"Manifest destiny" is a belief that became popular during the 1840s, and it basically said that America's westward expansion across the continent was inevitable and justified because Americans are awesome. This is how a lot of people explained the whys behind Oregon Territory, California, the whole Indian removal escapade, and pretty much the entire Mexican-American War.
Sure, American expansion caused all kinds of chaos and despair for Native Americans and played a major role in inciting the upcoming Civil War, but look how much stuff the United States got out of it: the Rockies, the Cascades, Yellowstone, the Badlands, a ton of farmland, a transcontinental railroad…
That's a lot of stuff.
Of course, there were debates about the ethics of it all even back then. Among the theory's critics were big names like Ulysses Grant and Abraham Lincoln; among its supporters were folks like James Polk and Andrew Jackson.
But regardless of where a person stood on the issue, the nation did continue to grow. The Nebraska and Kansas territories included a boatload of land that had been seized after the U.S. won the Mexican-American War. And so, thanks to that war and the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the United States was able to officially organize and incorporate all of the land that now makes up the continental 48.
The United States now had a lot more room to feel its growing pains.
Questions About Manifest Destiny
- Some people thought that manifest destiny should expand beyond the borders of the country's Pacific and Atlantic shorelines. How did that work out?
- Put your 21st-century self in 1840s America. Would you support westward expansion? Why or why not?
- Compare and contrast the theories of manifest destiny, imperialism, and colonialism. How are they different? How are they similar?
- What were the major arguments for and against America's westward expansion?
Chew on This
Manifest destiny was just an excuse people used to take a bunch of land that didn't belong to them.
Manifest destiny played a crucial role in the development of the United States, and we shouldn't lose sight of the benefits it brought.