Manifest Destiny Essay

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Manifest Destiny was the belief widely held by Americans in the 19th century that the United States was destined to expand across the continent. Manifest destiny provided the dogma and tone for the largest acquisition of U.S. territory. It was used by Democrats in the 1840s to justify the war with Mexico and it was also used to acquire portions of Oregon from the British Empire. But Manifest Destiny always limped along because of its internal limitations and the issue of slavery, says Merk, and never became a national priority. By 1843 John Quincy Adams, a major supporter, had changed his mind and repudiated Manifest Destiny because it meant the expansion of slavery in Texas. Manifest Destiny was always a general notion rather than a specific policy. There were never a set of principles defining Manifest destiny. Ill-defined but keenly felt, Manifest destiny was conviction in expansionism alongside other popular ideas of the era, including American exceptionalism and Romantic nationalism. Andrew Jackson, who had first spoken of "extending the area of freedom", typified the conflation of America's greatness, the nation's budding sense of Romantic self-identity and expansion. To some 19th‑century Americans his presence rested upon the "whole territory" from the valleys of Oregon to the frontier of the Rio Grande. Yet Jackson would not be the only President to elaborate on the principles underlying Manifest destiny. Owing in part to the lack of a definitive narrative outlining its rationale, proponents offered divergent or seemingly conflicting viewpoints. While many writers focused primarily upon American expansionism, be it into Mexico or across the Pacific, others saw the term as a call to example. Doc A ‘’ The American people having derived from their origin from many other nations, and the declaration of national independence being entirely based
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