Manifest Destiny Essays (Examples)

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The project of the League of Nations is yet another relevant example for pointing out the impact the "manifest destiny" idea had on the foreign policy of the United States. In this sense the basis for an organization that would prevent another war was the concept which emerged from the idealistic beliefs of the United States and especially of its president Wilson. However, the project failed to reach its actual power due to the absence of its initiator. Thus, the U.S. did not sign the Covenant and the role of the League of Nation was limited in its scope (Kissinger, 1995). Many consider this aspect to have been a great foreign policy mistake or at least hesitation. Therefore, for the first time in history, the U.S. did not stand behind its own political project (Kissinger, 1995). Still, the actual drafting of the organization represents a proof of the exceptional nature….

Mahan, who advocated creating a colossal navy and building bases, taking more land under MD. Growth is "a vital necessity to a nation," Mahan wrote, in justifying the position that the U.S. should annex the Hawaiian Islands. Lodge was a respected writer and historian, and he put forth the notion (Merk, 237) in articles that Cuba, the Hawaiian Islands, Canada and other territories should be conquered - but not Mexico, Central America, and South America. After all, the people and land there "were not of a desirable kind."
These ideas were well received, and Lodge was rewarded with an appointment in the McKinley administration as "Assistant Secretary of the Navy" - where he used his position to push for a bigger and better navy. In the end of his book, Merk (261) argues that those who were in positions of power and who could sway public opinion were "amoral" and….

Austin ("estward Expansion: Manifest Destiny," Digital History, 2007). "Aggressive nationalists invoked the idea [of Manifest Destiny] to justify Indian removal, war with Mexico, and American expansion into Cuba and Central America" ("estward Expansion: Manifest Destiny," Digital History, 2007).
On one hand, Manifest Destiny did allow poorer persons to migrate est, farm land, and make their fortunes with hard work -- but it also marked the end of a vital and unique culture, that of the Native American tribes and it also justified the United States flagrantly violating international laws and borders. Although some Americans called Manifest Destiny 'progress' at the time, in retrospect the American leadership's inability to locate America as one great nation part of a community of great nations, rather than a nation that can do as it please, seems jingoistic, illegal and cruel.

orks Cited

O'Sullivan, John L. "Manifest Destiny." 1839. Excerpted from "The Great Nation of Futurity," the….

We are entering on its
untrodden space, with the truths of God in our minds, beneficent objects in our hearts, and with clear conscience unsullied by the past. We are the nation of human progress, and who will, what can, set limits to our onward march? Providence is with us, and no earthly power can. ('Sullivan 1)

Not all Americans believed in the concept of manifest destination. Many settlers from different countries actually got along with the Native Americans and did not adapt to the concept of slavery of any kind. Many German immigrants belonged to this group. The Germans and Native Americans actually got along quite well. ne would assume that the Germans treated that Native Americans much like others that came here. They did not treat them poorly, though. The Native Americans were considered indigenous and so too were the Germans when they first settled in the United States.….

spiritualsproject.org).
Most scholars believe that the Negro Spirituals "proliferated near the end of the 18th century and during the last few decades leading up to the end of legalized slavery in the 1860s," the Spirituals Project explains on their eb site. In Africa, "music was called on to mark and celebrate virtually every event in tribal life, no matter how significant."

Those traditions and values were brought over to the North American continent on the slave ships, and became the foundations for Negro Spirituals song on the plantations. Yes, Africans from many diverse religious backgrounds were impressed with Christianity, albeit they reluctantly got involved with Christianity, the Spirituals Project reports, because they (rightly) viewed it as "hypocritical" when a slaveholder "espoused love and brotherhood." And yet many slaves were "fascinated with the Biblical stories, which seemed to parallel many of their own experiences."

So, they created songs, and though they sometimes had to….

Manifest Destiny Today
PAGES 5 WORDS 1369

Louisiana Purchase and Manifest Destiny
The United States has a number of defining moments or eras in history, epochs that serve as a milestone for American greatness. Two of these important moments are the Louisiana Purchase and Manifest Destiny. The Louisiana Purchase marks the beginning of America's expansion westward, the origin of the belief that the United States future is linked with its territorial expansion. It is analogous to Manifest Destiny in the belief that the United States needed to expand its borders and with expansion comes national greatness. This paper will examine the historical aspects of both events and compare and contrast them. It will argue that while the basic motivation for the Louisiana Purchase and Manifest Destiny are similar and that the Louisiana Purchase is the precursor to Manifest Destiny. The paper will explore their enduring legacy in the modern era.

Louisiana before its acquisition by the United States was….

Young American Males and Manifest Destiny: The United States Army as a Cultural Mirror," author Robert May examines the role filibustering has played in the United States nation-building activities prior to the Civil ar. May contends that filibustering was a natural offshoot of the country's policy of expansion, based on the doctrine of Manifest Destiny.
In fact, May further argues, the general political and social climate of the pre-Civil ar contributed to the proliferation of filibustering among the nation's young men. This gave rise to a "national filibuster culture," with an implicit goal of expanding United States territory further into Central and South America.

