Regrettably, it is a common tendency for people to forget events in the past. It is also a habit of our modern civilization to disregard or ignore concepts and events due to their antiquity. Maybe this is because we think of ourselves as have “risen above” a disagreeable history and conquered an old vice from those “times of yore”. And, as a result, we no longer need to pay attention to those certain ideas or events. The danger of this proclivity is that we might let history repeat itself and therefore allow those undesirable actions to manifest in a modern context. To make this point clear, we can study the concept in our American history that was the driving force behind westward expansion in the late 19th century. That inspiration was called our country’s “Manifest Destiny” and its application in our nation’s history dramatically and directly shaped the America we know today. We can learn from studying the countless letters, discourses, and newspapers from the time, that this concept caused wars, included ideas about racial pre-eminence, and had deep religious ties. It became a creed to those individuals of the 1800’s that supported it, and it has become a preferably avoided topic in today’s conversations.
Wikipedia, the modern-day source for information[1], defines “Manifest Destiny” as “the 19th century American belief that the United States was destined to expand across the continent[2]”. Although that statement is true, the concept of Manifest Destiny included much more than that initial, basic observation. For example, in the book, Give Me Liberty: An American History, which is a more extensive source of historical facts, author Eric Foner writes that Manifest Destiny included “the nation’s mission to extend the area of freedom” (Foner, 290). That is to say, expansion in the name of freedom, a virtue America fought for in the Revolutionary War of 1776. In addition, Foner gives examples of periods when Americans were willing to take up arms, not only in the defense of liberty, but also in its forcible advancement. “Those who stood in the way of expansion…were by definition obstacles to freedom” (Foner, 290). The immediate need for expansion was very real to citizens of the older states. “With population rising and the price of land rising dramatically” the idea of a vast expanse of prime, inexpensive farm land gave hope to those struggling in the cities (Foner, 291). Manifest Destiny gave them a driving force that would support them with armies and foreign polices to ensure their hold on the new land. We can readily access sources from the period that openly discuss the reasoning behind Manifest Destiny.
One such source is the man who, according to some, coined the phrase “manifest destiny” in his newsletter, The United States Democratic Review. John O’Sullivan used his influential writings to support the annexation of Texas and acquirement of Oregon in the latter part of the 19th century. His works are emotional and full of national pride, confident in the belief that God ordained and saw to the creation of this new country. His 1839 article, The Great Nation of Futurity, incurs a strong sense of patriotism and pride in the idea that America’s “annals describe no scenes of horrid carnage” (O’Sullivan, 427). Therefore, with a “clear conscience unsullied by the past” and with the “truths of God on our minds, beneficent objects in our hearts”, American could go forth and complete its mission: “to establish on earth the moral dignity and salvation of man” (O’Sullivan, 427). Readers of O’Sullivan could rest in the knowledge that our mission to expand the area of freedom and become “a city on a hill” was our purpose from the very beginning. Sadly, the zeal and fervor that drove the supporters of Manifest Destiny proved to be disastrous for the thousands of people living in the West who were deemed unfit for American citizenry. (Foner 406, 407)
A modern historian who has written about the religious aspect of Manifest Destiny is Professor Donald M. Scott. In his paper, The Religious Origins of Manifest Destiny, Professor Scott is able to view the history since 1839 and use that context to frame the idea of Manifest Destiny in such a way that the reader can easily identify elements of the idea cropping up in our modern times. The purpose of his article is to make clear that “Manifest Destiny was not simply a cloak for American Imperialism and justification of America’s territorial ambitions” (Scott, 1). Instead, he traces the long history of a “special and unique American Destiny” from the European explorers on their “divinely appointed mission to spread Christianity [in] the New World” to the “sense of American uniqueness and mission” in John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech[3] (Scott, 1). He shows that religion and “Divine Will” played a key part in motivating early colonists, westward settlers and modern-day leaders. This is interesting because, instead of Manifest Destiny “falling into disuse after the mid-19th century”[4], Scott shows that the idea has continued to shape foreign policy well in the 21st century.
Can an idea as old as Manifest Destiny, with such strong ties to religion and a belief in divinely appointed destiny, still be driving actions of our leaders today? Could a history of blind ambition and actions, without a thought to consequences, be repeating itself? In 2003, President Bush, in his State of the Union Address said this; “Americans are a free people, who know that freedom is the right of every person and the future of every nation. The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world; it is God's gift to humanity.”[5] This is a statement John O’Sullivan would have supported. O’Sullivan might have also written in the Democratic Review to support the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and invasion of Iraq in 2003, all in the name of our divinely appointed mission to extend freedom and of America’s “responsibility to history […] to rid the world of evil.” [6] President Bush’s personal beliefs strongly influenced America’s direction just as Manifest Destiny directly influenced America’s growth and legacy in the 19th century.
John O’Sullivan’s article, The Great Nation of Futurity, states that we Americans “have no interest in the scenes of antiquity, only as lessons of avoidance of nearly all their examples” (O’Sullivan, 427). This is quite an accurate statement, but only up to a certain point. Our interest should most certainly be in the study of history and the causes of certain events, not only for use as “lessons of avoidance” but as a way to right our wrongs and create new, justly admirable, policies that future generations could truly respect. We must not neglect the study and modern application of history (in this case, the cause and effect of Manifest Destiny) otherwise we are doomed to repeat the darker parts of our past. Chief Justice Earl Warren, in his eulogy given at John F. Kennedy’s funeral, said this; “The only thing we learn from history is that we do not learn. But surely we can learn if we have the will to do so.”[7] That “will” he mentioned, can come from a desire to move our country toward a future that history will value and respect.
[1] This phrase is meant to be “tongue-in-cheek”, a phrase that was also coined in the 19th century by Richard Harris Barham in his 1842 story, The Black Mousquetaire: A Legend of France
[2] Merk, Frederick. "Manifest Destiny." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 27 Oct. 2011. .
[3] Rather interestingly, Scott points out that it was during the height of the Cold War that America added “Under God” to the pledge of Allegiance (Scott,1). Possibly to affirm that our cause was the righteous one and America had “Divine Will” to back it up.
[4] Merk, Frederick. "Manifest Destiny." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 27 Oct. 2011. .
[5] "GPO Access Online Resources: A-Z Resource List." INDEX. U.S. Government Printing Office, 28 Jan. 2003. Web. 28 Oct. 2011. .
[6] "The Avalon Project : President's Remarks at National Day of Prayer and Remembrance 1:00 P.M. EDT; September 14, 2001." Avalon Project - Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy. Lillian Goldman Law Library, 14 Sept. 2001. Web. 28 Oct. 2011. .
[7] "Eulogies to the Late President Kennedy” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum. Web. 28 Oct. 2011. .
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