Manifest Destiny. Two words that embody the mindset of many Americans during the 1800s as the US expanded in size rapidly, both in miles of new territory and in the population itself. What does the term mean?
And what were the impacts of the belief in Manifest Destiny? Let's find out together. While westward expansion began in 1803 with the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France, it intensified by the mid-1800s when the United States gained the territory of Florida from Spain in 1819 and annexed Texas in 1845. There was a growing feeling that it was America's destiny to expand westward to the Pacific Ocean and that nothing would stop the country's quest in achieving that goal.
It was in that time when the term Manifest Destiny was first used. In 1845, a newspaper editor named John O'Sullivan coined the phrase Manifest Destiny to describe Westward expansion in the United States. He wrote an article titled Annexation in 1845. the United States Magazine and Democratic Review after the annexation or adding of Texas to the United States. He said that other countries had been working toward 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. Let's break that down.
Manifest Destiny was the belief that it was America's right to expand westward toward the Pacific Ocean. The phrase, allotted by Providence, means given by God or a higher power. Lastly, For the Free Development of Our Yearly Multiply in Millions, refers to the desire of Americans to move west and settle in new places as the country's population grew rapidly.
Putting all this together, John O'Sullivan was stating that he believed it was America's right, even a right given from God, to expand and settle in new territories in the West. This belief was brought to life in a painting named American Progress by John Gast in 1872. The painting features a woman dressed in white floating towards the West. In her hands, she carries a school book and a telegraph wire.
Behind her, a city drenched in light. We can see ships and rail lines following closely behind her. We also see a stagecoach, in a covered wagon, a person on horseback, and in the foreground, farmers with oxen in a plow.
In front of her, the West is featured as a dark and foreboding place. Animals like buffalo and a bear run away, and indigenous people are being cast from their homelands. The woman represents America, and the very idea of manifest destiny so popular at the time. The artist is most certainly portraying a biased perspective of westward expansion, that it would bring light to the perceived dark spaces of the world through new communication and modern development. The reality was much more complicated, and the impact of Manifest Destiny would be felt far and wide.
While some Americans reaped the benefits of westward expansion, establishing homesteads and creating a new life, others were not so lucky. Many American Indian nations were pushed from their homelands and mistreated by the new settlers along with other groups of people who called the western lands home. Slavery expanded into the west, and the nation grappled with the addition of new territories and states that allowed slavery within their borders.
The idea of Manifest Destiny was so popular it helped people like James K. Polk win the presidency and led to the addition of the Oregon Country, the Mexican Cession, and the Gadsden Purchase to the United States. The effect of this time period in American history had far-reaching effects that are still felt to this day, and it's an important subject to spend more time on as you continue in your pursuit of history. Hey everyone, thanks for watching.
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