Manifest Destiny: Term or Reality

1311 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Impact of jacksonian democracy

The three authors that describe Manifest destiny have very different beliefs but all use one person with vastly different views on Manifest Destiny and his beliefs on the term. The person that first used the term in any form of writing was John O’ Sullivan and is accredited with coining the phrase but much of this time had this strong belief in expanding the territory and states of the United States. Their views on this term were different because some believed that the United States should expand from the Pacific to the Atlantic or the whole North American continent or the whole hemisphere. The common thing that they all believed in was the annexation of Texas into the Union and was the major driving point behind the term and movement.

As Stephanson puts it the major driving force behind expansionism and the politics behind it were driven behind the media and the press. O’ Sullivan especially followed the ideology of Jackson democracy and wanted territorial expansion and the integration of the territories eventually into the Union over time. They believed that God and Christianity were behind them to expand the United States to the vast territories in the continent. As Stephanson explains it O’ Sullivan was even willing to wait many years for these territories such as Mexico and other nearby nations to join the Union which he believed naturally belonged to the United States because of their connection with various rivers and oceans.

In Stephanson’s writing you get the idea that manifest destiny was a short term manifestation of a long term ideology and a temporary messianic impulse. As he mentions that the term was around before it was used heavily in the 1840’s to explain the reason behind the United States need for expansio...

... middle of paper ...

...t helped to spread news faster was with telegraph lines which got expanded due to the expansion. “Gaps in the lines were bridged by the use of railroads, packet steamships, pony express, and carrier pigeon” (Merk 56). This proves that technology was connecting these new territories with the old and how things spread between the two. All other nationalities would take time to blend their cultures and people into the United States culture and way of life.

Works Cited

Merk, Frederick. " Chapter 2Manifest Destiny." Manifest destiny and mission in American history: a reinterpretation. [1st ed. New York: Knopf, 1963. 24-60. Print.

Merrill, Dennis, Thomas Hietala, and Anders Stephanson. "Manifest Destiny, Texas, and the War with Mexico." Major problems in American foreign relations: documents and essays.. 7. ed. Boston [u.a.: Houghton Mifflin, 2009. 206-213. Print

Show More
Related

  • How Was The Mexican War An Expansion Of American Imperialism

    1818 Words  | 4 Pages

    Expansion of a nation was nothing new in terms of history. The fighting, buying and selling of land in North America was a common event during the 1800s. The United States had started expanding in 1803 with President Thomas Jefferson’s purchase of the Louisiana Territory whose borders where not clearly defined. After the War of 1812 with the British, the northern border of this territory was defined at the 49th parallel. Then in 1819, Spain sold its claim to Florida to the United States. The United States wanted to continue to expand itself westward to the Pacific Ocean, a territory then owned by Mexico. The acquirement of this territory occurred after the Mexican War. How the territory was acquired by the United States is the topic in question.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Manifest Destiny: Ugly Truth Behind Pretty Lies?

    719 Words  | 2 Pages

    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;

    Read More

  • Mexican-American War Dbq

    904 Words  | 2 Pages

    John Sullivan founded the manifest destiny movement (Doc A). This idea of God leading the U.S. westward into new territory spread, reaching the president, James K. Polk. He liked this idea, for he wanted to gain more land, especially from Mexico. James Polk was greedy for more territory, as he was a Democrat, who supported annexing Texas and Oregon. Using manifest destiny to obtain this land for the U.S. meant more Americans would support the westward expansion. Therefore, Polk was able to send Americans, particularly farmers, westward, which would soon cause great conflict with Mexico, leading to war. Polk sent multiple representatives to Mexico, wanting to make deals for land in Mexico’s possession (Doc E). One specific person Polk sent was WIlliam Emory. He went to offer a friendship with Mexico and to state reasoning for the U.S. invading Mexican territory. James Polk knew the Mexican Republic was angry at America for invading Texas. So, logically, he sent one of many “ambassadors” to create a peace treaty, and offer a friendship supplying benefits, such as protection for Mexico. Although, Mexico declared the U.S. as “invaders” and rejected the proposed treaties. Though it may seem former president James Polk was pro-manifest destiny, and genuinely wanted a national agreement of peace with Mexico, he was really eyeing their land, where he could obtain the territory, and

    Read More

  • Manifest Destiny and the Genocide of the Native American Indian

    1365 Words  | 3 Pages

    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 is 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.

    Read More

  • Reginald Horsman’s Race and Manifest Destiny

    1961 Words  | 4 Pages

    Manifest Destiny was the belief that the United States was destined to expand from the Atlantic seaboard to the Pacific Ocean; it has also been used to advocate for or justify other territorial acquisitions. Advocates of Manifest Destiny believed that expansion was not only good, but that it was obvious and certain. Originally a political catch phrase of the 19th century, "Manifest Destiny" eventually became a standard historical term, often used as a synonym for the expansion of the United States across the North American continent.In the early 1840s John L. O’Sullivan, editor of the Democratic Review, inaugurated the expression Manifest Destiny to depict American expansionism. O’Sullivan described the nation’s extension as inevitable and criticized those that delayed that progression "for the avowed object of thwarting our policy, limiting our greatness and checking the fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions."(Horsman 219) Horsman notes that even though O’Sullivan laid claim to the phrase manifest destiny, the idea was embedded in Anglo-Saxon heritage. In chapter one of Horsman the concept of ...

