![]() ![]() ![]() The spread of Americans to the west, as well as the acquisition of land from Mexico at the end of the Mexican-American War, gave the United States access to the Pacific Ocean. The ability to own land helped to elevate many pioneers out of poverty, but more importantly, it gave them control over their own lives and their own futures. ![]() ![]() Many people, including recent immigrants to the U.S., had little opportunity to improve their lot in life while living in the crowded cities of the East.įor many, promise of free land in the vast, untamed western wilderness was too enticing to pass up. Hundreds of thousands of Americans had an opportunity to own land for the very first time thanks to the westward movement and Manifest Destiny. Here is some of the “good” to come from Manifest Destiny. Expanding the nation was beneficial to the United States in many ways. Still, it took a few more decades - and O’Sullivan’s “Manifest Destiny” rallying cry - before the westward movement was in full swing. He envisioned farms spreading far to the west. The United States was still in its infancy when, in 1803, President Thomas Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase more than doubled the size of the country. To sort it all out, we will take a look at Manifest Destiny through three different lenses to see the good, the bad, and the ugly of this period in American history. Looking back through history, we can see that the Manifest Destiny was a complex idea. Piggybacking on Manifest Destiny were misguided beliefs in the white man’s burden, American colonialism, and racism. may not have become a world superpower.Īnd yet, fulfilling Manifest Destiny came at a cost. “Stephanson writes a scholarly and detailed look at the backstory and subsequent growth of American exceptionalism through the lens of religious and economic fervor, all under the rabid umbrella of Manifest Destiny. Manifest Destiny: American Expansion and the Empire of Right Indeed, the westward expansion, following on the heels of the Louisiana Purchase, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and other territorial acquisitions, allowed the United States to control the natural resources and Pacific coast ports. The pioneering spirit of westward settlers was attributed to Manifest Destiny. In fact, it was almost blasphemous to disagree with this concept, for to denounce western expansion was to defy God’s will. It spoke of the romantic and passionate idea that God favored Americans and that He had a special plan for them. This belief was a strange mix of religious sentiment and colonialism, with a heaping scoop of American exceptionalism thrown in. Manifest Destiny was the belief that the United States was destined - and preordained by God - to control all of the North American continent. In fact, those two words altered the course of the nation’s history for the next several decades. When he penned the phrase, O’Sullivan may have given it little thought, but many of his readers grasped on to these two words fiercely. In an essay published in the July-August 1845 issue of The United States Magazine and Democratic Review, John O’Sullivan wrote that it was America’s “manifest destiny” to expand across the entire continent and settle the land. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |