Manifest Destiny and U.S. Expansionism
analytical Essay
864 words
In year 1845, journalist John L. O’Sullivan used the phrase “manifest destiny” in an article to support the U.S. right to occupy new territories, saying: “[that claim is by the right of] our manifest destiny to overspread and to possess the whole of the continent which Providence has given us for the development of the great experiment of liberty and federated self-government entrusted to us” (Boyer 388). O’Sullivan proposed the idea that the expansion of the United States wouldn’t happen if it was not supposed to. The topic created a big controversy whether the Manifest Destiny confers the United States the destiny to expand or it is an excuse to take other people’s land (Allard par. 1). U.S. population was growing up in a fast pace; thus, the union was expanding to more and more territories – either “by purchase or negotiation or as a result of war” (Allard par. 4). As O’Sullivan put it forward, “it was ‘manifest,’ or evident that the United States was destined by God to spread its rule across the continent” (Allard par. 6). Many people embraced the new idea and the mission to occupy new lands, often with “an optimistic faith in human nature and progress toward a better society and the achievement of great dreams” (Allard par. 8). They believed American society, culture, and political institutions are superior to other nations (Allard par. 8); therefore, they’re bringing enlightenment. In order to gain new territory and bring progress, a huge numbers of Indians had to be moved out. However, as Phil Allard notes, “it was also accepted by many” in the name of Manifest Destiny (par. 9). The Manifest Destiny played a great role in America’s territorial expansion during the 19th century. Allard says: “the notion of Manifest Destin... ... middle of paper ... ... that Constitution never expressly gave the country a right to acquire new land, so the government did not have the right to acquire territory” (Allard par. 68). Manifest Destiny had a great impact on the history of the United States and it’s expansion. However, the questions it revealed were disputable. The discussion about Manifest Destiny revealed many for and against arguments. Maybe, the opponents made the most persuasive argument as they claimed Americans can’t talk about accomplishing a destiny while they kill innocent natives. William Ellery Channing accurately describes in one of his letters to Henry Clay: “There is no necessity for crime. There is no fate to justify rapacious nations, any more than to justify gamblers and robbers, in plunder… We talk of accomplishing our destiny. So did the late conqueror of Europe [Napoleon Bonaparte]” (Allard par. 60).
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the discussion over manifest destiny divided the nation to supporters and opponents. some supporters saw a benefit in the expansion in securing the new nation.
- Analyzes how opponents questioned the idea of manifest destiny and its practical consequences. they argued that overexpansion was a threat to the country.
- Analyzes how manifest destiny had a great impact on the history of the united states and its expansion, but the questions it revealed were disputable.
- Analyzes how john l. o'sullivan used the phrase "manifest destiny" in an article to support the u.s. right to occupy new territories.
Related
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- explanatory
- Manifest Destinyanalytical essayFrom western expansion to foreign imperialism the United States has always been an expansionist country. Early America’s focus was to conquer the natives and obtain western land within North America, but in the latter of America’s history, specifically in the nineteenth and twentieth century, foreign imperialism became the new focus. America’s activity in foreign imperialism was a continuation and departure of the United States’ early expansionism. It was a continuation in terms of manifest destiny, the spread of Christianity, and by the concept of “the city on a hill” and a departure in terms of foreign involvement.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the united states has always been an expansionist country. early america's focus was to conquer the natives and obtain western land within north america.
- Analyzes how the concept of 'manifest destiny' has been the fuel to the fire of superiority.
- Explains how the united states became involved in foreign affairs in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
- Explains that the united states evolved as an expansionist country from domestic expansion to international expansion. america continued expansion with the concept of manifest destiny, the city on a hill, and christianity.
542 wordsRead More - What Drove America to Manifest Destinyanalytical essayManifest destiny is the idea that Americans had, and have, the inherent right to expand the United States from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. As we know, this eventually happened, but it took a lot of time, money, blood, and effort in order to achieve this divine goal. We take for granted the size and span of our country, when for a good part of the 19th century, we shared the land mass with Spanish Mexico. It’s important to understand what drove us to pursue this goal, and the struggles that we encountered in obtaining, exploring, and settling the land.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that americans had the inherent right to expand the united states from the atlantic ocean to the pacific ocean, but it took a lot of time, money, blood, and effort to achieve this divine goal.
