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Tuesday, May 4, 2021

Manifest Destiny: The Belief that Changed Western History

 

Ash Warner Section 7

Manifest Destiny: The Belief that Changed Western History

Manifest Destiny is the philosophy/ideology that the United States was destined by god to expand its territorial boundaries on westward in America. This philosophy drove most of the territorial expansion of the United States and was the direct cause of a significant amount of US history. Most of American history is because of the ideology of Manifest Destiny in some way or form even before the term was officially coined. The idea or belief to keep expanding the United States territorially was already preconceived into the American way since the time of the founding fathers. The philosophy changed the course of US history, and honestly western history as well forever and the effects of Manifest Destiny still linger to this day.


    President Thomas Jefferson in 1803 started the country’s westward expansion through the Louisiana Purchase. The Louisiana Purchase was the first major and largest westward expansion of the United States, nearly doubling the entire size of the country at the time. Thomas Jefferson purchased this land that was roughly 827,000 square miles large from the French for 15 million dollars. This purchase eventually led to the” Corps of Discovery Expedition” or more famously known as the Lewis and Clark expedition which was an expedition created by President Thomas Jefferson that was roughly an 8,000-mile-long journey that gave us new insight and information about mainly the Oregon territory, that lasted from May of 1804 to September of 1806. This was one of the first big moments in US history for the belief because it was the start of major westward expansion in the United States.


    After the Oregon expedition, the United States wanted to continue their expansion westward and specifically wanted to make Texas and the Oregon territory, United States present-day Oregon, Idaho, and Washington, as well as control of the Columbia River, a part of the Union. The man behind the plan was 11th president of the United states of America, James K. Polk, who also was the second president to be elected from the state of Tennessee. James K. Polk throughout his presidential campaign was an avid supporter of Manifest Destiny and stuck to his guns when he was officially elected in 1844. James K Polk offered to pay for the Texas and what was called at the time as “Mexican California”, but they had declined. James then sent troops down to the border to settle some disputes between where the US claimed the border of Texas ended. The US claimed it ended at the Rio Grande River and Mexico claimed it ended at the Nueces River. After these backs and forths between US troops and Mexican troops at the border, Mexico had had enough. 


    On April 25th, 1846, Mexico sent more troops to the border to attack US troops and killing roughly 12, which then President James K. Polk responded with an immediate request to declare war from Congress that passed with a 40-2 vote officially declaring war on Mexico on May 13th, 1846. This was a rather quick victory for the US because Mexico was still in a financial hole from their own fight for independence from Spain in 1821 in the Mexican war of independence that lasted from September 16th, 1810 to September 27th, 1821. The Mexican American War ended in 1848 with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo where the US gained the states of California, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming all in the process. Gaining all these new states created a ripple between the south and the north because they would both rush to claim a new state as a “slave” or “free”. Inevitably starting the greatest civil conflict in US history, The Civil War.

 


The basis of Manifest Destiny, which is the divine belief that they have the right to expand for personal capital was responsible for more than just the westward expansion of the United States, Manifest Destiny was a similar belief to the southern expansion of the united states fought so heavily for during the late 18th century and the early 19th century. This similar belief by Americans was responsible for the horrendous the treatment and genocide of Native Americans during this time was historic to say the least. Most Native Americans during this time were either killed or “relocated” to a new area due to not just the westward expansion, but also the southern expansion by the United States. After winning the revolutionary war, the United States and Great Britain signed the Treaty of Paris which gave the United states full control over the 13 colonies and the territories of modern day, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Alabama, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, Mississippi, and Kentucky. Which was great for the US because they were finally free of British rule and could officially govern themselves. A problem occurred however as they were trying to settle onto their newfound territory in the early 19th century, they were met with Native Americans who were not willing to leave their homeland because it was their homeland. The Americans were frustrated with the Native’s stubbornness because they wanted the land so they could grow cotton on it and the believed the Native Americans were holding them back in the way of expansion or progress. So, what did the Americans do? They pressured the United Sates government to intervene and were pressured the acquire the territory they believed they had the right to, which then began the many relocations of Native American tribes in the Americas.

