Where did the term Manifest Destiny come from?
Learn more about Manifest Destiny.
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Transcript
Manifest Destiny was the belief that the United States had the divine right to expand westward—and that all such exploration and expansion was God-ordained.
The term Manifest Destiny was first used in 1845 by John L. O’Sullivan, editor of the United States Magazine, and Democratic Review, in an essay on why the United States was justified in annexing Texas. He was protesting European, specifically French and British, intervention in the United States’ affairs.
O’Sullivan believed that the Europeans were acting “for the avowed object of thwarting our policy and hampering our power, limiting our greatness and checking the fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions.”
In other words, O’Sullivan believed that the Europeans were trying to limit the power of the United States and prevent them from achieving their God-given right to develop the West.
Soon “Manifest Destiny” was taken up as a rallying cry and a political slogan.
The idea was embraced by Democrats but largely rejected by Whigs because many in the party believed that Manifest Destiny was hostile and pompous.
Manifest Destiny was perhaps most explicitly carried out when a border dispute over the land between the Rio Grande and Nueces River led to the Mexican-American War, which lasted from 1846 to 1848.
By the end of the war, the U.S. had acquired more than 500,000 square miles of land, including territory in present-day Arizona, California, western Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah.
America's rapid expansion was accompanied by violent displacement of Native American communities and sparked disputes over the status of American slavery, leading to the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861.
For much of the 19th century, the United States “manifested its destiny” on the North American continent, gaining considerable territory. And when there was no new land left to conquer there, Americans would look to the global stage.
The term Manifest Destiny was first used in 1845 by John L. O’Sullivan, editor of the United States Magazine, and Democratic Review, in an essay on why the United States was justified in annexing Texas. He was protesting European, specifically French and British, intervention in the United States’ affairs.
O’Sullivan believed that the Europeans were acting “for the avowed object of thwarting our policy and hampering our power, limiting our greatness and checking the fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions.”
In other words, O’Sullivan believed that the Europeans were trying to limit the power of the United States and prevent them from achieving their God-given right to develop the West.
Soon “Manifest Destiny” was taken up as a rallying cry and a political slogan.
The idea was embraced by Democrats but largely rejected by Whigs because many in the party believed that Manifest Destiny was hostile and pompous.
Manifest Destiny was perhaps most explicitly carried out when a border dispute over the land between the Rio Grande and Nueces River led to the Mexican-American War, which lasted from 1846 to 1848.
By the end of the war, the U.S. had acquired more than 500,000 square miles of land, including territory in present-day Arizona, California, western Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah.
America's rapid expansion was accompanied by violent displacement of Native American communities and sparked disputes over the status of American slavery, leading to the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861.
For much of the 19th century, the United States “manifested its destiny” on the North American continent, gaining considerable territory. And when there was no new land left to conquer there, Americans would look to the global stage.
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