What is the function of supporting details? The western horizon would always beckon, and Americans would always follow. This era, from the War of 1812 to the acquisition of Alaska in 1867, has been called the "age of manifest destiny". As an example of the latter, on February 6, 1846, the New-Hampshire Statesman and State Journal, a Whig newspaper, described “some windy orator in the House [of Representatives]” as “pouring for his ‘manifest destiny’ harangue.”. Three absolute beliefs were, and continue to be, attached to this idea of Manifest Destiny: With the opening of the Oregon Trail, the Mexican-American War, and the gold rush in California, much of the public’s attention was on western expansion. 3. Manifest Destiny, in U.S. history, the supposed inevitability of the continued territorial expansion of the boundaries of the United States westward to the Pacific and beyond. Manifest destiny was the continuation of the Doctrine of Discovery adapted to the needs of 19th century US colonial aspirations. The idea of Manifest Destiny arose in response to the prospect of U.S. annexation of Texas and to a dispute with Britain over the Oregon Country, which became part of the union. Opening Texas to Americans: 'In July 1821, Stephen F. Austin set off from Louisiana for the Texas territory in the northeastern corner of Mexico. Newspaper editor John O'Sullivan coined the term "manifest destiny" in 1845 to describe the essence of … John Louis O'Sullivan (November 15, 1813 – March 24, 1895) was an Irish-American columnist and editor who used the term "manifest destiny" in 1845 to promote the annexation of Texas and the Oregon Country to the United States. Please select which sections you would like to print: While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Before the American Civil War (1861–65), the idea of Manifest Destiny was used to validate continental acquisitions in the Oregon Country, Texas, New Mexico, and California. Who are the most vulnerable to human trafficking in the United States? Manifest Destiny claimed that it was the objective of the United States to absorb all of North America. Expansionism is the political belief of territorial expansion. Yet when he expanded his idea on December 27, 1845, in a newspaper column in the New York Morning News, the wider audience seized upon his reference to divine superintendence. The Whigs opposed it because they believed it would bring harm to the Natives, it would cause people to go to war with Mexico, and that the government was not yet strong enough to control such a … Manifest Destiny was of course a key motivating factor for the Mexican War in that it claimed the right of the United States to claim territories that belonged to Mexico. How did the manifest destiny affect the 49ers? Although it became a rallying cry as well as a rationale for the foreign policy that reached its culmination in 1845–46, the attitude behind Manifest Destiny had long been a part of the American experience. What were some of the arguments by those who did not embrace the idea of Manifest Destiny? O’Sullivan was protesting European meddling in American affairs, especially by France and England, which he said were acting. Battle of San Jacinto. Many white Americans were eager to take more land from Nativ… The Gold Rush attracted thousands of people from around the country, and around the world, to make the journey west. the right of our manifest destiny to overspread and to possess the whole of the continent which Providence has given us for the development of the great experiment of liberty and federated self-government entrusted to us. One major one was the Missouri Compromise. Updates? Democrats used the term in the 1840s to justify the war with Mexico. As the United States pacified and stabilized volatile regions, the resulting appropriation of territory usually worsened relations with neighbours, setting off a cycle of instability that encouraged additional annexations. The phrase frequently appeared in debates relating to Oregon, sometimes as soaring rhetoric and other times as sarcastic derision. The considerable hardships suffered by the Indians in that episode were exemplified by the devastation of the Cherokees on the infamous Trail of Tears, which excited humanitarian protests from both the political class and the citizenry. 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. They migrated to find the gold and hopefully become wealthy. It was for them proof that God had chosen the United States to grow and flourish. Two areas stood in America's way of achieving this: the Oregon Territory which was occupied by both Great Britain and the U.S., and western and southwestern lands … Expansionism is the political belief of territorial expansion. In 1947, the Mariana Islands, Caroline Islands, and Marshall Islands became the most recent U.S. territorial acquisitions, as of August 2019. Yet in a story as old as ancient Rome’s transformation from republic to empire, not all Americans, like the doubters of Rome, found it encouraging. The specific phrase was originally used in print by a journalist, John L. O'Sullivan, when writing about the proposed annexation of Texas. The vision of one united country encompassing all of the land between the two oceans drove the acquisition of the territory to make the vision happen. Click to … The increasing population and dominant agricultural lifestyle of the British North American colonists led to encroachment and acquisition of American Indian lands by treaty and force. Westward expansion increased with the victory in the French and Indian War and the expulsion of the French from North America. The most consequential territorial expansion in the country’s history occurred during the 1820s. Press ESC to cancel. Ring in the new year with a Britannica Membership, https://www.britannica.com/event/Manifest-Destiny, Manifest Destiny - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Manifest Destiny - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). Surprise, the idea of manifest destiny wasn't made up by Americans Margaret Duncan Coxhead - Wikipedia Americans don't have a monopoly on racist stupidity, and as far as the invention of manifest destiny is concerned, well, that wasn't all America. The American people and government lived by this belief. The concept was largely denounced by Whigs and fell into disuse after the … What kind of questions do Epidemiologists ask? “Manifest Destiny” was a political slogan, used by US Northern Democrats, to justify a war for land, in Territory claimed by Mexico, though little governed by Mexico City. Some however wanted to go to start businesses in crucial areas of gold to also become wealthy. Before the Manifest Destiny there had been attempts to make it clear that Northern states were free and Southern states were not. What were the reasons for Manifest Destiny? According to Stein, four of the biggest influences that dictated the shapes of the states were the American Revolution, the construction of railroads, the 1808 proposal for the Erie Canal, and the political controversies over the issue of slavery. