Manifest Destiny
Colonial expansion in North America is closely linked with Manifest Destiny. Manifest Destiny was the idea that the United States was destined, or meant to, acquire western land, particularly Texas, New Mexico, California, and the Oregon Country. On the surface, Manifest Destiny was a desire to build a strong nation founded on equality and freedom. In effect, it robbed people of their land, their rights, and their dignity. It reflected a belief in the superiority of the new Americans, their Christian religion, and democracy. Manifest Destiny also set the stage for war with Mexico.
Americans as a Superior Race
During the era of western expansion, Manifest Destiny drove the nation. People came to believe, without question, that they had a right take land that belonged to someone else. The American Indians had lived in the West for centuries. The Mexicans owned present- day Texas. Yet the leaders of the new nation considered it their destiny to take it from them. They proclaimed the new Americans a superior race. Therefore, they considered it their duty to make sure the nation continued to grow.
Manifest Destiny rested on the belief that democracy was the best form of government. It reflected the belief that spreading democracy was in the best interest of the world. Ultimately, Manifest Destiny led to the conquest and removal of millions of people. People have called it an abuse of power disguised as a noble cause.
Walt Whitman on Manifest Destiny
Curiously, such racist beliefs were expressed by the American poet Walt Whitman. Of Manifest Destiny, Whitman wrote:
"What has miserable, inefficient Mexico-with her superstition, her actual tyranny by the few over the many-what has she to do with the great mission of peopling the new world with a noble race? Be it ours, to achieve that mission!"
Clearly, Whitman considered himself, as a white American, better than the Mexicans. Clearly, he believed in America's right to conquer them. Whitman's ideas on Manifest Destiny likely surprised his readers because they are different from the ideas in most of his work. However, perhaps this contradiction reflects a more general attitude of the times
The Duty of Conquer
In 1751, Benjamin Franklin described Manifest Destiny. The term, however, did not arise until about a hundred years later. Franklin claimed that it was the destiny for Americans to acquire the land in the West. Presidents Jefferson, Monroe, and Adams made similar claims. However, the 1840s saw the largest push for national growth. Americans mission was to conquer the West, overpower the Indians, drive them out, and claim their land.
The colonial explorers who settled the West did so in the name of freedom. They considered it their duty to promote national goals. They recalled the dream of the American Revolution. They quoted the US Constitution. Originally, the term Manifest Destiny was used to justify the annexation of Texas. Later, it was used to justify the acquisition of other territory and the Mexican-American War.
There was tension between the United States and Mexico over the United States' annexation of Texas and a border dispute about its southern border. This tension led to the Mexican-American War. The United States won the war easily. As a result, the United States gained Texas north of the Rio Grande and an enormous territory made up of the present-day states of California, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming. The United States had realized its manifest destiny-to expand across the entire North American continent from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.
After reading answer the question, Walt Whitman was one of the greatest of American poets-what was his stand on the war and the concept of Manifest Destiny? 2-3 sentences