     

The president who was the most head over heels for removing Native Americans off of their homeland, allowing white settlers to settle there, was seventh president of the united states and the first president to be from Tennessee, Andrew Jackson. Andrew Jackson before his presidency was notorious for the negotiation of nine out of the eleven treaties that were signed to remove Native Americans off their land, which were more of tradeoffs of land in the east for land out west, or what we call modern day Oklahoma. These treaties were known as “relocations” and devastated the Native Americans as a population. The most famous relocation of Native Americans in US history is arguably the trail of tears. The trail of tears took place roughly between 1836-1870 which started when the Cherokee Nation signing the Treaty of New Echota, which was heavily challenged by the actual Cherokee people. 15,000 Cherokee men, women, and children all had to leave their native land and leave for what is what we call modern day Oklahoma. They were not allowed to even gather their things from their homes because the whites had already looted and stolen everything so due to lack of resources like food, water, and other supplies 4,000.


    The effects of the relocations, reservations, and oppression against the Native American population have left a mark forever on them to this day. Before settlers came here the native American population was estimated to be as high as 112 million people, According to the University of Wisconsin Press and Geography and Environmental Studies professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, William M. Denevan, and is now at a staggeringly low 5.7 million people who identify as Native American or Alaskan Native. The aftermath of westward and the overall expansion of the united states have also affected the health of Native Americans today. Native American have a higher mortality rate from Diseases of the heart (Heart Disease), Malignant neoplasm (cancer), Intentional self-harm (suicide), Diabetes mellitus (diabetes), Alcohol-induced, Cerebrovascular diseases (stroke), and many more. All of this plague the Native American population due to the effect of the expansion of the United States and the westward world.

The belief of manifest destiny has absolutely changed the course of not just American history, but as well as British, French, Mexican, and Native American history as well. This belief system had a global effect that showed how relentless America was to keep expanding and have America spread from one coast to another, in which they proved they would. If it weren’t for the divine belief in the expansion of the united Sates, who knows what the maps of America, Mexico, and Canada would look like. As damaging as the belief system was, it was ever so as important however that it happened.




https://www.britannica.com/video/222022/did-you-know-Manifest-Destiny



Works cited:

“Disparities: Fact Sheets.” Newsroom, www.ihs.gov/newsroom/factsheets/disparities/.

History.com Editors. “Mexican-American War.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 9 Nov. 2009, www.history.com/topics/mexican-american-war/mexican-american-war.

“Indian Removal.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2959.html#:~:text=They%20were%20not%20allowed%20time,way%20to%20the%20western%20lands.

“James K. Polk.” Omeka RSS, projects.leadr.msu.edu/uniontodisunion/exhibits/show/manifest-destiny/james-k--polk.

Manifest Destiny - The Philosophy That Created A Nation, rupanx.tripod.com/manifest_destiny.htm.

“Manifest Destiny - The Philosophy That Created A Nation.” Manifest Destiny - The Philosophy That Created A Nation < Manifest Destiny - Michael T. Lubragge < 1801-1900 < Essays < American History From Revolution To Reconstruction and Beyond, www.let.rug.nl/usa/essays/1801-1900/manifest-destiny/manifest-destiny---the-philosophy-that-created-a-nation.php#:~:text=Manifest%20Destiny%20%2D%2D%20The%20Intangible%20Of%20American%20History&text=It%20can%20not%20be%20tied,ideology%20that%20created%20American%20history.

“The Mexican-American War in a Nutshell.” National Constitution Center – Constitutioncenter.org, constitutioncenter.org/blog/the-mexican-american-war-in-a-nutshell.

Pinheiro, John C., et al. “James K. Polk: Foreign Affairs.” Miller Center, 26 June 2017, millercenter.org/president/polk/foreign-affairs.

UW Press - : The Native Population of the Americas in 1492: Second Revised Edition, Edited by William M. Denevan, With a Foreword by W. George Lovell, 1 Mar. 1992, uwpress.wisc.edu/books/0289.htm#:~:text=Denevan%20writes%20that%2C%20%22The%20discovery,have%20been%20as%20low%20as.

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2 comments:

  1. "the divine belief that they have the right to expand" -- No, it's a human belief that attempts to invoke the authority of divine sanction.

    "As damaging as the belief system was, it was ever so as important however that it happened." Why? Important how, for whom? Do you mean to defend some version of American exceptionalism?

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  2. It was important in the sense of its significance and impact it had on American History. Without the belief, the strong need to expand westward would've most likely never happened and could've changed the course of US history forever. I do not mean to defend the US's actions in anyway, all I'm saying is that the belief had a major impact on the US geographically and economically forever and to ignore that would leave a major part of US history out

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