1.2.2

Manifest Destiny

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'Manifest Destiny'

White people moved west for a number of reasons, including their religious beliefs.

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Manifest destiny

  • If the American population was concentrated on the East Coast of America, it would be very hard to defend the whole nation against foreign enemies. They needed to distribute the population all over the country to protect the nation.
  • The view of ‘manifest destiny’ was that the Christian God wanted white American settlers to rule the whole continent of North America.
  • This had bad implications for the indigenous Plains Indians.
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'The American Way of Life'

  • Manifest destiny can be understood as 'obvious fate'.
  • White settlers saw their domination of North America as part of an inevitable process that was desired by God.
    • Settlers felt they had a duty to spread 'the American way of life' on the plains.
    • The Mormon church, created by Joseph Smith, still to this day tries to spread its beliefs and principles to new people all over the world, spreading their way of life.
  • Writers such as Horace Greeley encouraged this movement through his advice, 'Go West, young man'.

Jump to other topics

1The Early Settlement of the West, c1835-c1862

2Development of the Plains, c.1862–c.1876

3Conflicts & Conquest, c.1876–c.1895

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