1. An early proponent of this idea, Adams became a leading figure in U.S. expansion between the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and the Polk administration in the 1840s. [17], According to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia, Adolf Hitler's Lebensraum was the "Manifest Destiny" for Germany's romanticization and imperial conquest of Eastern Europe. "[21], Journalist John L. O'Sullivan was an influential advocate for Jacksonian democracy and a complex character, described by Julian Hawthorne as "always full of grand and world-embracing schemes". Manifest destiny was the popularly held belief in the 19th century that US settlers were destined by God to expand the countryâs territory. That is why slavery became one of the central issues in the continental expansion of the United States before the Civil War. On the other hand, many Democrats feared industrialization the Whigs welcomed... For many Democrats, the answer to the nation's social ills was to continue to follow Thomas Jefferson's vision of establishing agriculture in the new territories to counterbalance industrialization. With American successes on the battlefield, by the summer of 1847 there were calls for the annexation of "All Mexico", particularly among Eastern Democrats, who argued that bringing Mexico into the Union was the best way to ensure future peace in the region.[66]. Whigs presidents Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore tried to suppress the expeditions. Polk moved to occupy a portion of Texas that had declared independence from Mexico in 1836, but was still claimed by Mexico. This U.S. vision of itself as the leader of the "Free World" would grow stronger in the 20th century after World War II, although rarely would it be described as "manifest destiny", as Wilson had done. Owing in part to the lack of a definitive narrative outlining its rationale, proponents offered divergent or seemingly conflicting viewpoints. The 19th-century belief that the United States would eventually encompass all of North America is known as "continentalism",[56][57] a form of tellurocracy. Without an agreed upon interpretation, much less an elaborated political philosophy, these conflicting views of America's destiny were never resolved. Dictionary ! During that time, manifest destiny was cited to promote overseas expansion. When the British refused the offer, American expansionists responded with slogans such as "The whole of Oregon or none" and "Fifty-four forty or fight", referring to the northern border of the region. In 1811, Adams wrote to his father: The whole continent of North America appears to be destined by Divine Providence to be peopled by one nation, speaking one language, professing one general system of religious and political principles, and accustomed to one general tenor of social usages and customs. They rejected the British plan to set up an Indian state in U.S. territory south of the Great Lakes. This was used to justify "the enslavement of the blacks and the expulsion and possible extermination of the Indians". This was the only time a president had used the phrase "manifest destiny" in his annual address. Prompted by O'Sullivan, in 1848 President Polk offered to buy Cuba from Spain for $100 million. ", Lyon Rathbun, Lyon "The debate over annexing Texas and the emergence of manifest destiny. However, the American victories at the Battle of Lake Erie and the Battle of the Thames in 1813 ended the Indian raids and removed the main reason for threatening annexation. He believed that the expansion of the United States would happen without the direction of the U.S. government or the involvement of the military. Although she supported equality for all, Cazneau was not a proponent of women’s suffrage, citing that real oppression existed for women in factories, on Indian reservations and in the Caribbean. Ask students to consider if the movement of Manifest Destiny would have been different if women were given a louder voice. The Platt Amendment (1902), however, established Cuba as a virtual protectorate of the United States. ... Manifest Destiny is defined as a 19th century American belief that the spread of the United States across the continent was inevitable. After Americans immigrated to new regions, they would set up new democratic governments, and then seek admission to the United States, as Texas had done. [24], Six years later, in 1845, O'Sullivan wrote another essay titled Annexation in the Democratic Review,[25] in which he first used the phrase manifest destiny. Updated June 01, 2019 Manifest Destiny was a term that came to describe a widespread belief in the middle of the 19th century that the United States had a special mission to expand westward. Thomas Jefferson believed that while American Indians were the intellectual equals of whites,[92] they had to live like the whites or inevitably be pushed aside by them. Whigs