Manifest destiny

[3][4][5] According to historian William Earl Weeks, there were three basic tenets behind the concept:[2] Manifest destiny remained heavily divisive in politics, causing constant conflict with regards to slavery in these new states and territories.

[9][10][11] By 1843, former U.S. President John Quincy Adams, originally a major supporter of the concept underlying manifest destiny, had changed his mind and repudiated expansionism because it meant the expansion of slavery in Texas.

Ill-defined but keenly felt, manifest destiny was an expression of conviction in the morality and value of expansionism that complemented other popular ideas of the era, including American exceptionalism and Romantic nationalism.

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.

[31] Historian Frederick Merk wrote in 1963 that the concept of manifest destiny 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".

[32] The origin of the first theme, later known as American exceptionalism, was often traced to America's Puritan heritage, particularly John Winthrop's famous "City upon a Hill" sermon of 1630, in which he called for the establishment of a virtuous community that would be a shining example to the Old World.

[33] In his influential 1776 pamphlet Common Sense, Thomas Paine echoed this notion, arguing that the American Revolution provided an opportunity to create a new, better society: We have it in our power to begin the world over again.

Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to James Monroe, wrote, "it is impossible not to look forward to distant times when our rapid multiplication will expand itself beyond those limits, and cover the whole northern, if not the southern continent.

Whigs welcomed most of the changes wrought by industrialization but advocated strong government policies that would guide growth and development within the country's existing boundaries; they feared (correctly) that expansion raised a contentious issue, the extension of slavery to the territories.

[38] According to historian Dorceta Taylor: "Minorities are not usually chronicled as explorers or environmental activists, yet the historical records show that they were a part of expeditions, resided and worked on the frontier, founded towns, and were educators and entrepreneurs.

For example, many Whigs opposed territorial expansion based on the Democratic claim that the United States was destined to serve as a virtuous example to the rest of the world, and also had a divine obligation to spread its superordinate political system and a way of life throughout North American continent.

To end the War of 1812 John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay and Albert Gallatin (former treasury secretary and a leading expert on Indians) and the other American diplomats negotiated the Treaty of Ghent in 1814 with Britain.

If this be a spirit of aggrandizement, the undersigned are prepared to admit, in that sense, its existence; but they must deny that it affords the slightest proof of an intention not to respect the boundaries between them and European nations, or of a desire to encroach upon the territories of Great Britain...

In his influential 1935 study of manifest destiny, done in conjunction with the Walter Hines Page School of International Relations,[58] Albert Weinberg wrote: "the expansionism of the [1830s] arose as a defensive effort to forestall the encroachment of Europe in North America".

)[62] When Polk moved to terminate the joint occupation agreement, the British finally agreed in early 1846 to divide the region along the 49th parallel, leaving the lower Columbia basin as part of the United States.

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.

Sarah P. Remond on January 24, 1859, delivered an impassioned speech at Warrington, England, that the connection between filibustering and slave power was clear proof of "the mass of corruption that underlay the whole system of American government".

As with Texas, Oregon, and California, American policy makers were concerned that Cuba would fall into British hands, which, according to the thinking of the Monroe Doctrine, would constitute a threat to the interests of the United States.

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.

According to Yupik historian Shari Huhndorf, "These changing demographics transformed social relationships between Native and the newcomers and soon led to Jim Crow-like segregation supported by a rapidly expanding territorial government.

In a policy formulated largely by Henry Knox, Secretary of War in the Washington Administration, the U.S. government sought to expand into the west through the purchase of Native American land in treaties.

The national policy was for the Indians to join American society and become "civilized", which meant no more wars with neighboring tribes or raids on white settlers or travelers, and a shift from hunting to farming and ranching.

There the benevolent may endeavor to teach them the arts of civilization, and, by promoting union and harmony among them, to raise up an interesting commonwealth, destined to perpetuate the race and to attest the humanity and justice of this government.

[60] According to historians Boyd Cothran and Ned Blackhawk, this influx of trade, industrialization, and development of transportation corridors killed surrounding livestock, caused waterway damage, and created sickness and disease for the Native American peoples living in those regions.

Wilson's version of manifest destiny was a rejection of expansionism and an endorsement (in principle) of self-determination, emphasizing that the United States had a mission to be a world leader for the cause of democracy.

[130] Many studies suggest environmental changes that directly impact Indigenous communities due to the result of European colonization and settlement, according to scholar Dina Gilio-Whitaker, when manifest destiny reached California and Oregon, "Waters were diverted, interrupting farming practices: ancient food sources are eliminated: tribal self-determination was compromised with dams built on treaty adds: entire ecosystems were altered, interrupting cultural practices and dividing families: trauma inflicted by disruptions contributed to failing health conditions in tribal communities.

"Scholars such as environmental sociologist Kari Norgaard have shown that these issues continue into the present moment: "Ron Reed served as the Karuk tribal representative for the relicensing process.

Reed became convinced that the lack of healthy food, specifically the loss of salmon, was directly affecting the health of his people, leading to high rates of diabetes, heart disease, and a decreased life expectancy.

"Results show that, in comparison with the industrial era, the nitrogen cycle and trophic structure of the Great Lakes ecosystems remained remarkably stable until the 1830s, despite millennia of Indigenous agricultural and other land management, decades of European settlement, and climatic fluctuations.

After this time, increased logging from forestry and agriculture induced soil erosion caused an unprecedented and abrupt bottom-up shift throughout the entire aquatic ecosystem of Lake Ontario.

American Progress (1872) by John Gast is an allegorical representation of the modernization of the new west. Columbia , a personification of the United States, is shown leading civilization westward with the American settlers. She is shown bringing light from east to west, stringing telegraph wire, holding a school book, and highlighting different stages of economic activity and evolving forms of transportation. [ 1 ] On the left, Indigenous Americans are displaced from their ancestral homeland.
John L. O'Sullivan , sketched in 1874, was an influential columnist as a young man, but he is now generally remembered only for his use of the phrase "manifest destiny" to advocate the annexation of Texas and Oregon.
A New Map of Texas, Oregon, and California , Samuel Augustus Mitchell , 1846
John Quincy Adams , painted above in 1816 by Charles Robert Leslie , was an early proponent of continentalism. Late in life he came to regret his role in helping U.S. slavery to expand, and became a leading opponent of the annexation of Texas.
The first Fort Laramie as it looked prior to 1840. Painting from memory by Alfred Jacob Miller
American westward expansion is idealized in Emanuel Leutze 's famous painting Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way (1861).
The Battle of Río San Gabriel , was a decisive battle action of the Mexican–American War (1846–1848) as part of the US conquest of California.
The Battle of San Jacinto , was the final battle during the Texas revolution (1835-1836) which resulted in a decisive victory for the Texian army .
Growth from 1840 to 1850
Filibuster William Walker , who launched several expeditions to Mexico and Central America, ruled Nicaragua , and was captured by the Royal Navy before being executed in Honduras by the Honduran government.
Norwegian settlers in North Dakota in front of their homestead, a sod hut
Historical territorial expansion of the United States , showing the Alaskan acquisition in an inset in the lower left
Early Native American tribal territories color-coded by linguistic group
Across The Continent , an 1868 lithograph illustrating the westward expansion of white settlers
Newspaper reporting the annexation of the Republic of Hawaii in 1898
A cartoon of Uncle Sam seated in restaurant looking at the bill of fare containing "Cuba steak", "Porto Rico pig", the "Philippine Islands" and the "Sandwich Islands" (Hawaii)
The U.S.'s intentions to influence the area (especially the Panama Canal construction and control) led to the separation of Panama from Colombia in 1903.