KHOSLA

**Manifest Destiny**
Objective: Explain 3 key factors that relate to Manifest Destiny ANSWER []

In 1845 John L. O'Sullivan, editor of the Democratic Review, referred in his magazine to America's "Manifest Destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions." One of the most influential slogans ever coined, "manifest destiny" expressed the romantic emotion that led Americans to risk their lives to settle the Far West. The idea that America had a special destiny to stretch across the continent motivated many people to migrate West. The very idea of manifest destiny encouraged men and women to dream big dreams. "We Americans," wrote Herman Melville, one of this country's greatest novelists, "are the peculiar, chosen people--the Israel of our time." Manifest destiny inspired a 29-year old named Stephen F. Austin to talk grandly of colonizing the Mexican province of Texas with "North American population, enterprise and intelligence." It led expansionists, united behind the slogan "54° 40' or fight!," to demand that the United States should own the entire Pacific Northwest all the way to the southern border of Alaska. Aggressive nationalists invoked the idea to justify Indian removal, war with Mexico, and American expansion into Cuba and Central America. More positively, the idea of manifest destiny inspired missionaries, farmers, and pioneers, who dreamed only of transforming plains and fertile valleys into farms and small towns.

[] The Westward expansion of the United States did not, of course, begin with Manifest Destiny. The [|Louisiana Purchase] of 1803, in which 23% of the existing territory of the United States was acquired, was probably the first major step. The government saw the appeal in acquiring more land, as well as the potential political power which large tracts of land could confer upon the young nation. As a result, a policy pursuing aggressive expansion was actively pursued. The idea of Manifest Destiny was merely a component, and one which captured the popular imagination.

The symbol for Manifest Destiny

Advocates of Manifest Destiny believed that expansion was not only wise but that it was readily apparent (manifest) and inexorable (destiny). The concept of American expansionism is much older, but [|John L. O'Sullivan] coined the exact term "Manifest Destiny" in the July/August 1845 issue of the //[|United States Magazine and Democratic Review]// in an article titled "Annexation."[|[][|2][|]][|[][|3][|]] It was primarily used by Democrats to support the expansion plans of the [|Polk] Administration, but the idea of expansion faced opposition from Whigs like [|Henry Clay], [|Daniel Webster], and [|Abraham Lincoln] who wanted to deepen the economy rather than broaden its expanse. [|John C. Calhoun] was a notable Democrat who generally opposed his party on the issue, which fell out of favor by 1860.[|[][|4][|]] The belief in an American mission to promote and defend democracy throughout the world, as expounded by [|Abraham Lincoln] and [|Woodrow Wilson], continues to have an influence on American political ideology.[|[][|5][|]][|[][|6][|]]
 * Manifest Destiny** was the 19th century American belief that the [|United States] (often in the ethnically specific form of the "[|Anglo-Saxon] race")[|[][|1][|]] was destined to expand across the continent. It was used by [|Democrats] in the 1840s to justify the [|war with Mexico]; the concept was denounced by [|Whigs], and fell into disuse after the mid-19th century.