Manifest Destiny

- Myth of Manifest Destiny -

First of all, we can see a painting of John Gast from 1872 which represents the American idea of Manifest Destiny. In the middle of the 19th century, some Americans had to move West, and therefore to travel from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. The open land represents actually opportunity and potential wealth. By moving West, they could share their unique form of Government and freedom were also represented. But this concept of discovery was not new because the Europeans already thought that they had the right to claim their discovery. However this new world was not empty; Indians lived there, people who hunted, farmed and raised families on the land. And these residents disagreed and didn’t want to yield their land but from the beginning America had a different idea. People, and especially the president John Quinsy Adams, thought America’s destiny was to become a great nation including one language, one society, same religious and political principals and customs. The journalist John O’Sullivan was the first to use the term Manifest Destiny. Furthermore, the president wanted to annex Texas and the Oregon territory. As Sullivan said, they wanted to overspread and possess the whole continent, under the watchful eye of Providence, which should imply to experience the great development of liberty. Most of Americans thought they should take the continent by force. Churches and missionaries had to believe in it and to help in a way the Indians to get used to this changing. Millions of Americans were convinced that their opportunity was in the West, and 4 million people followed this dream. These places where millions of Americans landed, have become the symbol of the American Dream.

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