Native America, Discovered and Conquered: Manifest Destiny

789 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Manifest Destiny Native Americans

Man has always had the desire to expand, venture forth to develop greater wealth. With the acquisition of the Louisiana Territory and the prospects of future land acquisition, Americans used the idea of Manifest Destiny to justify their actions for moving westward and their treatment of Native Americans. The idea of Manifest Destiny was created directly by the European-used Doctrine of Discovery and industrialization; this direct correlation was proven to be true from the verdict of the court case Johnson v. M’Intosh. 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. America grew into an independent government, discarding many ideals present in that of England. But was the Doctrine of Discovery ... ... middle of paper ... ...n knowledge. Besides legal title, Sullivan argued, even more strongly, that God had presented Oregon to the United States to aid in expansion and the spread of a Christian world. With this argument presented in public form, Americans began accepting the phrase of Manifest Destiny as a link between them, God, and expansion westward. The drive to expand westward, fueled by Manifest Destiny, lead to the colonization and connections that make up the America of today, influenced by the Doctrine of Discovery, industrialization, and the outcome of court cases like Johnson v. M’Intosh. Without this, the unification and might of the United States would be significantly smaller and less influential on the world. As for the novel itself, the book was actually really enjoyable and easy to read. The authors opinion came through with sufficient evidence to back up his claim.

Show More
Related

  • Compare and contrast America’s “Manifest Destiny” of the mid-19th century with its “Imperialism” of the late 19th century.

    1056 Words  | 3 Pages

    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...

    Read More

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

    719 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Lewis And Clark Manifest Destiny

    2667 Words  | 6 Pages

    One of the central pillars of American history and idealism is the concept of manifest destiny. Which according to the Random House Dictionary is the nineteenth century belief and doctrine of the United States, that it was their God given destiny to expand its territory over North America, thereby enhancing their sovereignty and increasing their political, economic and social influence on the world stage. This term was not created until later in the century, post Lewis and Clark expedition. However it was most certainly one of the main goals of the expedition. Lewis and Clark were not the first group of white men to explore areas of the west, though none were quite as influential or as important to supporting manifest destiny. However these two explorers, Lewis and Clark not only supported manifest density, they also made significant contributions to scientific and cartographical knowledge of the western frontier. Their voyage across the United States stands out from other explorations of the west, due to the numerous journals that Lewis and Clark as well as their expedition team wrote in, almost every day. These journals represent first hand records of everything they encountered, thus preserving their journey for hundreds of years to come and allowing for their additions to the scientific community of the United States to be preserved.

    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

  • Manifest Destiny Research Paper

    1764 Words  | 4 Pages

    had created the Indian Removal act which sent them along the trail of tears to the

    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

  • Westward Expansion Thesis

    688 Words  | 2 Pages

    John L. O’Sullivan, an editor, coined the term “Manifest Destiny” and gave the expansionist movement its name in 1845. The “Manifest Destiny” was the belief that Americans had the divine right to occupy North America. The Americans believed they were culturally and racially superior over other nations and other races such as the Native American Indians and Mexicans. The notion of the ‘Manifest Destiny’ was that the Americans were morally superior and therefore morally obligated to try to spread enlighten and civilization to the less civilized societies. According to World History Group, “The closest America came to making ‘Manifest Destiny’ an official policy was The Monroe Doctrine, adopted in 1823, it put European nations on notice that the U.S. would defend other nations of the Western Hemisphere from further colonization” (World History, 2015). This divine American mission caused Anglo-Saxon Americans to believe they had the natural right to move west and bring blessings of self-government and religion, more specifically-

    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

    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.

    Read More

  • Stripped of Personal Freedom: Native Americans in the West

    904 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout our country’s history there have been several groups who have fared less that great. Every minority group was treated unfairly, Indians were uprooted and had no control, I can’t imagine for a second being a soldier in combat, women struggled for basic rights, and many people fell victim to the changing ways of our economy, losing their jobs and fighting to survive. It seems wrong to pick one group over another, as if to say some people who were treated horribly or who faced mounting obstacles didn’t actually have it as bad as another group. But throughout all the years we’ve studied, one group that stood out to me who were dealt a horrible fate were Native Americans living in the west during the 19th century. When Americans began to expand westward, Indians unwillingly had their lives flipped upside down and changed drastically. After years of displacement, they were being forced to live in certain areas and follow certain rules, or risk their lives.

    Read More

  • Native Americans: The Original Inhabitants of America

    2245 Words  | 5 Pages

    Considering historical evidence, the notion: Native –Americans was not the first inhabitant of America is a complete false. For centuries, history kept accurate and vivid accounts of the first set of people who domiciled the western hemisphere. Judging by those records, below are the first set of Native-American people who inhabited America before the arrival of another human race; the Iroquois: The Iroquois of Native Americans was one of the tribes that lived in America before other people came. Based on historical evidence, it is believed that the Native Americans came from Asia way back during the Ice Age through a land bridge of the Bering Strait. When the Europeans first set foot in America, there were about 10 million Native Americans

    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

  • American Manifest Destiny and the Genocide of the American Indian

    1728 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    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

  • The Subjugation Of The American West

    1214 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about Native America, Discovered and Conquered: Manifest Destiny

Open Document