Manifest Destiny: The Concept And Meaning Of Manifest Destiny

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Expansion and the inevitable conflict in the U.S. 4. Discuss the concept and meaning of Manifest Destiny. What were the main factors driving continental expansion in the move west? In the years after America won the revolutionary war, the people had to decide what to do with it. They had formed a government, and dealt with the many problems that came along with that. However, there was one fact that they still hadn’t necessarily reckoned with; they were still a very small nation. Not only that, but in 1803 Jefferson had a very important opportunity - the chance to buy the Louisiana territory from France. After that, Jefferson was anxious to learn all about this new land. In order to do that, he sent out Lewis and Clark on their famous …show more content…

O’Sullivan in 1845 known as “manifest destiny”. This was the belief that America was destined to reach from coast to coast. O’Sullivan had used this term to promote expansion to the west, telling people that if they go anywhere they should go west. People said that not only could they expand, but they were chosen by God to do it. In your lecture you discussed the term “young America” Which meant that in all the excitement of forming a new nation the people were left with the mindset that they deserved to spread west. Because of this, the people couldn’t be held back at …show more content…

One group heading west was the mormons, and their reasoning wasn’t quite as innocent and ambitious. The mormons were seeking to avoid religious discrimination. Joseph Smith had originally led them west but, after he was murdered, Brigham Young took over and led the mormons to Mexico. This expansion led to Americans entering territory that belonged to other nations - for instance, the American settlement in Mexico. This caused conflict in Texas when they decided they wanted to govern themselves. Another instance is the “fight” for Oregon after Polk is elected president. However, this wasn’t in any way a battle. In all actuality, it was just a bluff put on by Polk, when his real plan was to strike a deal with England over the territory. Now, all this expansion may have caused conflicts and battles with other countries, however, these battles were insignificant compared to the inevitable war which the expansion caused - the civil

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