The author points out, for example, that filibuster expeditions continued, even though the practice was illegal. They were helped in large part by an adulating public, many of whom expressed support or even aided the filibusters directly by providing them with food and shelter as they hid….

" In other words, republicanism in an expanding state would inevitably lead to more despotic, aristocratic, and monarchical regimes. Hence, if the U.S. were to follow a policy of expansion, it would, at least, theoretically conflict with its republican origins.
Interestingly, one of the leading proponents of republicanism, Thomas Jefferson had become the third U.S. President after an unexpected electoral crisis in the elections of 1800. He was a great champion of the rights of the individuals and the states rather than a strong central government. At the same time, the international political situation at the time -- with several European powers vying to consolidate their colonial presence in the Americas -- dictated an opposite direction for the U.S. foreign policy to safe-guard its national interests, i.e., a policy of Westward Expansion and the fulfillment of the Manifest Destiny to make the U.S. A dominant power in North America. The way….

Manifest Destiny and God
PAGES 4 WORDS 1416

Westopia: An Epic Narrative Describing the History of the West post-Reformation and the Rise of New Peoples and Places in Conflict with the Old
In anno domini 1650, the God of the West -- of the World -- was banned in Maryland. The Pure had come, had been given land, had found shelter under the Toleration Act -- yet acted with intolerance towards those who went to God with hearts much different from their own. The Pure were proud and firm -- like the Chosen People of the Old Testament -- the children of Abraham.

Millennia had passed and the children were grown -- enveloping within them some sense of the God of the West -- Christ Who redeemed them -- yet their sense was separate from that of the past: their doctrine was steeped in the predestinated forms of the Protestors -- of Luther and Zwingli and Knox and Calvin: these….

Defined as “an aggressive program of expansion,” Manifest Destiny characterizes American national identity (Haynes, 2006, p. 1). Manifest Destiny refers to both a philosophy and a strategy: a means of crafting the notion of American exceptionalism as well as the methods used to construct American geo-political power. The geographic shape of the United States today owes itself to the principles and widespread embrace of Manifest Destiny, in which Washington laid claim to lands that had to be taken by force, from the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 through to the acquisition of Texas and northern Mexico, to the takeover of Hawaii. The consequences of Manifest Destiny continue to reverberate more than two centuries after the initial rise of territorial expansion programs. Manifest Destiny emboldened the American experiment, fueling its economy, bolstering its military and political power, and exacerbating social unrest and disparity.
The relative ease with which the United States acquisitioned new….

Mexican War
PAGES 3 WORDS 959

Mexi War
The term "manifest destiny" was coined by John L. O'Sullivan during the administration of President James Knox Polk in the middle of the 19th century. However, the concept of manifest destiny seemed to have guided the original settling of the European colonies in North America, with the accompanying sense of entitlement to the lands and people therein. Manifest destiny suggested that God ordained America to be special, and wanted Americans to conquer and amass as much land as possible. Territorial acquisition became the cornerstone of American politics in the 19th century. Under President Polk, the boundaries of the United States stretched as far as they could possibly go, warranting war with a neighboring state: Mexico. Therefore, the events leading up to the Mexican War were directly linked to the overall concept of Manifest Destiny.

However, there were other precursors to the Mexican War. ebellions in California led to the American….

American Way of War
The history of the American Way of War is a transitional one, as Weigley shows in his landmark work of the same name. The strategy of war went from, under Washington, a small scale, elude and survive set of tactics practiced by what seem today to be relatively "quaint" militias, to -- in the 20th century -- a full-scale operation known as "total war." True, "total war" was not a concept invented by the Americans in the 20th century. The North eventually practiced "total war" against the Confederates when Sherman's campaign left utter destruction of civilian territory in its wake. The ancient Romans practiced it when, under the direction of Cato, they destroyed Carthage because its mere existence, they felt, posed a threat to their prosperity. In the 20th century, however, "total war" received an enormous boost of technical support when the inventors of the atom bomb….

What were the primary motivations and factors that led to the U.S. shift from isolationism and continental expansion to imperialism by the late 19th and early 20th centuries? Introduction
America’s so-called “shift” from isolationism and continental expansion to imperialism by the late 19th and early 20th centuries was really nothing more than a natural evolution of America’s “Manifest Destiny.” Before the US could enter its imperial phase beginning with the Spanish-American War at the turn of the century, it had first to square accounts on the continent by pushing its borders as far as they could be pushed. Once the West had been thoroughly settled and the Union held together (the major conflict of the 19th century), the US could turn its attention to foreign lands and global plans to facilitate the spread of the American Empire. It would have been impossible for the US to achieve imperial objectives any earlier, for….

It was also the driving force behind the annexation of vast territories by the United States in the West, including Texas, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona, which were conquered from Mexico, and Louisiana, which was purchased from France (Lubbrage, 2003).
The newly acquired territories became a bone of contention between the Southern and Northern states as the slave-holding South wanted to create more slave-holding states in order to restore the balance of power with the North, while the North resisted the expansion of slavery mainly because of a fear of "Slave Power." Hence, Manifest Destiny, at least indirectly contributed to the start of the Civil War.