- Explains that europeans, for centuries, have been obsessed with the idea of conquest, and that adding a religious element to that dream was just icing on the cake.
- Explains that the americans faced many obstacles when expanding westward. they had to obtain land from the people already living there.
- Explains that the most efficient mode of transportation was by horseback from the mississippi river to the west coast. lewis and clark plotted the area obtained through the louisiana purchase, and cleared the path for pioneers to start claiming land.
- Explains how the west was organized, with little law enforcement, and outlaws. texas was the most active gunfighting state and the law stated that people could claim land wherever they wanted without purchasing it.
- Analyzes the pros and cons of following the dream of manifest destiny, but without it, we would be nowhere near the level of advancement that we have achieved today.
- Cites scott, donald m., "the religious origins of manifest destiny" and turner, frederick jackson.
653 wordsRead More - Manifest Destiny: The Expansion Of Americaanalytical essayWhen the shape of America first started to grow from just land to the 13 colonies to the westward expansion of our country in less than a century, it sure feels like hopes and dreams came true. Though it might have seemed like an easier task, it took luck, labor, and intense warfare. The long process of American territorial expansion was justified by a mid-century ideology known as Manifest Destiny (pg 1). The one people we seem to forget about when we discuss the growing settlement of our country are the Native Americans. They had inhabited the country long before Columbus had discovered America, and still play an important part in today’s society. Manifest Destiny justified the displacement and domestication of Native Americans all while
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the long process of american territorial expansion was justified by a mid-century ideology known as manifest destiny.
- Analyzes how the united states supported the idea that indians gave up their claims to the land by leaving their fallow camps to accommodate for the weather, thereby strengthening the southwestern frontier.
- Analyzes how manifest destiny justified the displacement and the domestication of the native americans.
- Analyzes how the indians were upset when the great spirit sent the whites to america to take their land away from them.
- Analyzes how black hawk describes an incident where the white men had taken over his land. the great spirit gave it to his children to live upon, and cultivate as far as necessary for their subsistence.
- Concludes that the removal of indians and the white man claiming the land helped with the growth of civilization.
1528 wordsRead More - John L. O'sullivan's Manifest Destinyanalytical essayCoined in 1845 by journalist John L. O'sullivan the term Manifest Destiny outlined the idea that it was America's God given right to spread to the western territory bought in the Louisiana Purchase and beyond. Already swept up in the excitement of expansion, the people of America took up the term quickly, using it as yet another incentive to populate new lands in pursuit of riches. Manifest Destiny was used often to give reason to the nation’s imperialistic activities of conquering the west, including its justification for the war against Mexico in 1845- 1848. (Acuna 222, 226). America's desire for economic power and military prowess, as well as her wish to keep up with ever-expanding technology pushed her people west, with O'sullivan's Manifest
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the term manifest destiny was coined in 1845 by journalist john l. o'sullivan and was used as an incentive to populate new lands in pursuit of riches. advances in technology launched america into an era of industrial competition.
- Explains that in 1803 the united states nearly doubled in size after thomas jefferson purchased the territory of louisiana, previously held by the french, opening up a new region to american settlers.
- Analyzes how o'sullivan's manifest destiny and the second great awakening gave pioneers an increased motivation to push west into uncharted territory.
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In this essay, the author
- Explains that the romantic era's new "american identity" was realized by the 18th-century’s literary, social, and artistic push for the creation of a culture that was unique to american society.
- Analyzes how manifest destiny fueled and justified expansionism in america during the 18th century. the mexican-american war was the result of the polk administration.
- Analyzes how the new "american man" and transcendentalism tied in with man's relationship with nature were evident throughout much of romantic literature.
