What is "Manifest Destiny," and the role of gov't. and business in spurring westward migration in the 1800s?

Question

What is "Manifest Destiny," and the role of gov't. and business in spurring westward migration in the 1800s?

Answer 1

Manifest destiny was a euphemism for colonization, justified by religious writings that it was our holy destiny to expand. As with ANY religion, there is NO concrete proof that such a destiny existed or exists today. However, it was a convenient excuse for robbing the current residents, the natives, of their lands. More death and destruction has been carried out in the name of god than for ANY other reason in all of known history. Even though there is nothing in the documents which make the USA a country about religion except for the restriction on Congress making no law favoring a religion in the 1st amendment, religious freedom WAS a prime mover in the making of the USA as we know it today. Plymouth Rock was a religious community made up of people who had a grudge against the Church of England. It was easy for the colonists to justify the taking of lands based on what they perceived to be a divine right. No one asked the natives what THEY thought...

Answer 2

Manifest Destiny was the belief that the United States was destined to expand from the Atlantic seaboard to the Pacific Ocean; it has also been used to advocate for or justify other territorial acquisitions. Advocates of Manifest Destiny believed that expansion was not only good, but that it was obvious ("manifest") and certain ("destiny"). Originally a political catch phrase of the 19th century, "Manifest Destiny" eventually became a standard historical term, often used as a synonym for the expansion of the United States across the North American continent.

The term was first used primarily by Jacksonian Democrats in the 1840s to promote the annexation of much of what is now the Western United States (the Oregon Territory, the Texas Annexation, and the Mexican Cession). It was revived in the 1890s, this time with Republican supporters, as a theoretical justification for U.S. expansion outside of North America. The term fell out of usage by U.S. policy makers early in the 20th century, but some commentators believe that aspects of Manifest Destiny, particularly the belief in an American "mission" to promote and defend democracy throughout the world, continues to have an influence on American political ideology.[1]

This article is not a history of the territorial expansion of the United States, nor is it the story of the westward migration of settlers to the American frontier. Manifest Destiny was an explanation or justification for that expansion and westward movement, or, in some interpretations, an ideology or doctrine which helped to promote the process. This article is a history of Manifest Destiny as an idea, and the influence of that idea upon American expansion.

Answer 3

In a nutshell people basically believed it was God's will for America to expand from coast to coast...now that I think of it. Conservative bible thumping Idiotic politicians feel that way about the rest of the world today….Manifest destiny=Spreading Democracy and Christianity.

Answer 4

Manifest Destiny is usually defined as the idea that the United States should and would extend to the Pacific Ocean.  

The idea goes back to before the Revolution, but was used in the early to mid-1800's  to promote territorial expansion, trans-continental railways, and was the impetus behind the Lewis and Clark expedition, the Louisiana Purchase, the Mexican-American War, the Gadsden Purchase, etc

By the way, ATJ, way to "copy and paste" without attribution.  That's called "plagiarism"