denounced manifest destiny, arguing, "that the designers and supporters of schemes of conquest, to be carried on by this government, are engaged in treason to our Constitution and Declaration of Rights, giving aid and comfort to the enemies of republicanism, in that they are advocating and preaching the doctrine of the right of conquest". The annexation of "All Mexico" would be a violation of this principle. [43], However, not all Americans or their political leaders believed that the United States was a divinely favored nation, or thought that it ought to expand. In thus providing for the support of millions of civilized beings, they will not violate any dictate of justice or of humanity; for they will not only give to the few thousand savages scattered over that territory an ample equivalent for any right they may surrender, but will always leave them the possession of lands more than they can cultivate, and more than adequate to their subsistence, comfort, and enjoyment, by cultivation. a child and another woman walks as a member of the Native tribe, bare-breasted ... âAmerican Progressâ is bound to the concept of âManifest Destinyâ first ... visitors the world over. Hudson, Linda S. Mistress of Manifest Destiny: A Biography of Jane McManus Storm Cazneau, 1807–1878. Manifest Destiny was the concept that the United States had a God -given right to claim territory across North America. Adams did much to further this idea. [63] In 1836, the Republic of Texas declared independence from Mexico and, after the Texas Revolution, sought to join the United States as a new state. The primary target of manifest destiny's filibusters was Latin America but there were isolated incidents elsewhere. [65], After the election of Polk, but before he took office, Congress approved the annexation of Texas. Although elected by a very slim margin, Polk proceeded as if his victory had been a mandate for expansion. [74], After the Mexican–American War ended in 1848, disagreements over the expansion of slavery made further annexation by conquest too divisive to be official government policy. See Julius Pratt, "The Origin Of 'Manifest Destiny, harvnb error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFSampson2003 (, Robert W. Johannsen, "The Meaning of Manifest Destiny", in. Historian Frederick Merk, in Manifest Destiny and Mission in American History: A Reinterpretation (1963), argued that the failure of the "All Oregon" and "All Mexico" movements indicates that manifest destiny had not been as popular as historians have traditionally portrayed it to have been. "[13], Newspaper editor John O'Sullivan is generally credited with coining the term manifest destiny in 1845 to describe the essence of this mindset;[14] some historians believe, however, that the unsigned editorial titled "Annexation" in which it first appeared was written by journalist and annexation advocate Jane Cazneau. where they still reside. List of Pros of Manifest Destiny . [33] On January 3, 1846, Representative Robert Winthrop ridiculed the concept in Congress, saying "I suppose the right of a manifest destiny to spread will not be admitted to exist in any nation except the universal Yankee nation. Best known under the pseudonym Cora Montgomery, Cazneau also often wrote anonymously. [98], In 1898, the United States intervened in the Cuban insurrection and launched the Spanish–American War to force Spain out. Before the American Civil War, Manifest Destiny was used to validate continental acquisitions in the Oregon Country, Texas, New Mexico, and California. AUSTIN, Texas—Jane McManus Storm Cazneau — journalist, adviser to national political figures and adventurer — is a little-known and under-appreciated 19th-century figure, who played a key role in shaping United States domestic and foreign policy. The terms of cession for the Philippines involved a payment of the sum of $20 million by the United States to Spain. [citation needed]. Faragher's analysis of the political polarization between the Democratic Party and the Whig party is that: Most Democrats were wholehearted supporters of expansion, whereas many Whigs (especially in the North) were opposed. Presidents Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren declined Texas's offer to join the United States in part because the slavery issue threatened to divide the Democratic Party. It is manifest destiny." The "mission" of the United States was further elaborated during Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, in which he interpreted the American Civil War as a struggle to determine if any nation with democratic ideals could survive; this has been called by historian Robert Johannsen "the most enduring statement of America's Manifest Destiny and mission".