious right to conquer and own land between the eastern and western seaboards and that such expansion was inevitable. Manifest Destiny along with Christianity were two reasons that drove and encouraged both expansion within North Amer...
The Manifest Destiny was a progressive movement starting in the 1840's. John O'Sullivan, a democratic leader, named the movement in 1845. Manifest Destiny meant that westward expansion was America's destiny. The land that was added to the U.S. after 1840 (the start of Manifest Destiny) includes The Texas Annexation (1845), The Oregon Country (1846), The Mexican Cession (1848), The Gadsden Purchase (1853), Alaska (1867), and Hawaii (1898). Although this movement would take several years to complete, things started changing before we knew it.
Even though there are a couple well fought reasons on why the manifest destiny wasn't justified I strongly believe that it was. Even though many of the natives died and there land was taken, I think they should be able to do this since they spend a lot of money for new land that no longer should belong to the natives. It helped encourage the use for transportation and the transportation industry and offered many, many acres of farming land that consisted of many resources. This is why I believe that the manifest destiny was
Approaching the mid-1800’s, a movement coined as “Manifest Destiny” took over the American nation. Manifest Destiny was the overall idea that Americans had the “divine right” to expand towards the west. Many reasons were considered when talking about settling west, reasons such as cheap land, economic growth, and job opportunities, etc. Americans wanted to expand the national territory from ocean to ocean and express their superiority. Overall, the purpose of Manifest Destiny was to spread American values and expand the geographical borders of the nation.
S.G. Colley, a U.S. Indian Agent, writes in a Report for the Committee on the Conduct of War, “That notwithstanding his knowledge of the facts as above set forth, he is informed that Colonel Chivington did, on the morning of the 29th of November last, surprise and attack said camp of friendly Indians and massacre a large number of them, (mostly women and children,) and did allow the troops of his command to mangle and mutilate them in the most horrible manner” (Colley, 1865). This quote shows the Americans were exterminating innocent American Indians for no justifiable reason. For Americans to expand west the Indians would have to leave the picture. Americans wanted to acquire more land and take advantage of the newfound resources, however with the Native Americans were residing in the land it, caused more difficulties. This was largely the reason why Americans felt there was a need to kill Indians or move them. Americans were also strong believers in Manifest Destiny, “the belief that the United States had a “God-given” right to aggressively spread the values of white civilization and expand the nation from ocean to ocean” (American Promise: A History of the United States). Americans didn 't believe in the Native Americans way of life or culture and strongly felt the need for Americans culture to conquer. This was
Whereas the Americans were able to benefit greatly from the move due to the expansion on the availability of land, as this helped to expand the growing cotton farming industry which lead to a growth in the desire of slaves, as is mentioned in the source between two cotton plantation owners, “All the lands obtained from the Choctaw indians in 1832 have now been offered for sale”. This also shows that the expansion was driven by the desire to accumulate more land to benefit the economy. It also highlights that the act was mainly motivated by the American greed for a larger economy, so in the short term the Indians saw a lack of care for their well being caused by the money lust of the Americans. Which caused a feeling of resentment and a lack of trust towards the government. However, at the time the Americans believed it was voluntary so they didn 't see it as a problem, though later on they realised it was voluntary with a gun held to their back. Which will have caused the growing anti-expansionism movement. As one source acknowledges the growing hatred, by mentioning, “ There is no fate to justify rapacious nations, any more than to justify gamblers and robbers in plunder”. This in the short term would have affected Jackson’s popularity, and making the opposition a more prosperous ballot. However, in the short term the Indian Removal Act pleased the Americans but made the relationships
Manifest Destiny is a phrase used to express the belief that the United States had a mission to expand its borders, thereby spreading its form of democracy and freedom. Originally a political catchphrase of the nineteenth-century, Manifest Destiny eventually became a standard historical term, often used as a synonym for the territorial expansion of the United States across North America towards the Pacific Ocean. The United States government believed that the Native Americans were a problem that was hindering Manifest Destiny from being fulfilled (or at the very least, used the idea of Manifest Destiny to gain land and resources the Indians possessed), and would do everything in their power to exterminate the “Indian Problem.” The U.S. government, along with the majority of the U.S. population, eradicated this problem through lies, forced removal, and murder. This eradication nearly wiped out a race of people, whose only crime was mere existence in a land they had lived on, respected, and cherished for hundreds of years. The U.S. government had three main ways of solving the “Indian Problem”. They would remove them, kill them, or segregate them from the “civilized” white man by placing the Indian on reservations. The Indians soon learned that the U.S. government could not be trusted, and fought fiercely against the harsh injustices that were being administered. Tragically, the Indians would eventually have their spirits broken, living out their meager existence in the terrible homes called reservations.
...sessing gold in Native American territories brought America great wealth and at the same time gave freedom in the usage of land. Acquiring land from Native Americans led to the western expansion which enlarged American territory and brought great prosperity to the nation. Critics now blame Jackson for executing the removal, but the idea of the policy was not only his. Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe and John Quincy Adams also shared the same opinion and contributed in carrying out the removal act. Although this event was tragic, it was an inevitable one and would have happened somewhere in history. The two groups would never have agreed entirely on their political views, and would have had to determine which group led the country at some point in time. Thus, the Indian Removal Act was an essential occurrence that paved the way for the development of the new nation.
Manifest Destiny! This simple phrase enraptured the United States during the late 1800’s, and came to symbolize an era of westward expansion through numerous powerful entities. The expansion can be inspected though many different contextual lenses, but if examined among the larger histories of the United States, this movement can be classified as one of the most influential developments of the post-Civil War period. While very influential to the larger part of American history, the seemingly barbaric methods that were used conquer the western lands and their peoples took physical and economical forms that proved to be a plague upon the West.