Manifest Destiny
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Manifest Destiny was a nineteenth century belief that the United States had a divinely-inspired mission to expand, particularly across the North American frontier towards the Pacific Ocean. The phrase, which means obvious (or undeniable) fate, was coined by New York journalist John O'Sullivan in 1845, when he wrote that "it was the nation's 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 entrusted to us." Manifest Destiny was never a specific policy or ideology; it was a general notion that combined elements of American exceptionalism, nationalism, expansionism, and racism. Some commentators believe that aspects of Manifest Destiny still form an underlying part of American outlook and policy.
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Philosophical underpinnings
Many American pioneers had a strong sense that the nation's freedoms and ideals were of far-reaching importance and needed to be brought to new lands by broadening the nation's reach and extending its borders. Two centuries earlier, John Winthrop, governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony had argued that his colony would be a City on a Hill, demonstrating to the rest of the world how a free, godly society could function. Extending this idea, many argued that it was divine imperative that the United States should stretch over the entire North American continent. The Young America movement encouraged by Franklin Pierce actively promoted this vision.
Implications and practice
In the 1840s the phrase was used by politicians and leaders to justify and promote territorial expansion across the North American continent by providing a sense of mission to citizens. In theory, one aspect of this desire was its principle to bring the ideals of democratic self-government to any peoples capable of it; in practice, however, this often meant excluding Native Americans and those with non-European ancestry. Another desire was the acquisition of new lands, since land could represent potential income, wealth, self-sufficiency, and freedom.
Westward expansion
As the citizens of the U.S. spread westward, intense conflict with both the Native Americans and Mexico were inevitable. Already heavily depopulated due to diseases, the Native American peoples were unable to resist the endless stream of white settlers and the military that accompanied them; "Indian Removal" and the "Indian Wars" form some of the darker chapters in American history. Conflict with Mexico was more formal but also resulted in the (perhaps opportunistic) large scale acquisition of land for U.S. settlers. President Polk made it clear in his diaries that he had every intention to seize any Mexican territory that fell into U.S. hands. These two effects of Manifest Destiny have strongly colored its representation in historical hindsight; in spite of (or perhaps because of) strong belief in God and democracy, the imposition of majority rule on minorities can be horrific. It is said that a majority can be just as despotic as an absolute monarch. It should also be noted that the doctrine almost always described the white man as "God's chosen" who was bound to displace the "primitives" in his way.
The first U.S. citizens to reach the Oregon Territory were not farmers, but fur traders. They had come to trap beaver, whose skins were in great demand in the Eastern United States and Europe. At first the merchants traded what furs were supplied by the Native Americans. As more people expanded westward, not only did the demand for furs increase but the Frontiersmen also began doing more of their own hunting, taking away business from the Native Americans. The fur traders had so much competition between themselves, Native Americans, and new settlers moving west, that the beaver population was all but killed off, and the frontiersmen had to move further west and find a new way of life.
In the 1840s young settlers started leaving the U.S. for the Oregon Territory because of economic difficulties in the U.S. Life on the trail was extremely difficult for them, with most people walking the 2000 mile journey as only pregnant women, the sick, and the elderly rode in the wagons. These pioneers fought Native Americans along the route, as well as skirmishing with them for possession of land once they arrived. Once the settlers emigrated to Oregon territory they found the land to be more fertile than they ever imagined.
Tejanos, or Mexicans farming in Texas were affected by westward expansion also. They now had Native Americans being forced southward by U.S. settlers moving in on their farmland. As Mexico and the USA intensified their fight over the right to own Texas, Mexican farmers found themselves becoming outnumbered by the U.S. settlers moving in to the region.
The British still laid claim to at least part of the Oregon territory throughout the early 1800s. This claim allowed for them to have great shipping capabilities on the west coast of North America. As U.S. settlers moved in to the western territories in greater number British shipowners were happy to make more money due to the increased need for trade and supplies. However, when the U.S. settlers began to greatly outnumber the British colonists, the U.S. pressured the British to give up their claim to Oregon territory. This allowed the USA to fulfill its Manifest Destiny and own land all the way to the Pacific Ocean. This impacted the British shipowners in a negative way as many were forced to move their operations far north to a much less populated Canadian territory.
Long-term effects
The subsequent effects of the country's western expansion through the end of the 19th century were profound, and perhaps even more far-reaching than its promoters could have anticipated. Oregon territory proved as fertile as expected (although rainier and more remote than imagined). Discovery of gold in 1849 in California (see California gold rush) and other mineral wealth elsewhere accelerated growth and the growth of several huge new industrial empires. The turmoil of the American Civil War and freeing of the slaves stimulated further migration westward to new lands. It can be argued that disagreements over whether slavery had a part in the nation's Manifest Destiny lay at the heart of that conflict.
Belief in Manifest Destiny was one of the driving factors behind the Mexican-American War of 1846-48, during which the United States captured Alta California and Nuevo Mexico from Mexico. On December 2, 1845, U.S. President James Polk announced to Congress that the Monroe Doctrine should be strictly enforced and that the United States should aggressively expand into the West.
Manifest Destiny and various other statements of moral, political, and often racial superiority were used to justify the displacement of Native Americans. Similar doctrines (such as the white man's burden) were concurrently being used by Europeans elsewhere in the world to justify colonial conquests in Africa and Asia.
The term "Manifest Destiny" is still sometimes mentioned in Canada when the subject of Canadian-American relations is discussed. Some Canadians, in fact, still believe that the United States has never really abandoned its goal of fulfilling its Manifest Destiny by annexing Canadian territory. (See also: 51st state.)
See also
References
- Hayes, Sam W. and Christopher Morris, eds. Manifest Destiny and Empire: American Antebellum Expansionism. College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press, 1997.
- Horsman, Reginald. Race and Manifest Destiny: The Origins of American Racial Anglo-Saxonism. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1981.
- Merk, Frederick. Manifest Destiny and Mission in American History: A Reinterpretation. New York, Knopf, 1963.
- Stephanson, Anders. Manifest Destiny: American Expansionism and the Empire of Right. New York: Hill and Wang, 1995.
- Weinberg, Albert K. Manifest Destiny: A Study of Nationalist Expansionism in American History. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins, 1935.
External links
- Entry from The Reader's Companion to American History (http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/rcah/html/rc_056100_manifestdest.htm)
- Several Manifest Destiny articles from the PBS website on the U.S.–Mexican War (http://www.pbs.org/kera/usmexicanwar/dialogues/prelude/manifest/manifestdestiny.html)de:Manifest Destiny