[39]. While a staff writer for John L. O’Sullivan, editor of the United States Magazine and Democratic Review, she described the mission of the United States as “Manifest Destiny,” thereby coining one of the most significant and influential phrases in American history. [85] Before the American Civil War, Southern leaders opposed the Homestead Acts because they feared it would lead to more free states and free territories. On Manifest Destiny itself, two older books, Albert K. Weinberg, Manifest Destiny (1958) and Frederick Merk, Manifest Destiny and Mission in America (1963) remain useful. The public now linked expansion with slavery; if manifest destiny had once enjoyed widespread popular approval, this was no longer true. [68][69], This debate brought to the forefront one of the contradictions of manifest destiny: on the one hand, while identitarian ideas inherent in manifest destiny suggested that Mexicans, as non-whites, would present a threat to white racial integrity and thus were not qualified to become Americans, the "mission" component of manifest destiny suggested that Mexicans would be improved (or "regenerated", as it was then described) by bringing them into American democracy. Moreover, "the sovereignty of the Stars and Stripes can be nothing but a blessing to any people and to any land. Many in the Whig party "were fearful of spreading out too widely", and they "adhered to the concentration of national authority in a limited area". Justin B. Litke, "Varieties of American Exceptionalism: Why John Winthrop Is No Imperialist". There are three basic themes to manifest destiny: Historian Frederick Merk says this concept was born out of "a sense of mission to redeem the Old World by high example ... generated by the potentialities of a new earth for building a new heaven". Others have regarded it as the antithesis of manifest destiny and merely imperialism. William Jennings Bryan denounced the war and any form of overseas expansion, writing, "'Destiny' is not as manifest as it was a few weeks ago. A situation, similar to the present, hath not happened since the days of Noah until now. By then, declared the New-York Daily Times "the fever of Fillibusterism is on our country. The darkness in the painting is over the Indians, symbolizing that they are inferior and not civil. [73], These events related to the US-Mexican war and had an effect on the American people living in the Southern Plains at the time. [88][89][90][91] The United States continued the European practice of recognizing only limited land rights of indigenous peoples. Concerns in the United States that European powers were seeking to acquire colonies or greater influence in North America led to calls for expansion in order to prevent this. This poem features two characters, Captain Robb and Farmer Cobb. In 1869, American historian Frances Fuller Victor published Manifest Destiny in the West in the Overland Monthly, arguing that the efforts of early American fur traders and missionaries presaged American control of Oregon. Americans increasingly believed that Native American ways of life would "fade away" as the United States expanded. In the 1892 U.S. presidential election, the Republican Party platform proclaimed: "We reaffirm our approval of the Monroe doctrine and believe in the achievement of the manifest destiny of the Republic in its broadest sense. This variety of possible meanings was summed up by Ernest Lee Tuveson: "A vast complex of ideas, policies, and actions is comprehended under the phrase "Manifest Destiny". In this usage, "manifest destiny" is interpreted as the underlying cause of what is denounced by some as "American imperialism". [22] O'Sullivan wrote an article in 1839 that, while not using the term "manifest destiny", did predict a "divine destiny" for the United States based upon values such as equality, rights of conscience, and personal enfranchisement "to establish on earth the moral dignity and salvation of man". One of the goals of the War of 1812 was to threaten to annex the British colony of Lower Canada as a bargaining chip to force the British to abandon their fortifications in the Northwestern United States and support for the various Native American tribes residing there. [80] Narciso López, a near second in fame and success, spent his efforts trying to secure Cuba from the Spanish Empire. This era, from the War of 1812 to the acquisition of Alaska in 1867, has been called the "age of manifest destiny". "[37] To Americans in the decades that followed their proclaimed freedom for mankind, embodied in the Declaration of Independence, could only be described as the inauguration of "a new time scale" because the world would look back and define history as events that took place before, and after, the Declaration of Independence. "[96] What was meant by "manifest destiny" in this context was not clearly defined, particularly since the Republicans lost the election. Because of this "choosing" they were entitled to any land they pleased, despite who already owned it (not limited to Native Americans; also including other countries), with the purpose being that they spread their religion of ⦠A shocked Henry Goulburn, one of the British negotiators at Ghent, remarked, after coming to understand the American position on taking the Indians' land: Till I came here, I had no idea of the fixed determination which there is in the heart of every American to extirpate the Indians and appropriate their territory.