Week 13: Manifest Destiny

The Manifest Destiny is used to encourage American settlement of European colonial and Indian lands in the Great Plains and the West, and a justification for American Empire. O'Sulliven sees a connection between manifest destiny and the idea of American Freedom by expanding the United States would bring the American Democracy the the less fortunate people of the country. "They will have the right to independence - to self-government to the possession of the homes conquered from the wildness of their own labors and dangers. suffering and sacrifices a better and a truer right than the artificial title of sovereignty in Mexico" (Freedom 267).

The ideology came to dominate American thinking because this was the opportunity to expand the country bringing more Independence to states not originally part of the United States. However this caused conflicts between the United States because expanding would mean more slavery. The south supported the manifest destiny because being in the south, Texas would become a slave state. The northern states opposed the manifest destiny because they were against slavery and this would bring setback to the ratification of slavery. The Manifest Destiny divided the United states between the North and South which ultimately turned into war.