On the Verge of Empire:
Defining Manifest Destiny
Mr. Phipps
U.S. History
California State Standards
11.4 Students trace the rise of the United States to its role
as a world power in the twentieth century.
11.4.1. List the purpose and the effects of the Open Door
policy.
11.4.2. Describe the Spanish-American War and U.S.
expansion in the South Pacific
11.4.4. Explain Theodore Roosevelt's Big Stick diplomacy,
William Taft's Dollar Diplomacy, and Woodrow Wilson's
Moral Diplomacy, drawing on relevant speeches.
Frederick Jackson Turner
 Historian from University of
Wisconsin
 Wrote groundbreaking
thesis The Frontier in
American History (1893)
 Justified American
expansionism
 Companion and admirer of
Theodore Roosevelt, an
avowed expansionist
Manifest Destiny
 The term, “Manifest Destiny” used first in 1840s,
during Jackson’s expansion into the west
 Term later used synonymously for American
expansionism and imperialism (usually
positively)
 Used to describe:
The virtue of Americans and their democratic institutions
Their mission to spread these institutions
Their destiny, under God, to spread these virtues
Turner’s Thesis
 Turner justified American expansion by tying it to American character
 The history of the U.S. was the history of expansion:
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Constant geographical expansion
Taming the wilderness
The availability of cheap land
Limitless horizons,
Potential
 The U.S. was fundamentally different than European peers:
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Little competition for land
Land was cheap and a safety valve for poorer classes
Land grants (e.g. Oklahoma land grants) available to all classes from the government
Land defined American character and actualized the experience of being “American”
John Locke’s idea of“Life, Liberty, and Property”
 Warned that loss of land, or inability to expand, would result in:
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Social struggle
Urban decay
Political stagnation
The ending of liberty
So What?
 American identity related to land
 America was unique because it had so much
land
 By 1893, when Turner published his thesis,
there was still much land available
 The adoption and acceptance of Turner’s thesis
indicates a policy shift
The U.S. has to plan ahead
The U.S. has to ensure the blessings of life, liberty, and
property
If the U.S. doesn’t continue policy of expansionism, the
U.S. would become like any other European monarchy
Distortions of the Paradigm:
Why did the U.S. take it?
 Pragmatic School: Because it was there
 Ideological School: Because the U.S. wanted
to spread liberty, democracy, and freedom
 Divine School: Because God intended the U.S.
to settle, which is why (S)He allowed the
Mayflower to land, the Revolutionaries to win,
etc
 Militant School: Because there were national
security threats with Britain, Spain, Mexico,
Russia, France, and Germany
Which is the correct answer?
ALL OF THEM!!!
U.S. policy was motivated and shaped by
individuals, by groups, by power structures
(business, government, the wealthy, etc),
and by the mission of the U.S. to preserve
its ideals