Manifest Destiny

Manifest Destiny was the 19th-century belief that the United States was destined to expand across North America. It helped justify territorial growth, Indigenous dispossession, and settlement.

John L. O’Sullivan: An American journalist who coined the phrase “manifest destiny” in 1845. His editorials gave the expansionist belief its memorable name.
Mexican–American War: A war between Mexico and the United States from 1846 to 1848, ending in major Mexican territorial cessions. The war extended U.S. territory to the Pacific and intensified disputes over expansion.
Trail of Tears: The forced removal of the Cherokee people to Indian Territory in 1838–1839, during which thousands died. It shows the human cost of making land available for U.S. settlement.
Anti-imperialism: Opposition to extending a state’s political or territorial control over other peoples and lands. Critics challenged the assumption that national growth justified taking territory.
Texas Annexation: The 1845 incorporation of the Republic of Texas into the United States. Annexation was a central expansionist cause when O’Sullivan popularized the phrase.
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo: The 1848 treaty that ended the Mexican–American War and transferred vast territories to the United States. It formalized the largest territorial gains associated with the period’s expansionism.
Mexican Cession: The territory Mexico ceded to the United States under the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Its acquisition brought the consequences of continental expansion into sharp focus.
Abolitionism: A movement to end slavery, especially in the United States during the 19th century. Abolitionists opposed expansion when it threatened to extend slavery into new territories.
Second Great Awakening: A wave of Protestant revivalism that reshaped American religious and social life in the early 19th century. Its reformist and providential language helped make national expansion seem divinely sanctioned.
Oregon Treaty: The 1846 agreement that established the boundary between U.S. and British claims in the Pacific Northwest. It secured territory through diplomacy rather than the war used elsewhere.

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