Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny is a term that refers to the desire of United States to expand from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean that began in the mid-nineteenth century, used to justify the U.S. annexation of Oregon, New Mexico, and California and later U.S. involvement in Alaska, Hawaii, and the Philippines. This notion had both its supporters, claiming that it was America's right to do so, and its dissidents, who argued that it was just an example of American imperialism. The phrase Manifest Destiny was first introduced into the American vocabulary in 1894 by John O'Sullivan in an article entitled "Our Manifest Destiny," which was written to justify the annexation of Texas. He stated that opponents to Texas's annexation were seeking to limit the power of the United States, the
In fact, O'Sullivan cites this in his article, stating that the annexation of California was an inevitable consequence of America's population expansion, which was not done at the prompting of the government, therefore it had to be because of America's inherent destiny. " O'Sullivan then went on to further explicate his theory in an article published in the New York Morning News, Dec. reby "limiting our greatness and checking the fulfillment of our manifest destiny, allotted by Providence. Their tall tales and exaggerated accounts of the West glamorized the idea of moving, so that when people heard the stories, they were enticed to explore the region. Beginning with the exploration of fur trappers with the search for new reserves of beavers, the population slowly migrated to the West. A population will soon be in actual occupation of California, over which it will be idle for Mexico to dream of dominion. Divine preordination was the main argument of those who supported Manifest Destiny, meaning that it was the will of God for the United States to spread westwards and over the entire continent, an argument that appealed to the basic values and ideals of a majority of the American people, since many were religious. However, religion was not the only means used to justify Manifest Destiny, population expansion, considered inevitable, being another fact used to justify the ideas of Manifest Destiny. 1845 edition, to prove that the United States had a right to the Oregon territory, after which the phrase gained popularity in use by first Congress and then the general press. This was related to the idea of the "white man's burden," which was extremely pervasive at the time. Missionaries were being sent westward in order to convert the Native Americans to Christianity. Furthermore, Mexico was considered to be a weak country, so it would have to submit to American superiority and give up the lands it possessed. "Imbecile and distracted, Mexico never can exert any real governmental authority over such a country.
Common topics in this essay:
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Acceptance Essays
