![]() Oregon TerritoryĪn 1842 treaty between Great Britain and the United States partially resolved the question of where to draw the Canadian border, but left open the question of the Oregon Territory, which stretched from the Pacific Coast to the Rocky Mountains over an area including what is now Oregon, Idaho, Washington State and most of British Columbia. That December, another Morning News article mentioned “manifest destiny” in reference to the Oregon Territory, another new frontier over which the United States was eager to assert its dominion. In it, the writer criticized the opposition that still lingered against the annexation of Texas, urging national unity on behalf of “the fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions.”Īs the phrase also appeared in a nearly identical context in a July 1845 article in the New York Morning News, its originator is believed to be John O’Sullivan, the editor of both the Democratic Review and the Morning News at the time. The phrase “Manifest Destiny,” which emerged as the best-known expression of this mindset, first appeared in an editorial published in the July-August 1845 issue of The Democratic Review. The Coining of 'Manifest Destiny'īy the time Texas was admitted to the Union as a state in December 1845, the idea that the United States must inevitably expand westward all the way to the Pacific Ocean had taken firm hold among people from different regions, classes and political persuasions. Polk won the 1844 election, and Tyler was able to push the bill through and sign it before he left office. territory, and possibly later as one or more states.ĭespite opposition to this agreement in Congress, the pro-annexation candidate James K. ![]() An agreement concluded in April 1844 made Texas eligible for admission as a U.S. The administrations of both Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren resisted such calls, fearing both war with Mexico and opposition from Americans who believed calls for annexation were linked with the desire to expand slavery in the Southwest.īut John Tyler, who won the presidency in 1840, was determined to proceed with the annexation. Nonetheless, there were still more Anglo settlers in Texas than Hispanic ones, and in 1836, after Texas won its own independence, its new leaders sought to join the United States. ![]() intervention in Latin America.Ĭries for the “re-annexation” of Texas increased after Mexico, having won its independence from Spain, passed a law suspending U.S. This policy of an American sphere of influence and of non-intervention in European affairs became known as the “ Monroe Doctrine.” After 1870, it would be used as a rationale for U.S. In 1823, Monroe invoked Manifest Destiny when he spoke before Congress to warn European nations not to interfere with America’s Westward expansion, threatening that any attempt by Europeans to colonize the “American continents” would be seen as an act of war. In addition to sponsoring the western expedition of Lewis and Clark of 1805-07, Jefferson also set his sights on Spanish Florida, a process that was finally concluded in 1819 under President James Monroe.īut critics of that treaty faulted Monroe and his secretary of state, John Quincy Adams, for yielding to Spain what they considered legitimate claims on Texas, where many Americans continued to settle. President Thomas Jefferson kicked off the country’s westward expansion in 1803 with the Louisiana Purchase, which at some 828,000 square miles nearly doubled the size of the United States and stretched from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains. Such rapid growth-as well as two economic depressions in 18-would drive millions of Americans westward in search of new land and new opportunities. population exploded in the first half of the 19th century, from around 5 million people in 1800 to more than 23 million by 1850. Thanks to a high birth rate and brisk immigration, the U.S. ![]()
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