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. Andrew Jackson’s removal policy of the 1830s. Despite disagreements about Manifest Destiny’s validity at the time, O’Sullivan had stumbled on a broadly held national sentiment. Expansionists eager to acquire Spanish Florida were part of the drive for the War of 1812, and many historians argue that American desires to annex Canada were also an important part of the equation. Omissions? What was a political cause of Manifest Destiny? Caught in the upheaval coincidental to that expansion, Southeast Indians succumbed to the pressure of spreading settlement by ceding their lands to the United States and then relocating west of the Mississippi River under Pres. What were some of the arguments by those who did not embrace the idea of Manifest Destiny? Manifest destiny was a driving force in the ideal that the US should stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific. With its triumph in the Mexican-American War, the United States seemingly realized its Manifest Destiny by gaining an immense domain (more than 525,000 square miles [1,360,000 square km] of land),  including present-day Arizona, California, western Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah. John L. O'Sullivan, editor of the influential United States Magazine and Democratic Review, gave the expansionist movement its name in 1845, when he wrote that it is "the fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free developmen… The idea of Manifest Destiny had emerged around the 1820s. The expansion brought more land to be available for farming and improvement, it was good for trade and industry, it increased goods, services, and wealth, and it paved the way for the sharing of the culture of the Americans while offering the chance for exploration. The term Manifest Destiny was coined in the July–August 1845 issue of The United States Magazine, and Democratic Review by its editor, John L. O’Sullivan. Manifest Destiny had many good results like the expansion of the American territory. Manifest destiny was the dream for America to expand from coat to coast and that it was God's wish. A belief that led many to think that it was the right of the Americans to expand their territory across North America (History.com, 2010). During the 1800s, many Americans began to settle in the western frontier which most of it was uncharted territory. Manifest Destiny, in U.S. history, the supposed inevitability of the continued territorial expansion of the boundaries of the United States westward to the Pacific and beyond. Land is associated with wealth, political power and independence. The idea of “manifest destiny” claimed that: American expansion westward across the continent was sanctioned by God 44. Now, with territory up to the Mississippi River claimed and settled and the Louisiana Purchase explored, Americans headed west in droves. The term isn't used much anymore; we have come up with newer term, American exceptionalism. The darkness in the painting is over the Indians, symbolizing that they are inferior and not civil. What are the strengths of the judicial branch? The idea of Manifest Destiny helped to fuel the war with Mexico and the removal of Indians from the United States. “ O’Sullivan claimed, ‘our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions.’” (as stated by History.com, 2010). Rather than being “coined,” the phrase was buried halfway through the third paragraph of a long essay in the July–August issue of The United States Magazine, and Democratic Review on the necessity of annexing Texas and the inevitability of American expansion. Expansion … Manifest Destiny A belief shared by many Americans in the mid 1800s that the United States should expand across the continent to the Pacific Ocean. 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. After the American Revolution (1775–83), the steady advance of the cotton kingdom in the South matched the lure of the Ohio Country in the North. The policy of Manifest Doctrine made the United States a wealthy and strong nation. Mass immigration from Europe had swelled the East Coast of the United States to record population numbers, pushing settlement westward. Debates over expansion, economics, diplomacy, and manifest destiny exposed some of the weaknesses of the American system. The "every man is equal" mentality of the Jacksonian Era fueled this optimism. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. 2021 The Best Education Blog All Right Reserved. Although there was still an abundant amount of land throughout the world that applied to the Manifest Destiny ideology, acquiring land on opposite sides of the globe required new methods. The democrats supported it because they claimed that it was the US destiny to go from coast to coast and expand. The Whig Party sought to discredit Manifest Destiny as belligerent as well as pompous, beginning with Massachusetts Rep. Robert Winthrop’s using the term to mock Pres. Before the American Civil War (1861–65), the idea of Manifest Destiny was used to validate continental acquisitions in the Oregon Country… The 1840s was a time of tremendous transformation in the US. The Manifest Destiny changed the way slavery … Having transformed a group of sparsely settled colonies into a continental power of enormous potential, many Americans thought the achievement so stunning as to be obvious. John L. O’Sullivan, the editor of a magazine that served as an organ for the Democratic Party and of a partisan newspaper, first wrote of “manifest destiny” in 1845, but at the time he did not think the words profound. The famous phrase “Manifest Destiny” was made up by a journalist in 1844. Terms in this set (30) Manifest Destiny. Land is associated with wealth, political power and independence. Later it was used to justify the purchase of Alaska and annexation of Hawaii. In the 1840s, America was struck with the idea of manifest destiny: the belief that the country should span from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. Polk's nickname of "Young Hickory" … What are the five different types of claims? Alamo. The phrase "manifest destiny" is most often associated with the territorial expansion of the United States from 1812 to 1867. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. The Manifest Destiny The manifest destiny was the belief that Americans thought it was a God-given right to expand our continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. Manifest Destiny claimed that it was the objective of the United States to absorb all of North America.