Manifest Destiny and President James K. Polk
US President James Polk, who served from 1845 to 1849, is the leader most associated with the ideology of Manifest Destiny.
- In his tenure he resolved a boundary dispute regarding the Oregon Territory and led the United States to victory in the Mexican American war which resulted in the transfer of a vast new territory, comprising almost the whole of the modern-day Southwest, from Mexico to the United States.
- As a lot of new territory was acquired under James Polk, taking control of the native lands involved armed conflict with these native groups. President Polk, an expansionist, was not concerned and was ready to go to war to obtain the rights to the land. The native people in the area were viewed as an obstacle to be removed and he did not hesitate in getting rid of them.
- American missionaries were some of the first to travel west, along with the pioneers on the Oregon Trail, driven by the idea that Native Americans needed to be converted to Christianity. The belief that white Americans were superior to indigenous people and therefore had to “save” them , is seen through these incidents.
- Ultimately, Polk’s territorial expansionism, despite being aimed at national unity, resulted in intensifying sectional conflict and further paving the road to civil war.
Manifest Destiny – Means, Causes, & Impact
Manifest Destiny was the 19th-century belief Americans had that they had the divine right/blessing to expand and settle in the west (In the North American region), towards the Pacific Ocean. It is also believed that the American expansion was inevitable and preordained. The idea of Manifest Destiny resulted in extensive territorial expansion in North America.
Many Americans believed that it was an expansion that was predestined to happen. They strongly believed that God wanted Americans to spread the Capitalist and Democratic ideas throughout North America. This belief is very similar to what the Britishers had called the “White Man’s Burden” when they justified their conquest of the Indian subcontinent.
In this article, we will look into the origin, summary, causes, and impact of Manifest Destiny.
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Table of Content
- Origin of the term ‘Manifest Destiny’
- Brief Summary of American Expansion in North America (From Sea to Shining Sea)
- Manifest Destiny and President James K. Polk
- Impact of Manifest Destiny on U.S. Foreign Policy
- Causes of Manifest Destiny
- Consequences of Manifest Destiny