INTRODUCTION TO
MANIFEST DESTINY
6.1.12.A.3.A Assess the influence of Manifest Destiny on foreign policy during
different time periods in American history.
6.1.12.B.3.A Assess the impact of Western settlement on the expansion of
United States political boundaries.
6.1.12.D.3.A Determine how expansion created opportunities for some and
hardships for others by considering multiple perspectives.
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
 How did Manifest Destiny influence foreign policy?
 To what extent was U.S. foreign policy influenced by perceived national interest?
 What role did geopolitics play in the development of American foreign policy?
 How did westward expansion create opportunities for some and hardship for others?
PAINTINGS
 1. John Gast (ca. 1872) is called, American Progress
 2. Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze, 1860 Westward the Course of Empire
Takes Its Way.
 “Our manifest destiny is to overspread the continent allotted
by Providence for the free development of our yearly
multiplying millions.”
 ~ John L. O'Sullivan - United States Magazine, July-Aug. 1845
1. What does the word “providence” mean? (Check it out on
dictionary.com if you don’t know)
2. What do you think Mr. O’Sullivan is saying in this quote? What
is your definition of manifest destiny?
WHAT MADE PEOPLE WANT TO GO WEST?
1. TO START OVER
 Depression of 1837  Economic hardships
back east
 Oregon
 Fertile farming valleys
 A lot of hunting
 California in 1848
 Gold discovered
 Gold Rush (49ers)
 People wanted to become rich!
2. MEXICO INVITES WHITE AMERICANS TO
SETTLE TEXAS
 Mexico was a North American empire in the
1820s
 It’s northern parts (present day Texas,
California, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Arizona,
New Mexico, and Nevada) were sparsely
occupied by people
 Mexico wanted to settle this northern portion
of their empire
 Invited white Americans to settle in Texas
 By the 1830s, the great majority of people
living in Texas were white Americans and their
slaves.
3. RELIGIOUS FREEDOM: MORMONS
 Persecuted in New York
 Persecuted in Missouri
 Persecuted in Ohio
 Persecuted in Illinois
 Finally went to modern day Utah
MAJOR CONCERNS OF MANIFEST DESTINY
 Wars over land
 Texas vs. Mexico
 US vs. Mexico
 US vs. Native Americans
 Slave or Free Territories?
 Accelerated divisional hatred in the US  North vs. South
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING
What were the three reasons people moved west?