New Concept: manifest destiny (noun) Definition: destiny – what is going to happen to you Manifest – to appear, easy to see, obvious Manifest Destiny – the idea in the United States that the country would go from east coast to the west coast

Essential Characteristics – What is has to have  About getting land  went from east to west  US idea only  people in the way get moved out of the way

Examples:  Louisiana Purchase  War with Mexico  Indian wars (Trail of Tears)  Monroe Doctrine- US told Europe to stay out of the Western Hemisphere

Non-Examples: UUS invading Iraq IIllegal immigrants VVietnam War AArmenian Genocide WWar on terror (we are not trying to take over anyone’s land)

Manifest Destiny The phrase manifest destiny means “obvious fate.” It was coined in 1845 by John O’Sullivan, a New York newspaperman. O’Sullivan wrote that its was America’s “manifest destiny to overspread and possess the whole of the continent.” Looking at the land beyond the Rocky Mountains, he argued that “the God of nature and nations has marked it for our own.” It was God’s plan for Americans to expand their “great experiment with liberty,” and extend from sea to sea.