MANIFEST DESTINY
DO NOW
 Read the Introduction to the unit.
 Then, read the O’Sullivan text and answer the questions
on your notesheet.
 You may use a partner when answering the questions.
Let’s Define it!
 Together, we are going to create a definition of
manifest destiny….
 In groups of 3-4, try to create a definition of “manifest
destiny” in your own words after reading the next slide.
 Keep in mind:
 Manifest: clear to the eye or mind
 Destiny: the events that will necessarily happen to a
particular person or thing in the future
John Quincy Adams, 1811:
"The whole continent appears to be destined...to be peopled by
one nation. The acquisition of a definite line of boundary to the
[Pacific] forms a great epoch in our history."
John O'Sullivan, 1845:
"Away, away with all these cobweb tissues of rights of discovery,
exploration, settlement, contiguity, etc. The American claim is by the
right of our manifest destiny to overspread and to possess the
whole of the continent which Providence has given us for the
development of the great experiment of liberty and federative
self-government entrusted to us. It is a right such as that of the tree
to the space of air and earth suitable for the full expansion of its
principle and destiny of growth. ...It is in our future far more than in
the past history of Spanish exploration or French colonial rights,
that our True Title is to be found."
What is Manifest Destiny?
1. Belief that white Americans had a God-given right to
occupy the entire North American continent.
2. Manifest Destiny was exercised in 1492 by Christopher
Columbus and the Spanish monarchs.
3. Pilgrim Fathers when they landed at Plymouth Rock in
1620.
4. Any act of colonization and settlement at the expense of
another race can be said to be an expression of Manifest
Destiny.
Unit 9, Journal #1
 Manifest destiny is the idea that it was the United
States’ destiny to expand westward across the continent
all the way to the Pacific Ocean.
Do you think westward expansion was truly
the United States’ destiny?
 Why or why not? List three reasons for your position.
 Keep in mind—the positive and negative outcomes of this
philosophy
“American Progress,” John Gast
1.
2.
3.
4.
Technological progress
Progress coming from the East to the West— “civilization to
the unknown”
The frontier would be developed by sequential waves of
people
Who is the “woman”?
 In her right hand she carries a book (an emblem of education) while with
the left hand she unfolds and stretches the slender wires of the
telegraph.
 These show the intelligence throughout the land.
 Moves across the land in advance of settlers, replacing darkness with
light and ignorance with civilization.
5.
6.
The Indians flee from progress, unable to adjust to the shifting
tides of history.
The painting hints at the past, lays out a fantastic version of an
evolving present, and finally lays out a vision of the future
 How does the painting “American Progress” reflect the
idea of manifest destiny?
So, how did
expansion begin?
US Territorial Expansion
When?
•1776
From Where?
•Great Britain
Why?
•US declared
independenc
e from Great
Britain
A - 13 Original
Colonies
A
US Territorial Expansion
When?
•1783
From Where?
•Great Britain
Why?
•Part of results
of Treaty of
Paris (ended
Revolutionary
War)
B - Western Lands
B
A
US Territorial Expansion
When?
•1803
From Where?
•France
Why?
•Napoleon needed
$
•Jefferson wanted to
buy New Orleans
•He got all of this
C - Louisiana
Purchase
C
B
A
US Territorial Expansion
When?
•1819
From Where?
•Spain
Why?
•Andrew
Jackson
invaded
•Spain then
sold it to us for
$5 million
D - Florida
C
B
A
D
How was manifest
destiny carried out?
US Territorial Expansion
When?
E - Texas
•1845
From Where?
•Republic of Texas (Independent Country)
Why?
•Texas independent from
Mexico in 1836
•Northerners feared it
would become a slave
state
•Fears finally overcome in
1944 Presidential election
C
E
B
A
D
US Territorial Expansion
When?
•1846
From Where?
•Great Britain
Why?
•Claimed by four
countries (G. Britain,
Russia, Spain, & US)
•Americans
demanded “54° 40’
or fight!”
•Britain
compromised 49° &
F - Oregon Territory
F
C
E
B
A
D
US Territorial Expansion
When?
•1848
From Where?
•Mexico
Why?
•Polk offers to buy G from
Mexico & they refuse
•War!
•US wins
•In Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo, US offers $15 million
for G
G - Mexican Cession
F
G
C
E
B
A
D
Manifest Destiny in 1840s America
Once the concept had been given the name
'Manifest Destiny' it became widely used,
appearing in newspapers, debates, paintings
and advertisements. It became the leading light
for westward expansion
The Second Great Awakening created another
incentive for the drive west.
Many settlers believed that God himself blessed
the growth of the American nation.
By spreading Christianity to the tribes, American
missionaries believed they could save souls and
they became among the first to cross the
Mississippi River.
Manifest Destiny in 1840s America
At the heart of manifest destiny was the belief in
American cultural and racial superiority.
Native Americans had long been perceived as inferior
The Hispanics who ruled Texas and the lucrative ports of
California were also seen as "backward.“
Expanding the boundaries of the United States was in
many ways a cultural war as well.
South wants to find lands suitable for cotton cultivation
and this would eventually spread slavery to these regions.
In the North, many citizens were deeply concerned about
adding any more slave states.
Manifest destiny touched on issues of religion, money,
race, patriotism, and morality. These clashed in the 1840s
as a truly great drama of regional conflict began to
unfold.
THINK ~ PAIR ~ SHARE
 Why do people move even though it entails so
many difficult challenges?
 Things to address:
1. Have you ever moved? What was it like? Did you
have to readjust to your new home, school? What
were some hardships you faced?
2. How might these problems be similar to the problems
that Americans may have faced on their move
westward?
A New Home
 With all of this land that we begin to acquire,
Americans begin moving West into a land of great
challenge, but great possibility.
 What did moving west entail in the mid to late 19th
century? What hardships could they face?
 What were the positives? Why, despite these
hardships, were thousands still interested in
moving west?
Overland Immigration to the West
 Between 1840
and
1860, more
than
250,000 people
made the trek
westward.
Trails Westward
The Oregon Trail
The Doomed Donner Party
April, 1846 – April,
1847
The Doomed Donner Party
CANNIBALISM ! !
Margaret Patrick John
Breen
Breen Breen
James Reed & Wife
 Of the 83 members of the Donner
Party, only 45 survived to get to
California!
Why Go West?
1.
Claim land for farming and land ownership
a.
b.
2.
3.
Provide more living space for millions of immigrants
Find new markets for manufactured goods and services
a.
4.
Locate harbors that could be used for trade with China
Seek employment
a.
b.
c.
5.
New resources, new opportunities
Prosperity!
Panic of 1837- banks close, credits collapse
Loss of jobs, bankruptcy
Convinces people to “start fresh”
Spread the “virtues of democracy”
What type of groups of people would have benefited
from westward expansion based on the list of reasons?
Who Moved West?
What did they hope
to find?
 Opportunity!
What did they
actually find?
 Many Unforeseen
 More resources,
Difficulties
land, increased
social standing
 Oregon: Fertile
soil! Abundant
rainfall!
 Native American
struggles
 Trails (or lack
thereof) made
travels difficult
Unit 9, Journal #2
 To what extent is the idea of manifest
destiny alive today?
 Keep in mind:
 What principles/ideas surrounded manifest destiny?
o America is ______________ to other nations
o America deserves _________________
o America wants to spread _______________
…anything else?