The Influence Of The Manifest Destiny

Manifest Destiny is the belief that the United States was “destined” to expand its territory over North America from “sea to shining sea.”1 The phrase Manifest Destiny is credited to New York journalist John L. O’Sullivan.2 Americans of the East believed they had a God- given right to spread democracy, conquer anything and anyone as they marched across the North America continent to expand westward. The land was put there by God for taking, therefore the immigrants fulfilled his call with the westward expansion. White Americans thought they were ordained to settle the entire continent of North America.3 Manifest Destiny was the common thought of the colonists to expand the United States to benefit from the existing opportunities westward; the

White Christians felt they were personally chosen by God to enlarge their borders with no boundary to the area or country which started the War of 1812 and removed all British influence from the west.4 The expansion and traveling were part of the essence of Manifest Destiny, an idea that it was God will that Americans expand over the whole continent, and to take over and expand the country as they see fit. Many expansionist perceived God as having the power to withstand and guide human destiny. Since they were encouraged by religious reasons the consequences of their desires to expand, causing a conflict that lasted over 200 years.5 They made Native Americans relocate from their territory as a result more and more settlers moved west. Since the white Christians had the mindset that it was a God-given right to expand they were cruel when it came to taking what they wanted.6 Rather than just taking the land and leaving the Native Americans alone, they were harassed, killed, and forced to leave their families. The expansion was another possibility to raise their families in a new area, gaining property, farming, and gold mining. As they move forward to the Pacific Americans thought that it was their responsibility to settle and democratize the people who stayed

This war lasted two years which resulted in Mexico losing nearly half of its land to the United States; also lands from Texas to California. The war officially ended in early 1848 with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, transferring 500,000 square miles of Mexican land to the United States for $15 million.8 With the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico recognized Texas as independent and the Rio Grande as its southern border. America needed land that involved parts of presents-day Arizona, California, New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Nevada, and Utah. Most of this land was gained from Mexico through compromises, therefore the United States put a lesser amount of energy into diplomacy. Even though the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo assured the New Mexican American people of the United States full citizenship rights, discrimination and the unwillingness of local judges and juries to uphold the law in favor of Mexican Americans led to their political disenfranchisement. Many Mexican Americans unjustly lost their land to Anglo settlers.9 The war brought about lasting Mexican hostility and opened a Pandora’s box of sectional disaster was determined with the deaths of more than 600,000 Americans in the Civil War.10 The United Stated became a continental empire with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Mainly it was one and only possession of the entire land between the Pacific and