- Analyzes how thoreau explores the idea of self-reliance and finding one's own truth in walden pond to escape the monotony of his life in society.
- Analyzes how emerson's self-reliance preaches the merits of self-reliance. he laments that once an individual goes out into society, they lose the small voice in their head that whispers their own truth.
- Analyzes how charles willson peale's the exhumation of the mastodon juxtaposes nature with scientific innovation as well as individualism.
- Analyzes how individuals like cooper, thoreau, emerson, andrew jackson, and polk were instrumental in developing the new american identity by spreading the ideas of manifest destiny and actively fighting for the america’s expansion to the west.
942 wordsRead More - Manifest Destiny and the Genocide of the Native American Indianexplanatory essayIn 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...
In this essay, the author
- Explains that they were particularly interested in researching the origins of manifest destiny and the history of the native americans from 1830 to 1839. reliability, how recently it was updated, and how easily it could be edited by internet users were the main criteria.
- Describes the criteria for selection and reading of books pertaining to native americas, and manifest destiny.
- Explains that manifest destiny was the motivating force behind the rapid expansion of america into the west. the homestead act encouraged westward colonization and territorial acquisition.
- Explains that america's westward expansion was published on suite101, an american history website, in february 2007 and was written by k.c. morgan.
- Explains that the indian removal act (1830) is an excerpt from the cherokee removal: a brief history by theda perdue and michael d. green.
- Explains how the indian wars, the trail of tears and other events show the obstacles that the native americans had to overcome and how indiscriminately they were killed.
- Opines that the idea of manifest destiny almost caused the eradication of an entire group of people. the american's were not appeased even after the native americans were relocated.
- Explains that wallace, anthony f. long, and cashin, edward j., eds. a wilderness still the cradle of nature: frontier georgia.
1365 wordsRead More - Manifest Destinyanalytical essayOne 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.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how james k. polk's campaign slogan "fifty-four forty or fight" referred to the line of latitude the united states wanted to be the northern boundary between oregon and canada.
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- Describes appleby, joyce, alan brinkley, james mcpherson, and glencoe mcgraw-hill. the american journey: building a nation.
- Explains that the term "manifest destiny" helped push america into the next century and make it part of what it is today.
1323 wordsRead More - The Subjugation Of The American Westanalytical essayManifest 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.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how president grant's "peace policy" led to a series of hostilities that were ruthlessly fought by the u.s. army.
- Explains that the conquering of the american west took form in the economic expansion into the frontier of america.
- Analyzes how the phrase 'manifest destiny' enraptured the united states during the late 1800's.
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1214 wordsRead More - The Manifest Destinyanalytical essayThe United States of America, from even before the time of it's founding, had seen far past its borders. This belief, labeled Manifest Destiny, was an explanation or justification for that expansion and westward movement. But as the sprawling country reached the western coast, growing in power and strength, its ideas on expansion shifted. The policies of the late-1800's and early 1900's were not all that different from the policies and ideas of past growth. Yet they did contain new ideas about where to go, how to carry these policies out successfully, and why expansion was justified, which can be understood in the political, economic, and geographical aspects on the expansion
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the united states of america's belief in manifest destiny was an explanation or justification for its expansion and westward movement. but as the sprawling country reached the western coast, its ideas on expansion shifted.
- Compares the early expansion belief of the manifest destiny with the later belief in the 1890s and early 1900s. the expansionist feeling lived on even after the turner proclamation declaring the west closed.
- Analyzes how the monroe doctrine proclaimed that european powers would no longer colonize or interfere with the affairs of newly independent nations of the americas.
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- Analyzes how the anti-imperialists opposed annexation of the philippines in the 1890s. they feared that lesser races would pollute their country.
- Analyzes how racism was used to argue for involvement and staying out of the philippines. the poem, white man's burden by rudyard kipling, talks of a responsibility of richer countries to help less-developed countries.
- Concludes that expansionist sentiments of the early american manifest destiny shared some policies with the expansion in the 1890s and early 1900s. the later policy was probably more of a departure of its early policy.
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823 wordsRead More