Manifest Destiny

IDEOLOGY
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Frank Caso looks at the US drive to expand across North America and beyond
THE EXPANSIONIST IMPULSE in the
United States, with roots in the
colonial era, enjoyed its greatest
phase in the 1840s, during the
administration of President James
K. Polk. It was that era that gave
rise to the philosophical rationalization for continental and, later,
imperial expansion known as
Manifest Destiny. Writers and
politicians seized upon the phrase,
coined by a now obscure New
York journalist, and fleshed it
out into a justification for
national aggrandizement. The
reasons for Manifest Destiny's
popularity were varied, especially given the sectionalism of
the US at that time. The biggest
reason was economic, of course,
but racial reasons abounded, as
did philosophical ones: Expansionism, it was believed, would
check the United States' growing
trend toward urbanization.
There was also an evangelical
belief that the US would be in
the vanguard of spreading
democracy and freedom
throughout the world.
The stroke of Thomas Jefferson's pen aside, many historians
believe expansionism as US policy was given impetus by John
Quincy Adams during his
tenure as secretary of state in the
administration of James Monroe.
At that time, Adams envisioned
the US extending to the Pacific,
but by the end of his life, that is,
the 1840s when the expansionists were gearing up, he virtually
renounced his earlier stance, fearing the extension of slavery into
the territories.
The most notable expansionist
of the 1840s was President Polk.
Elected over Henry Clay and
James G. Birney in 1844 with just a
49.6 percent plurality (though a
comfortable majority in the Electoral College), Polk saw his victory
as a mandate for expansionism,
and the first tests of that so-called
mandate came soon after his inauguration. Texas, which nine years
earlier had gained its indepen-
dence from Mexico, applied to be
admitted into the union as a state.
Outgoing president John Tyler had
already set the annexation wheels
in motion, but Polk immediately
voided Tyler's proclamation so as
to examine the situation further.
After having done so, he reversed
himself and sent the application to
Congress. By then, the rabble rousing had begun.
"There is no necessity for crime.
There is no Fate to justify rapacious nations.... We are destined
(that is the word) to overspread
North America; and intoxicated
with the idea, it matters little to us
how we accomplish our fate."
Although Charming condemned
the policy of expansion, he understood it as inevitable. O'Sullivan,
on the other hand, viewed expansion not only as a right, but as a
purpose for the US which, in an
1839 essay he had dubbed "the
great nation of futurity." With
Folk's election, he and others
began to push their program.
In addition to the Texas
annexation question, another
problem Polk faced early in his
administration was the boundary of the Oregon territory. Both
matters involved Britain as a
potential adversary, though the
idea of Britain imposing its
influence on a sovereign nation
(Texas) against that nation's will
seemed more like expansionist
bugaboo, especially in light of
the Monroe Doctrine. Nevertheless, O'Sullivan used the issue as
a pretext, to lay out his views,
and in doing so, he unwittingly
coined a phrase. In'an essay
appropriately titled "Annexation" in the July-August 1845
issue of the Democratic Review,
O'Sullivan chastised other
As llth president, James K. Polk acquired
nations (primarily Britain) "for
vast territories along the Pacific coast and
in the Southwest for the US.
the avowed object of thwarting
our policy and hampering our
power, limiting our greatness and
The Coining of a Phrase
Chief among the expansionist prochecking the fulfillment of our •
manifest destiny to overspread the
pagandists was John L. O'Sullivan.
O'Sullivan was a Jacksonian
continent allotted by Providence
Democrat to the core who, in 1837,
for the free development of our
founded the literary journal United
yearly multiplying millions."
States Magazine and Democratic
O'Sullivan thereby linked adminisReview. Among its contributors
trative policy to a divine plan.
were Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar
For all practical purposes,
Allan Poe, Ralph Waldo Emerson
Americans, in the eyes of expanand Henry David Thoreau. Coincisionists and even nonexpansiondentally, that same year, Boston
ists, were a chosen people. It was
preacher and founder of the Unito them that Providence had
tarian Church in the US, William
bestowed the great destiny of
Ellery Charming, in a letter to
"overspreading the continent" and
Henry Clay pessimistically wrote:
bringing an enlightened society
History Magazine • June/July 2007 47
IDEOLOGY
O'Sullivan literally and wanted to
sent General Winfield Scott to
and government to the world.
maintain order along the border.
