Manifest Destiny Essay Outline

Essay 3: Manifest Destiny

Manifest Destiny was a term coined by a New York journalist, John L. O’Sullivan that sanctioned the right of the United States to expand its territory all over North America, which took place between 1815-1860. It invoked the idea that territorial expansion was a divine mission and was so self-evident that their entitlement to those lands were beyond any international treaty, discovery, or long term settlement.

The underpinnings of Manifest Destiny that had the support of Americans throughout the States was that as a free and sovereign nation, dedicated to the ideals of liberty and freedom, the U.S. had the moral authority to expand its territory and spread those notions elsewhere. As in the case of Texas – formerly known as the Republic of Texas – which was soon annexed by the U.S., promoting freedom was of supreme importance to the American people.

Why did Americans view themselves in such grand and venerable terms? Were they more superior than other nations and countries? Well, in fact, this is exactly how they felt. There were essentially three explanations why Americans held themselves in this regard: the virtue of the American people and their institutions; the mission to spread these institutions, thereby redeeming and remaking the world in the image of the U.S.; and the destiny under

Congress, before the election of James K. Polk for the presidency, had sanctioned the annexation of Texas – which Mexico claimed as their own – into the Union, which triggered the Mexican-American War on April 24, 1846. As the War went on and Americans enjoyed many military successes, some called for all of Mexico to be annexed into the U.S. This view became controversial, however, for two reasons: first, Americans should not impose their will on other people; and annexing Mexico would mean incorporating non-white Caucasian people into the