[55]. This is her first work published by the TSHA. The process was validated by the Insular Cases. Manifest destiny was the 19th century U.S. belief that the country had a divine right to expand across and take over the continent. [11] Historian Daniel Walker Howe writes, "American imperialism did not represent an American consensus; it provoked bitter dissent within the national polity ... Whigs saw America's moral mission as one of democratic example rather than one of conquest. [30], That is, O'Sullivan believed that Providence had given the United States a mission to spread republican democracy ("the great experiment of liberty"). She also was rumored to be Aaron Burr’s mistress, and was so accused by Burr’s wife in her divorce plea. The word 'manifest,' in this sense, means clear, or obvious, and 'Providence' is another word for God's help. [50] During this time, the United States expanded to the Pacific Ocean—"from sea to shining sea"—largely defining the borders of the continental United States as they are today.[51]. Menu. President Wilson continued the policy of interventionism in the Americas, and attempted to redefine both manifest destiny and America's "mission" on a broader, worldwide scale. . Manifest destiny is an unofficial doctrine that characterized the U.S. attitude toward territorial expansion during the 19th and 20th centuries. It is a great mistake. [100], The acquisition of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines after the war with Spain marked a new chapter in U.S. history. [64], Before the election of 1844, Whig candidate Henry Clay and the presumed Democratic candidate, former president, Van Buren, both declared themselves opposed to the annexation of Texas, each hoping to keep the troublesome topic from becoming a campaign issue. Andrew Jackson, who spoke of "extending the area of freedom", typified the conflation of America's potential greatness, the nation's budding sense of Romantic self-identity, and its expansion. [81], Filibustering continued to be a major concern for presidents after Polk. This also provided for a popularly elected legislature and a bill of rights, and authorized the election of a Resident Commissioner who has a voice (but no vote) in Congress.[102]. These clashed in the 1840s as a truly great drama of regional conflict began to unfold. [79] William Walker got his start as a filibuster in an ill-advised attempt to separate the Mexican states Sonora and Baja California. The annexation of Texas was attacked by anti-slavery spokesmen because it would add another slave state to the Union. The British rejected a proposal by U.S. President John Tyler (in office 1841–1845) to divide the region along the 49th parallel, and instead proposed a boundary line farther south, along the Columbia River, which would have made most of what later became the state of Washington part of their colonies in North America. Manifest Destiny is what one could call a form of American nationalism. Oh, when will Manifest Destiny stop! I protest against such a union as that! Nearly all Russian settlers left Alaska in the aftermath of the purchase; Alaska would remain sparsely populated until the Klondike Gold Rush began in 1896. It lacked national, sectional, or party following commensurate with its magnitude. . Manifest Destiny is James Polk and 11.5 million American Indians dead and 350 thousand rounded up and placed in concentration camps, a.k.a. In 1854, a San Francisco Newspaper published a satirical poem called "Filibustering Ethics". Manifest destiny attempted to make a virtue of Americaâs lack of history and turn it into the very basis of nationhood. He orchestrated the Treaty of 1818, which established the Canada–US border as far west as the Rocky Mountains, and provided for the joint occupation of the region known in American history as the Oregon Country and in British and Canadian history as the New Caledonia and Columbia Districts. When the public learned of the Ostend Manifesto in 1854, which argued that the United States could seize Cuba by force if Spain refused to sell, this effectively killed the effort to acquire the island. Yet, "what is to be, will be", as some realist has it; and we look for the restoration of that picturesque and rocky atom of our former territory as inevitable. The Old World is just now suffering from a wanton rejection of the principle of democracy and a substitution of the principle of autocracy as asserted in the name, but without the authority and sanction, of the multitude.
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