Racial theorists in the US adopting
expand over the entire mass of
North America, while the most
Though Mackenzie was eventually
from European colleagues, had
arrested by American authorities
extreme interpreters pushed for
been setting the tone for such
eventual US sovereignty over the
for violating the neutrality laws
thinking that would contribute to
refining the notion of Manifest
Western Hemisphere.
(he served 11 months in prison),
The expansionist's quest for all
American filibusters continued
Destiny. Various proponents of
of North America really began in
their incursions to no avail after
racialism invented and then
the late 1830s when Texas, largely
Scott's forces withdrew. The dream
defined their theories, stratifying
populated by American immiof Canadian annexation died hard
different groups, while always
grants, declared itself independent
in the US.
placing their race, Caucasian, at
of Mexican rule following a sucthe top of the development ladder.
cessful revolution. While it wasn't
War With Mexico
Simply put, within the Caucasian
a foregone conclusion that Texas
Martin Van Buren did not wish to
race, the Germanic group was the
would join the Union, given the
engage in a third war with Britain
most developed and among the
makeup and culture of its populaand, ultimately, neither did James
Germanics, the so-called Anglotion, especially the ruling class,
Polk, which was why the Oregon
Saxon group was the creme de la
signs certainly pointed that way.
boundary was settled peacefully.
creme. Rebuttals of racial theories
were given short shrift, as they
Mexico was a different story.
have been in Western culture
After the success of the Texas
Revolution, Americans viewed
ever since. Ironically, racial
theory would come to play a
Mexico as a weak country.
Expansionist lust for California
role in checking Manifest Desincreased exponentially —
tiny.
Meanwhile, O'Sullivan
although some were content to
annex only the port of San
continued to hammer home
Francisco — and American sethis point. In December 1845,
tlers began to repeat the "Texas
with the Texas question
decided once and for all with
pattern". In this they were
aided by John C. Fremont, the
that territory's admission into
the Union, O'Sullivan tackled
Pathfinder and future Republithe Oregon boundary problem
can presidential candidate (in
1856). Although there was a
with an article in the New York
short-lived Bear Flag Republic
Morning Nezvs (which he also
John Cast's American Progress shows Columbia, a in California, it never achieved
co-founded). In addition to
personification of the US, moving westward as an
the status of the Texas Repubarguing the legal right of the
allegory of Manifest Destiny.
lic, overshadowed as it was by
United States to the territory,
But the real prize for expanthe Mexican War.
O'Sullivan again invoked "the
sionists, one that had remained
The Mexican War is the event
right of our manifest destiny to
elusive since the Revolutionary
in American history most associoverspread and to possess the
War, was Canada. This reached its
ated with Manifest Destiny. The
whole of the continent which Provwar began in 1846 over another
idence has given us for the develapex during the brief rebellions in
Upper and Lower Canada against
border dispute — between Mexico
opment of the great experiment of
British rule during 1837 and 1838.
and the new state of Texas. The US
liberty and federated self-governIn fact, the leader of the Upper
claimed that Mexican troops'
ment entrusted to us." The phrase,
Canada rebellion, William Lyon
crossing over the Rio Grande was
manifest destiny, was quickly
Mackenzie, even traveled to Bufan incursion onto American soil. •
repeated, and debated, in Congress
falo to seek support. He received it
Mexico, as well as anti-war propoand soon after taken up by both
in. the form of 24 filibusters who
nents in Congress, claimed the
sides in the expansionist question.
were soon reinforced by another
boundary was actually further
As for Oregon, the extremists had
500 men. (The term "filibuster" is
north at the Neuces River. In a
their own slogan: "54-40 or fight,"
used here in its 19th-century sense
maneuver future war hawk presireferring to the parallel of latitude
of a person engaged in fomenting
dents would emulate, President
at which they wanted the boundinsurrection in a foreign country.)
Polk managed to steamroll a declaary drawn. Polk, however, settled
Not only did the filibusters and
ration of war through Congress.
with Britain at the 49th parallel.
their American supporters greatly
The conflict unleashed the forces
As the US began to feel more
overestimate Canadian disloyalty
of Manifest Destiny; to the delight
comfortable with the notion of.
to the Union Jack and desire, if it
of the expansionists, the rhetoric
Manifest Destiny, expansionists
ever existed, to become part of the
was finally backed by military
offered differing interpretations of
action. The army's early successes
US, but they failed to take into
how to apply it to American policy.