The Fugitive Slave Law

During the drafting of the U.S. Constitution in 1787, the delegates from the Southern slave states refused to join the Union unless certain specific provisions on slavery were agreed. One of the provisions relating to slavery introduced in the Constitution….

Race and Class in U S
PAGES 5 WORDS 1572

In other case the motive was rooted first in ideological assumption -- and that assumption was that ASP superiority was a given.
The issue of race and class finally came to a head as America continued its expansion westward. But the issue was political as well: hat right did the Federal Government have over State Government to say whether slavery should be abolished? ho was really in power in America -- the States and local government -- or federal national government? The Civil ar, of course, answered the question brutally and bloodily in 1865. But racism and classism did not end. In fact, the problems of race and class would continue even after the war for as long as American policy was determined by ASP elitism. That policy has not changed to this day.

In conclusion, issues of race and class were ingrained into the American fabric from the very beginning….

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6 Pages
Term Paper

American History

Manifest Destiny the United States

Words: 2128
Length: 6 Pages
Type: Term Paper

The project of the League of Nations is yet another relevant example for pointing out the impact the "manifest destiny" idea had on the foreign policy of the United…

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5 Pages
Term Paper

American History

Manifest Destiny in His Preface

Words: 1720
Length: 5 Pages
Type: Term Paper

Mahan, who advocated creating a colossal navy and building bases, taking more land under MD. Growth is "a vital necessity to a nation," Mahan wrote, in justifying the…

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1 Pages
Term Paper

American History

Manifest Destiny United States Manifest

Words: 398
Length: 1 Pages
Type: Term Paper

Austin ("estward Expansion: Manifest Destiny," Digital History, 2007). "Aggressive nationalists invoked the idea [of Manifest Destiny] to justify Indian removal, war with Mexico, and American expansion into Cuba…

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8 Pages
Term Paper

American History

Manifest Destiny in the Past

Words: 2320
Length: 8 Pages
Type: Term Paper

We are entering on its untrodden space, with the truths of God in our minds, beneficent objects in our hearts, and with clear conscience unsullied by the past. We…

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6 Pages
Term Paper

Drama - World

Manifest Destiny and Mass Immigration

Words: 2173
Length: 6 Pages
Type: Term Paper

spiritualsproject.org). Most scholars believe that the Negro Spirituals "proliferated near the end of the 18th century and during the last few decades leading up to the end of legalized slavery…

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5 Pages
Essay

American History

Manifest Destiny Today

Words: 1369
Length: 5 Pages
Type: Essay

Louisiana Purchase and Manifest Destiny The United States has a number of defining moments or eras in history, epochs that serve as a milestone for American greatness. Two of these…

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2 Pages
Term Paper

American History

Young American Males and Manifest Destiny The

Words: 607
Length: 2 Pages
Type: Term Paper

Young American Males and Manifest Destiny: The United States Army as a Cultural Mirror," author Robert May examines the role filibustering has played in the United States nation-building…

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12 Pages
Term Paper

American History

Westward Expansion and Manifest Destiny

Words: 4448
Length: 12 Pages
Type: Term Paper

" In other words, republicanism in an expanding state would inevitably lead to more despotic, aristocratic, and monarchical regimes. Hence, if the U.S. were to follow a policy of…

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4 Pages
Creative Writing

Poetry

Manifest Destiny and God

Words: 1416
Length: 4 Pages
Type: Creative Writing

Westopia: An Epic Narrative Describing the History of the West post-Reformation and the Rise of New Peoples and Places in Conflict with the Old In anno domini 1650, the God…

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4 Pages
Essay

History

the effects of manifest destiny

Words: 1287
Length: 4 Pages
Type: Essay

Defined as “an aggressive program of expansion,” Manifest Destiny characterizes American national identity (Haynes, 2006, p. 1). Manifest Destiny refers to both a philosophy and a strategy: a means…

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3 Pages
Essay

American History

Mexican War

Words: 959
Length: 3 Pages
Type: Essay

Mexi War The term "manifest destiny" was coined by John L. O'Sullivan during the administration of President James Knox Polk in the middle of the 19th century. However, the concept…

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14 Pages
Term Paper

Military

Culture Behind Americans at War

Words: 5158
Length: 14 Pages
Type: Term Paper

American Way of War The history of the American Way of War is a transitional one, as Weigley shows in his landmark work of the same name. The strategy of…

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5 Pages
Essay

American History

American Imperialism and the Spanish American War

Words: 1622
Length: 5 Pages
Type: Essay

What were the primary motivations and factors that led to the U.S. shift from isolationism and continental expansion to imperialism by the late 19th and early 20th centuries? Introduction America’s so-called…

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3 Pages
Term Paper

American History

Philosophies and Events Such as

Words: 1109
Length: 3 Pages
Type: Term Paper

It was also the driving force behind the annexation of vast territories by the United States in the West, including Texas, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona,…

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5 Pages
Essay

American History

Race and Class in U S

Words: 1572
Length: 5 Pages
Type: Essay

In other case the motive was rooted first in ideological assumption -- and that assumption was that ASP superiority was a given. The issue of race and class finally…

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