Manifest Destiny, By John O Sullivan - 1277 Words

Though the actual term â€Å"Manifest Destiny† was coined in 1845 by John O’Sullivan a democrat leader and the editor of â€Å"The Morning Post†. It was a concept going back to when the pilgrim fathers landed at Plymouth Rock. From the very first settlements in America the pilgrims, the settlers at Jamestown and all along the eastern seaboard, they began expanding little by little into the interior. Certainly, from the 18th century Americans had come to believe that is was their right, and in fact their duty to bring Christianity and republicanism into the uninhabited western areas of the United States. Of course, what these expansionists did not take into consideration, was that the regions they were expanding into were inhabited by Indians,†¦show more content†¦Even before Jefferson purchased the Louisiana territory, thousands of land hungry Americans had already migrated to the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys. This mass migration displaced many Ind ian tribes. Jefferson knew that whoever controlled the port of New Orleans, owned the Mississippi River and had the power to open or close the port to commerce at will, as he phrased it â€Å"a hand on the throat of the American economy†.3 He knew the Mississippi would draw the country together. The Louisiana Territory brought 828,000 sq. miles for 15 million dollars (about 3 cents an acre) to the United States. Jefferson’s dream of an â€Å"Empire for Liberty† had come to pass. The nation had been more than doubled in size. President Jefferson commissioned Lewis and Clark to explore this vast new territory. From 1804-1805, Lewis and Clark journeyed with the Corps of Discovery to map out the newly purchased territory. Lewis and Clark with 33 individuals began their journey from St. Louis up the Missouri River through the â€Å"Stoney Mountains† now the Rockies to the Pacific Ocean. With this exploration came the realization that there was no easy all water route to the Pacific. That dream which had persisted for centuries had died. However, it would do little to stop the westward expansion. The American west was opened. This large migrationShow MoreRelatedManifest Destiny, By John L. O Sullivan925 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"In 1845, John L. O Sullivan, a newspaper reporter in New York City, coined the phrase manifest destiny. O Sullivan claimed that it was the God-given destiny of the United States of America to spread over North America. O Sullivan summarized his view this way: And that claim is by 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 entrustedRead MoreManifest Destiny, By John O Sullivan1292 Words   |  6 Pagesin the western region. The term â€Å"Manifest Destiny† was fir st introduced by a magazine editor, John O’Sullivan, written in the United States Magazine and Democratic Review in 1845 to express the idea that the United States had a unique role in expanding the nation (OpenStax College 316,483). Manifest Destiny is widely defined as a justification of continental expansion as a calling to the American citizens to unify the land into the Union. I view Manifest Destiny as white males expressing their idealsRead MoreJohn O Sullivan s Manifest Destiny938 Words   |  4 PagesJohn O’Sullivan, an influential democratic writer, once stated, â€Å"We are the nation of human progress, and who will, what can, set limits to our onward march?† The people of the United States believed they had the right to take land from Native Americans of North America, and make it their own, all under the jurisdiction of God - and O’Sullivan put a name to this belief in 1839: Manifest destiny. Manifest Destiny resulted through misguided beli efs of predestination and white superiority, in whichRead MoreManifest Destiny, A Term Coined By John O Sullivan Essay1122 Words   |  5 PagesManifest Destiny, a term coined by John O’Sullivan in 1845, was the belief that settlers to the New World were predestined to spread westward from one coast to another. The impact of Manifest Destiny and western expansion can be seen today simply by looking at a map. It is why the United States has its shape. One group of people that were greatly affected by westward expansion was the Native Americans. From contagious diseases to being forced to move from their homes the moment the first settlerRead MoreThe Doctrine Of Manifest Destiny By John Louis O Sullivan1686 Words   |  7 Pagesexpansion was the Doctrine of Manifest Destiny. In 1845 an American columnist, John Louis O’Sullivan, introduced the term â€Å"Manifest Destiny,† which applied to the idea that America was destined to expand. According to the doctr ine, America had a God given right to expand its democratic institution because Americans were morally and racially superior to the uncivilized people in their way of expansion. Therefore, O’Sullivan and many others used the phrase â€Å"Manifest Destiny† to promote and justify theRead MoreWas Manifest Destiny, An Ideology Coined By John L. O Sullivan Essay1100 Words   |  5 PagesKelsey Daniels HIST1301.01.16S2 August, 2 2016 Essay 4 Was Manifest Destiny a benevolent movement or in fact was it early imperialism pursued at the expense of others? The Manifest Destiny, an ideology coined by John L. O’Sullivan, described the attitude of American’s in the 19th century in regards to the expansion of the United States. There are disagreements on whether this expansion was a benevolent movement or an act of early imperialism. Some think because the 19th century Americans sawRead MoreManifest Destiny: Term or Reality Essay1315 Words   |  6 PagesThe three authors that describe Manifest destiny have very different beliefs but all use one person with vastly different views on Manifest Destiny and his beliefs on the term. The person that first used the term in any form of writing was John O’ Sullivan and is accredited with coining the phrase but much of this time had this strong belief in expanding the territory and states of the United States. Their views on this term were different because some believed that the United States should expandRead MoreManifest Destiny By James K. Polk1257 Words   |  6 PagesJa ck Biernesser Mr. Schulten U.S. History 16 March 2016 Manifest Destiny Manifest Destiny is the belief during the 19th century, that the United States of America not only could, but was destined to, stretch from coast to coast. The idea of Manifest Destiny helped to fuel the war with Mexico and the removal of Indians from the United States. The American people and government lived by this belief. Manifest Destiny had many good results like the expansion of the American territory. It also had manyRead MoreHow Did Manifest Destiny Manifest Itself?1876 Words   |  8 PagesHow did Manifest Destiny manifest itself? Manifest Destiny manifested itself in several ways during the period 1840-1896. Almost every major crisis or notable event was somehow related to manifest destiny. To understand the meaning of Manifest Destiny, we need to go back to its origins. The term Manifest Destiny was first used by John O ´Sullivan in July-August 1845, in the Democratic review; â€Å"our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development ofRead MoreWhat Is The Most Dangerous Ignorance Or Fear?1778 Words   |  8 Pagesinhibits rash decision making and can lead to fall out for many years to come. In the mid-1800s, narrow-minded selfishness, misplaced religious ideology, and gross neglect of fellow mankind resulted from America s Western Expansion or also known as Manifest Destiny. However, the consequences of the expansion did not stop there. The blurred lines of entitlement and ethics were unfortunately crossed again, but this time the driving force was fear. In 1919, the start of the Red scare after the Great War and