account the foreign policy of Presiallowed the expansionists to take
Some saw it merely as a means of
the rhetoric up a notch or two. Not
dent Martin Van Buren. Van Buren
reaching the Pacific; others took
48 History Magazine • June/July 2007
only was California a prize to be
tion, and the thought of incorpoto turn toward the more extreme
taken but' so was New Mexico and
rating non-Caucasians as full citiinterpretations of Manifest Destiny
the whole of what is now the
zens frightened even abolitionists.
when they floated the All-Mexico
southwestern US. Furthermore, the
Another question, much debated,
idea. The notion of empire began
decisive victories of Scott and,
was if the various Mexican states
to take root. In 1848, the Polk
especially, General Zachary Taylor
would eventually join the Union as
administration secretly tried to
prompted a call among expansionfree or slave states?
purchase Cuba from Spain for $100
ists to claim all of Mexico.
All of these questions became
million but was turned down.
The All-Mexico movement
moot when the Treaty of
Over the next six years, filibusters
gained momentum because the
Guadalupe Hidalgo ending the
attempted to cause insurrection in
territorial acquisition would
Mexican War was secretly hamCuba, among them was O'Sulliinclude the Isthmus of Tehuantemered out and later ratified by
van, who had relinquished control
pec, across which the American
Congress in 1848. The treaty gave
of both his magazine and newsgovernment had dreams of buildthe US nearly all the Mexican terripaper in 1846.
ing a canal linking the Atlantic and
tory from the Rio Grande to the
In 1854, during the administraPacific oceans. This would thwart
Pacific Ocean for $15 million plus
tion of Franklin Pierce, the US
British ambitions of building and
the cost of indemnity to American
again tried to purchase Cuba,
controlling their own canal across
citizens. (In 1853, James Gadsden
increasing the offer to $120 million.
the isthmus. Furthermore, if Mexnegotiated the purchase from MexWhen Spain refused again, Pierce
ico were to become a US territory,
ico of approximately 30,000 square
ordered his ministers (ambasthen the Gulf of
sadors) to Britain,
Mexico would be
France and Spain'
firmly in American
to confer on the
hands — not a
Cuba matter at
small matter, espeOstend, Belgium.
cially in light of a
Out of this came
future canal. A
the Ostend Manithird reason for
festo, which
acquiring the
declared that if
entire country was
Spain refused to
sell Cuba, then the
a so-called humanitarian one. Many
US "by every law
simply felt that the
human and
Mexican people
divine... shall be
were in need of
justified in wresting it from Spain."
uplifting by the
Unlike Mexico,
more advanced
Cuba was a slave"Anglo-Saxon"
holding territory,
culture. However,
and its annexation
racism, even of
by the US would
this sort, had a
have increased the
double edge to it.
Even the most The Disturnell map of 1847, shown here, was used to negotiate the Treaty of economic and
Guadalupe Hidalgo, ending the Mexican War (1846-48).
political power of
ardent expansionthe southern
ists supported the
states. Naturally, the North was
miles in what is now southern
notion of federalism, which at the
opposed to Cuban annexation.
New Mexico and Arizona for $10
time meant that territories would
Since both North and South were
million. The purchase ensured
eventually be allowed admission
opposed to granting Cubans citiright of way for a rail line to the
into the Union as states. It was just
zenship, the attempt to "wrest"
Pacific Ocean.) In just 30 years,
this system, the expansionists •
Cuba from Spain never really got
from the time John Quincy Adams
claimed, that made the US supeoff the ground. What's more, in the
had first enunciated a US stretchrior to empires of the past. The
years prior to the Civil War,
ing to the Pacific, expansionists
problem, as some saw it, was that
domestic problems, especially the
had realized their dream. But with
Mexico was not like previous US
territorial "wars" between free
the cry for all of'Mexico, Manifest
territories-turned-states where US
soilers and slavery proponents,
Destiny had begun to take on a
culture was transplanted by Amernew
form.
dominated the US political scene.
icans who quickly became the
With the Pacific coast secured,
majority group. Mexico had a long
Manifest Destiny in the Age of
Americans began gazing further
established culture that was .
Imperialism
west. By the early 1850s, expanRoman Catholic and deemed hard
The desire for Canada notwithsionists had begun to fix their
to assimilate. Caucasians were a
standing, US expansionists began
attention on the Hawaiian Islands.
very small minority of the populaHistory Magazine • June/July 2007 49
IDEOLOGY
In its 26 November 1853 issue, the
Cincinnati Daily Enquirer, talking
about the islands, opined; "Their
manifest destiny is to become a
part of the American domain."
