Manifest Destiny: US Expansion

• Manifest Destiny was the 19th-century belief that American expansion westward was justifiable, inevitable, and preordained.
• Many Americans believed they were entitled to expand west to the Pacific Ocean, feeling it was ordained by God to spread democracy and capitalism across North America.

Manifest Destiny Timeline

• American expansion had been ongoing since colonization.
• In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson doubled the size of the U.S. with the Louisiana Purchase.
• Lewis and Clark's exploration reports fueled the desire for westward expansion.
• The American victory in the War of 1812 removed a hurdle to westward expansion and increased nationalism.
• President James Monroe's 1823 Monroe Doctrine warned European nations against interfering with westward expansion.
• President James K. Polk, elected in 1845, was an expansionist.
• Land disputes occurred between the U.S. and Mexico, and the U.S. and Britain.
• The concept took hold with the Mexican-American War and the Oregon territory.

Texas Annexation and the Mexican-American War

• Texas, initially part of Mexico, recruited American settlers for economic reasons.
• Settlers sought independence, achieving it in 1836, and were annexed by the U.S. in 1845.
• A border dispute arose, with Mexico recognizing the Nueces River and the U.S. claiming the Rio Grande as the boundary.
• Polk's attempts to purchase territories were rejected, and he used Manifest Destiny to justify war, citing Mexican "inferiority."
• President Polk sent General Zachary Taylor into the disputed territory, leading to Mexican forces firing upon the Americans.
• The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 ended the Mexican-American War, recognizing the Rio Grande as the border and ceding land, including California, to America.

Oregon Territory and Alaska

• Polk's campaign slogan "Fifty-four forty or fight" referred to the American boundary claim in the Oregon territory.
• The Oregon Treaty of 1846 compromised, accepting the 49th parallel as the boundary.
• In 1867, the U.S. acquired Alaska from Russia, with Secretary of State William Seward negotiating the deal that President Andrew Johnson signed.

Dissent Against Manifest Destiny

• General Ulysses S. Grant opposed using war to facilitate Manifest Destiny, deeming the Mexican-American War wicked.
• Abraham Lincoln, as a member of Congress, opposed the war with Mexico.
• Lincoln believed President Polk deliberately provoked the war to gain territory.
• William Ellery Channing, argued against Manifest Destiny, believing the annexation of Texas was aimed at expanding slavery.
• Channing feared it would harm American "institutions and virtue."

Effects on Native Populations

• The 1830 Indian Removal Act, signed by President Andrew Jackson, led to the forced removal of Native Americans to less desirable areas.
• Native Americans were forced to move to the Oklahoma territory, resulting in the "Trail of Tears."
• Native Americans were coerced from their land in the west.

John O'Sullivan and Manifest Destiny

• In 1845, newspaper editor John O'Sullivan coined the term Manifest Destiny.
• O'Sullivan supported the annexation of Texas and the Oregon territory.

Impact of Manifest Destiny

• America acquired Texas in 1845 and the Oregon Territory in 1846.
• As a result of the Mexican-American War, the U.S. acquired California, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming in 1848.
• America used Manifest Destiny to rationalize imperialist expansion like the 1898 annexation of Hawaii.
• From early British colonization, Native Americans were forced off their lands.
• Despite the Treaty of Fort Laramie with the Sioux in Wyoming, Americans reentered the territory after gold was discovered in 1868.