    Read More

  • Manifest Destiny and American Politics

    665 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Manifest Destiny

    542 Words  | 2 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Manifest Destiny: Western Expansion of America

    566 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many other farming machines were also developed during this time period, they all made farming in the west much more popular, easier, and profitable. The Trans-continental railroad was started in 1862, even though other trains were already running in different parts of the U.S. The telegraph also went up along with the railroads, although the first time it was used was in 1844. All four of these major technological advancements have helped the United States really get going on their Manifest Destiny. The economy would also blossom during this expansion.

    Read More

  • Life During Westward Expansion

    1436 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 1845, a fellow named John C. Calhoun coined the term "Manifest Destiny." The term Manifest Destiny was a slogan for westward expansion during the 1840's. In the west there was plenty of land, national security, the spread of democracy, urbanization, but there was also poverty out west. People moved out west in search for a new life such as a new beginning. Moving out west, settlers from the east were taking a risk of a lot of things. The climate was different and there were more cultures that lived out west because of how much land was available.

    Read More

  • The Mexican War

    2001 Words  | 5 Pages

    Beginning in 1845 and ending in 1850 a series of events took place that would come to be known as the Mexican war and the Texas Revolution. This paper will give an overview on not only the events that occurred (battles, treaties, negotiations, ect.) But also the politics and reasoning behind it all. This was a war that involved America and Mexico fighting over Texas. That was the base for the entire ordeal. This series of events contained some of the most dramatic war strategy that has ever been implemented.

    Read More

  • The Annexation Of Texas Research Paper

    701 Words  | 2 Pages

    O’ Sullivan. He was founder and editor of the United States Magazine and Democratic Review and editor of the New York Morning News. Most Americans believed that the superiority of their institutions and white culture bestowed on them a God-given right to spread across the continent. O’ Sullivan is credited with inventing the term “manifest destiny.” This term was created to justify white settlers taking the land they coveted. The independence of Texas was complete, therefore he believed that no obligation of duty toward Mexico tended in the least degree to restrain their right to effect the desired recovery of the fair provenance once their own. “She was released, rightfully and absolutely released, from all Mexican allegiance, or duty of cohesion to the Mexican political body, by the acts and fault of Mexico herself, and Mexico

    Read More

  • Manifest Destiny

    1130 Words  | 3 Pages

    The United States of America has never been content with stagnation. The landmass of the Thirteen Colonies was enough to rival that of the Mother country from which they separated. The forefathers believed that it was the manifest destiny of this nation to eventually claim the expansion from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. By 1890, nearly a hundred years following the original claim of Manifest Destiny, the land that was once open, was now under American control. But no sooner was the Great American Frontier closed, than was the door to East Asian expansion opened with the great gold key of American diplomacy. In a world where imperialism was contagious, and cartographers had to work around the clock to keep up with an ever-changing geopolitical landscape, the United States seized the opportunity to establish herself as a significant world power. With great expansionist minds at her helm, such as Theodore Roosevelt and Howard Taft the United States began to grow beyond her border to claim stake in this wide-open world. This new expansionism of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century was a different institution than its early to mid nineteenth century counterpart. Still, the drive to exercise the sovereignty of the United State and to propel itself over the world’s stage was the same then as it was in the time of Thomas Jefferson. In order to understand this assertion, attention must be given to three levels of analysis. First, the similarities that exist between the drive and purpose of old and new expansion must be taken into account. Second, the differences in the global political scene must be considered. Finally, there exits differences in the means by which expansion occurred.

    Read More

  • Manifest Destiny

    1323 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the largest and most wealthy countries in the world, the United States of America, has gone through many changes in its long history. From winning its independence from Great Britain to present day, America has changed dramatically and continues to change. A term first coined in the 1840s, "Manifest Destiny" helped push America into the next century and make the country part of what it is today. The ideas behind Manifest Destiny played an important role in the development of the United States by allowing the territorial expansion of the 1800s. Without the expansion of the era, America would not have most of the western part of the country it does now.

    Read More

  • Manifest Destiny Dbq

    523 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the 19th century, the U.S. experienced a major change. This change was the Manifest Destiny, an ideology first expressed in 1845 that the expansion of white settlement across the continent was inevitable and ordained by God, a means to spread protestant Christianity and Jacksonian Democracy to more people. It was this belief that fueled westward expansion, Native American removal, and war with Mexico. The U.S. reliance on Manifest Destiny permanently altered the geographical, social, and political visage of the nation.

    Read More

  • Essay On Manifest Destiny

    519 Words  | 2 Pages

    What is Manifest destiny?, and who had it helped? These are some questions you may be asking yourself if you don't know much about what it is. The manifest destiny made a big impact on territorial expansion and has gained a fortune for the nation. Manifest destiny is a slight phrase used to describe the logic and emotion behind Americas policy of continental expansion that gripped the United States from 1815 to 1845.

    Read More

More about Manifest Destiny: Term or Reality

Open Document