Manifest Destiny and the Mexican-American War

 

THE REVOLUTION OF MANIFEST DESTINY 

Even though the idea of Manifest Destiny had existed for a long time, John L. O'Sullivan around the 1840s, coined the term and stated outright what it meant.

  “…the fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotment by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions…”
-O'Sullivan in "Annexation," his first article that coins "manifest destiny."


Picture
Lady Liberty moves west. American settlers seeking liberty follow with the Manifest Destiny ideology.
-1839, John L. O’Sullivan's essay “The Great Nation of Futurity”.

-highly influential in Congress, not widely read by the public.

-America destined to be greater than any nation because its foundation on liberty.

 “ …The United States was a sacred secular project, a mission of world-historical significance…” (Stephenson 28).

O’Sullivan wanted America to keep expanding, originally via diplomacy and peace.

 

Picture
John L. O'Sullivan, the man who coined the phrase 'Manifest Destiny'

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