Over the better part of the next
half century, Hawaii would follow
the Texas paradigm. By 1893, the
year historian Frederick Jackson
Turner had declared the US frontier closed, Hawaii had a whitecontrolled legislature and Supreme
Court, but the monarchy clung to
power. That year the islands'
wealthy sugar interests engineered
the overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani and named Sanford Ballard Dole as president of the
provisional government of Hawaii.
Dole had been leader of the committee that sought the queen's
removal. The real intent of the
leadership was annexation by the
US, but their plan backfired when
President Grover Cleveland withdrew the annexation treaty from
consideration by the Senate and
called for Liliuokalani's restoration. The next year (1894), the leaders of the coup established the
Republic of Hawaii with Dole
again as president.
What many perceive as Manifest Destiny in its second, imperialist stage, historian Frederick Merk
has termed mission, arguing that
the imperialists of the late 19th
century differed in their aims from
what O'Sullivan had professed.
However, many of O'Sullivan's
contemporaries, especially those
advocating the annexation of Mexico, were themselves imperialists.
Perhaps chief among these protoimperialists was Mississippi senator Robert J. Walker, who became
Folk's secretary of the treasury. A
virulent racist and one of the most
ardent expansionists in the federal
government, the Pennsylvaniaborn Walker called for the annexation of the entire Western
Hemisphere, as well as Greenland
and Iceland. Furthermore, the
United States' westward advancement was itself an imperialist
movement toward the Native
Americans for whom America's
destiny was anything but manifest.
The irony of the imperialists of
the 1890s was that they were
Republicans, political descendants
50 History Magazine • June/July 2007
of the Whigs, who had opposed
Manifest Destiny 50 years earlier.
The most notable imperialists of
the time were Alfred Mahan,
Henry Cabot Lodge and Theodore
Roosevelt. They, and others of like
mind, argued for a greater US
presence in world affairs —
Mahan, a captain in the navy and a
noted naval historian, especially favored Hawaiian annexation, as
the islands would give the US a
strategic advantage in the Pacific.
Cuba, always on the minds of
Congress and the executive,
became the flashpoint of US imperialist aims, and when the SpanishAmerican War — the "splendid
little war" as Secretary of State
John Hay famously characterized
A political cartoon in the Chicago
Record-Herald from 1901, entitled
"Miss Cuba Receives an Invitation".
Miss Columbia to her fair neighbor:
"Won't you join the stars and be my
forty-sixth?"
it — ended, the island became a
client of US economic interests
until 1959.
The Spanish-American War
effected a fundamental change to
the US, which as a result of conquest became an empire, even if,
as some argue, an accidental one.
The US now ruled people as far
away as the Philippines and as
close as Puerto Rico; and while the
Philippines has been granted independence, none of the other territories captured from Spain in the
war have been admitted into the
Union. Hawaii being more than
2,500 miles closer to the Philippines than San Francisco, the
islands' planters and Alfred
Mahan finally got their wish for
annexation in 1900.
There is little doubt that the
spirit that moved Americans
onward, decades before the nowobscure O'Sullivan coined the term
Manifest Destiny, continued to
motivate the US government and
its citizens in the 20th century, and
still does so in the 21st. The difference being that in the 1840s,
expansionists had claimed that
federalism had created a new type
of empire, one that gradually
incorporated territories into the
Union as equal states, while in the
20th century, American imperialism concentrated on economic
aspects, divorcing them from
direct land acquisition. The sense
of Manifest Destiny was still evident in the US's post-WWII status
as "leader of the free world" (it is
no accident that both Alaska and
Hawaii were granted statehood
during the height of the Cold War),
in the early years of the space race,
and in the conflicts the US has
fought (and continues to fight)
since 1945.
Further Reading:
• Bergeron, Paul H. The Presidency
of James K. Polk (Lawrence, Kansas:
University Press of Kansas, 1987).
• Haynes, Sam W. and Christopher Morris (eds.) Manifest Destiny
and Empire: American Antebellum
Expansionism (College Station,
Texas: The University of Texas at
Arlington, 1997).
• Horsman, Reginald. Race and
Manifest Destiny: The Origins of
American Racial Anglo-Saxonism
(Cambridge, Mass. And London:
Harvard University Press, 1981).
• Merk, Frederick. Manifest
Destiny and Mission in American
History: A Reinterpretation (New
York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1963).
• Stephanson, Anders. Manifest
Destiny: American Expansion and the
Empire of Right (New York: Hill
and Wang, 1995).