Manifest Destiny: Past Expansion and Modern Legacy
This paper examines the concept of manifest destiny as a driving force behind American territorial expansion from the colonial era through the nineteenth century and into the present day. It traces how divine providence was used to justify westward expansion, the displacement and near-destruction of Native American communities, the annexation of Texas, and the Mexican-American War. The paper also considers the racial and economic dimensions of manifest destiny — particularly how wealth, greed, and beliefs in Anglo-Saxon superiority shaped its execution — and argues that the ideology, while transformed, continues to influence American cultural and political thought in the modern era.
- Introduction: The Force Behind American Expansion: Overview of manifest destiny's scope and human cost
- Colonial Origins and Divine Providence: Puritan settlers use divine right to justify expansion
- Colonization, Land, and Native American Displacement: White settlers forcibly take Native American lands
- Gold, Greed, and the Destruction of Native Communities: Gold Rush accelerates Native displacement and starvation
- Manifest Destiny, Race, and the Mexican-American War: Racial ideology drives annexation of Texas and war
- Slavery, Civil War, and the Limits of Expansion: Slavery debate and Trail of Tears slow expansion
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper draws on a wide range of primary and secondary sources — including Hawthorne, Thoreau, O'Sullivan, Bradford, and scholarly historians — to ground its claims in evidence rather than assertion alone.
- It maintains an honest critical perspective, acknowledging both the ideological appeal of manifest destiny and the profound human cost it imposed on Native Americans, Mexicans, and African Americans.
- The paper successfully connects historical events (the Trail of Tears, the Mexican-American War, the California Gold Rush) to the broader ideological framework of manifest destiny, showing cause and effect across multiple chapters of American history.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper effectively uses direct quotation from primary sources — such as O'Sullivan's writings on "divine destiny" and Bradford's account of conflict with Native Americans — alongside secondary scholarly commentary to build a layered, evidence-based argument. This technique of juxtaposing primary-source voices with critical analysis is a core skill in historical writing, showing how ideology was constructed and disseminated in its own time.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a broad overview of manifest destiny's scope and consequences, then moves chronologically from Puritan colonial ideology through westward expansion, Native American removal, racial justifications for slavery, and the Mexican-American War. Each section deepens the central argument that manifest destiny was less a benevolent mission and more a mechanism for racial and economic domination. The conclusion gestures toward the ideology's modern persistence in American political thought.
Introduction: The Force Behind American Expansion
There once was a time when the United States was very different from how it is today — once, it was smaller than Massachusetts Bay. Hawaii and Guam were not yet part of America, and the nation was isolationist, contained within its own boundaries. America as the world sees it today extends over a vast portion of a continent and reaches across the seas to other lands. It is a world power crucial to the international order. The force that enabled such development was the idea of manifest destiny, which endured a series of transformations in order to promote the expansion of both American culture and political power. The concept of manifest destiny, although not as influential as it once was during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, remains a powerful underlying force in American cultural and political thought, as evinced by the nation's ongoing efforts to promote modern American political and economic ideals around the world.
It must be understood that although manifest destiny may sound like a term that promoted positive expansion from the east coast to the west coast, its reality was far more complex. While this expansion benefited many, it also harmed or destroyed many others. Manifest destiny was the cause of wars and the near extermination of the Native American race. In expanding across the Americas, many had to fight for their lives to hold onto what already belonged to them. The annexation of Texas is a prime example of people fighting for — and losing — what was theirs to begin with. This annexation was the primary cause of the Mexican-American War, which the Mexicans eventually lost (Chiodo 203). The attitudes that accompanied manifest destiny — expand and conquer — were generally not favorable to Mexicans, African Americans, or Native Americans. These groups suffered the most during this period (204).
Kaplan argues that America thinks itself invincible, as Rome once did, but that the country is setting itself up for failure, and that the events of September 11, 2001 are a perfect example and only the beginning of this country's downfall (13). Others hold similar views. Niebuhr characterizes America as a smug nation whose citizens believe they are where they are today because God favors them (12). This is a testament to the fact that, as a nation, many Americans carry a sense of entitlement. While this may be a sweeping generalization, it is important as a nation to remember how America came to be in its current position. Many aspects of American history — such as slavery and the treatment of Native Americans — should be a source of national reflection. This is not to say that Americans should be paralyzed by the past, but rather that they should learn from it so as not to repeat its mistakes.
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