Manifest Destiny

What is Manifest Destiny? The phrase means “obvious fate.” John O’ Sullivan wrote that it was
America’s “Manifest Destiny to overspread and to possess the whole of the continent.” When this “great
experiment” started in 1776, many believed that it was a hopeless dream. By 1848 however, it was a
dream longer. America had tripled it land size in about 80 years. It grew through many ways: Treaties,
purchase, war, and settlement. There was however a dark side to Manifest Destiny. Now you will learn
about the great expansion of the U.S. and how it happened.

The first territory acquired by the United States was the huge wilderness west of the Mississippi River.
This was called Louisiana, and at the time, it was claimed by France. One city, New Orleans, was also
part of Louisiana. Napoleon Bonaparte had plans for Louisiana. Many western farmers were worried. If
Napoleon closed down the city, they had no to sell their crops. Thomas Jefferson, who was president at
that time, sympathized with the farmers. So, in 1803, he sent James Monroe to France with an offer to
buy New Orleans for $7.5 million. But, by the time he got there, Napoleon had changed his plans. He
offered to sell of the Louisiana territory. On April 30, 1803 Monroe signed a treaty that gave Louisiana to
the U.S. for $15 million. Many people thought that this was the greatest land deal in history. Some people
however, said that this was unconstitutional. Jefferson was worried about these accusations, but he
believed it was better to “stretch the Constitution than to lose a historic opportunity.” Tallyrand, the French
Foreign Minister told them, “You have made a noble bargain for yourselves, and I suppose you will make
the most of it.” I have to agree with him. They made a wonderful deal without any bloodshed.

After Jefferson acquired Louisiana, he then set his sights on Florida. At the time, Florida was claimed
by Spain. In 1804, Jefferson sent two diplomats to Spain to buy Florida. Spain’s reply was “no hay trato”,
or no deal. Many Southerners wanted Florida. They were angry because runaway slaves sometimes ran
away to Florida, and because of Seminole raids on the land. In 1818 President James Monroe sent
Andrew Jackson to stop the raids, but he did not have the authority to invade Florida itself. Jackson
disobeyed orders however and marched through Florida with 1,700 troops. Spain then demanded that
Jackson be punished for his behavior. Every one of Monroe’s cabinet members said that Jackson should
be removed, and that he should apologize to Spain. John Quincy Adams told Monroe to send Spain a
message to either “govern or Get Out.” In 1819, Spain agreed to give the U.S. Florida if they paid off $5
million in settlers’ claims, and that they honor Spain’s claim to Texas. These were reasonable conditions
in my opinion. Spain however did not to get to keep Texas, because they lost it to Mexico when they
rebelled.

In the Northeast corner of the current U.S., there lies the Oregon Country. In 1819, four countries had
claims to Oregon: Spain, Russia, Great Britain, and the United States. First, Spain left the race. Then
Russia agreed to limit its claim to the 54° 40° parallel of latitude. The remaining contenders agreed to a
“joint occupation” of Oregon. President James K. Polk then came up with a compromise treaty that
divided Oregon roughly in half, at the 49th parallel of latitude. This was another good idea. They got it fairly
without any blackmailing or anything else that is usually with this kind of business.

Before you read this, you many have thought that the U.S. just started that way. That is what I thought.
But, that is nowhere near the truth. It was acquired through treaties and purchase, as in Louisiana’s case,
by war, in California’s case, and through settlement in Texas’s case. IT also did not happen overnight. It
took a little bit over a lifetime. But there is a dark side to everything. In this case, it is that the U.S. bullied
other countries to achieve this goal. But, most things have a dark side to them. I would be surprised if
there wasn’t one in the great expansion of the U.S.