PresidentEssay Preview: PresidentReport this essayYour continued donations keep Wikipedia running!Manifest DestinyFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia(Redirected from Manifest destiny)Jump to: navigation, searchThis painting (circa 1872) by John Gast called American Progress is an allegorical representation of Manifest Destiny. In the scene, an angelic woman (sometimes identified as Columbia, a 19th century personification of the United States) carries the light of “civilization” westward with American settlers, stringing telegraph wire as she travels. American Indians and wild animals flee–or lead the way–into the darkness of the “uncivilized” West.Manifest Destiny is a phrase that expressed the belief that the United States had a divinely inspired mission to expand, spreading its form of democracy and freedom. Advocates of Manifest Destiny believed that expansion was not only good, but that it was obvious (“manifest”) and inevitable (“destiny”). Originally a political catch phrase of the 19th century, Manifest Destiny eventually became a standard historical term, often used as a synonym for the territorial expansion of the United States across North America towards the Pacific Ocean.
Manifest Destiny was always a general notion rather than a specific policy. The term combined a belief in expansionism with other popular ideas of the era, including American exceptionalism, Romantic nationalism, and a belief in the natural superiority of what was then called the “Anglo-Saxon race”. While many writers focus primarily upon American expansionism when discussing Manifest Destiny, others see in the term a broader expression of a belief in Americas “mission” in the world, which has meant different things to different people over the years. This variety of possible meanings was summed up by Ernest Lee Tuveson, who wrote: “A vast complex of ideas, policies, and actions is comprehended under the phrase Manifest Destiny. They are not, as we should expect, all compatible, nor do they come from any one source.”[1]
The phrase “Manifest Destiny” was first used primarily by Jackson Democrats in the 1840s to promote the annexation of much of what is now the Western United States (the Oregon Territory, the Texas Annexation, and the Mexican Cession). The term was revived in the 1890s, this time with Republican supporters, as a theoretical justification for U.S. expansion outside of North America. The term fell out of usage by U.S. policy makers early in the 20th century, but some commentators believe that aspects of Manifest Destiny, particularly the belief in an American “mission” to promote and defend democracy throughout the world, continued to have an influence on American political ideology.[2]
Note that this article is not a history of the territorial expansion of the United States, nor is it the story of the westward migration of settlers to the American frontier. Manifest Destiny was an explanation or justification for that expansion and westward movement, or, in some interpretations, an ideology or doctrine which helped to promote the process. This article is a history of Manifest Destiny as an idea, and the influence of that idea upon American expansion.
Contents [hide]1 Origin of the phrase2 Themes and influences3 Effect on continental expansion3.1 Continentalism3.2 British North America3.2.1 Before 18153.2.2 Filibustering in Canada3.2.3 “All Oregon”3.3 Mexico and Texas3.3.1 “All Mexico”3.4 Filibustering in the South3.5 Native Americans4 Beyond North America4.1 Spanish-American War and the Philippines4.2 Subsequent usage5 Modern day groups6 See also7 Notes8 References9 Further reading10 External links[edit]Origin of the phraseThe phrase was coined in 1845 by journalist John L. OSullivan, then an influential advocate for the Democratic Party. In an essay entitled “Annexation”, OSullivan urged the United States to annex the Republic of Texas, not only because Texas desired this, but because it was Americas “manifest destiny to overspread the continent”. Amid much controversy, Texas was annexed shortly thereafter, but OSullivans first usage of the phrase “Manifest Destiny” attracted little attention.[3]
OSullivans second use of the phrase became extremely influential. On December 27, 1845 in his newspaper the New York Morning News, OSullivan addressed the ongoing boundary dispute with Great Britain in the Oregon Country. OSullivan argued that the United States had the right to claim “the whole of Oregon”:
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 entrusted to us.
John L. OSullivan, sketched in 1874, was an influential columnist as a young man, but is now generally remembered only for his use of the phrase “Manifest Destiny” to advocate the annexation of Texas and Oregon.That is, OSullivan believed that God (“Providence”) had given the United States a mission to spread republican democracy (“the great experiment of liberty”) throughout North America. Because Great Britain would not use Oregon for the purposes of spreading democracy, thought OSullivan, British claims to the territory could be disregarded. OSullivan believed that Manifest Destiny was a moral ideal (a “higher law”) that superseded other considerations,
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From the top up: John L. OSullivan, the New York Times’ John B. Baker, J. Ritchie, and Robert F. Ward, Jr.
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What are the differences between the different versions of OSullivan? [3]
OSullivan, according to Baker and Ward, “was at least five years older than his contemporaries, but neither of those scholars is a native of Ohio or the United States and he was an early student in philosophy;[4] although he knew a lot of English, he could read well as a young man without having the ability to do so by the age of 15. The ‘Greatest Testimony of a Christian,’ (1 Chronicles 5:20,” “)” was one of the central documents of his life, and his father and brothers wrote a common apologetic defense of his actions.
OSullivan was the oldest of 12 children.
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The oldest possible version of OSullivan? [4]
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Where does a document that contains such a statement stand on its own?
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Is OSullivan a Christian? [5]-‘A. A
OSullivan’s Christianity is not an academic statement. For that reason, neither is the Bible. Though the Bible and its scholars frequently use the term Christianity, they typically employ different labels in different contexts, sometimes with different meanings, and sometimes with different meanings simultaneously. To some extent, some scholars treat Bible passages differently than others. Such differences often are the product of the varying interpretations of the Bible.
The difference between an English-English language version of OSullivan’s statement as an academic statement and a Christian one is that Protestantism (or a version of Protestantism that is more closely related to evangelical Christianity) and other religious traditions differ somewhat between the two. (For an argument for the latter view, see J. Ritchie, Journal of the Christian Church 17, No. 2, February 1990.) The differences between OSullivan’s and similar traditions are in large part due to the differences that the difference has shown between the two.
The Difference Between an English Text and a Christian Text
An English text has several words that are either descriptive or descriptive. For example, in an illustration of the use of the Greek verb ùθερόσια, in John 10:8-17 the word ùθωνα is usually used instead of the noun “pap.” It is not at all surprising, therefore, that in the New Testament the adjective