![]() ![]() Natural resources such as gold, silver, and timber were plentiful and tempting to many. The allure of land ownership was a leading force in propelling settlers westward. By the end of the Mexican American War (1848), the United Stated had expanded to reach the Pacific coast to the west and the Rio Grande River to the south (Heidler & Heidler, 2020). government continued to acquire land through various treaties and conflicts. In the years following the Louisiana Purchase, the U.S. ![]() Photo from the public domain acquired from the Library of Congress National Archive. People across the growing country hoped to fulfill their dream of starting a new life in the pristine land of the North American west.Ī map showing the extent of the Louisiana Purchase. ![]() Although the term “property” was replaced with the phrase “pursuit of happiness,” the sentiment still remained. Americans saw property ownership as an integral part of being a citizen (Dobson, 2013). The first drafts of the Declaration of Independence included philosopher John Locke’s trinity of rights – life, liberty, and property – which suggested these were inalienable rights that an equitable, principled government could not repress from its citizens. This pride in land ownership has been at the forefront of American ideology ever since. Jefferson believed a republic like the United States was built on independence and virtue, both of which could be attained and strengthened through individual land ownership. With this new land, settlers could travel westward, escaping the crowded city life and trading it for a peaceful homestead in the Great Plains. This land acquisition would allow the United States to continue the expansion that was such a staple asset of the country – the Louisiana Purchase almost doubled the entire land area of America. In true capitalist style, he paid nowhere near what the land was worth, and his savvy business venture paid off. In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson bought 827,000 square miles of land that stretched from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from Canada to New Orleans (, 2019). One of the defining moments of American history was undoubtedly the Louisiana Purchase. Under the guise of religious, political, and economic motivations, manifest destiny allowed Americans to pursue the “American dream” and subdue the “wild west.” The environmental and humanitarian implications of manifest destiny were frequently overlooked or not considered, resulting in ideology that still today seeps into our behaviors and perceptions regarding domination and superiority. Advocates for manifest destiny believed that Americans were free, even bound by fate, to conquer the North American continent and expand the realm of democratic republicanism and Christianity. The idea of manifest destiny gained popularity in the mid-19th century and was built upon the notion of freedom. A staple term in every elementary, middle, and high school student’s American history textbook, it might be considered the epitome of what it meant to be American at the start of American imperialism. “Manifest destiny” is a mindset that embodies this belief. Whether it be freedom of religion, freedom of speech, or simply freedom to pursue one’s own dreams, Americans have always idolized the United States as a sort of utopia for individual freedom. territory.A quintessential part of the “American dream” is freedom. Whigs saw America's moral mission as one of democratic example rather than one of conquest." Manifest Destiny provided the rhetorical tone for the largest acquisition of U.S. Historian Daniel Walker Howe writes, "American imperialism did not represent an American consensus it provoked bitter dissent within the national polity. Historians have emphasized that "Manifest Destiny" was a contested concept-Democrats endorsed the idea but many prominent Americans rejected it. Historian Frederick Merk says this concept was born out of "A sense of mission to redeem the Old World by high example.generated by the potentialities of a new earth for building a new heaven". Historians have for the most part agreed that there are three basic themes to Manifest Destiny: ▪ The special virtues of the American people and their institutions ▪ America's mission to redeem and remake the west in the image of agrarian America ▪ An irresistible destiny to accomplish this essential duty. Manifest destiny In the 19th century, Manifest Destiny was the widely held belief in the United States that American settlers were destined to expand throughout the continent. ![]()
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