Manifest Destiny

The term Manifest Destiny first appeared in an article published within The United States Magazine and Democratic Review by John L. O'Sullivan in the summer of 1845. A relevant paragraph from the article which pertained mainly to the annexation of Texas appears here:

 

"Why, were the other reasoning wanting, in favor of now elevating this question of the reception of Texas into the Union, out of the lower region of our past party dissensions, it surely is to be found, found abundantly, in the manner in which other nations have undertaken to intrude themselves into it, between us and the proper parties to the case, in a spirit of hostile interference against us, for the avowed object of thwarting our policy and hampering our power, limiting our greatness and checking the fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions." (my own inflection)

Here, O'Sullivan is re-stating an idea as old as the establishment of the original British colonies. It began with John Winthrop's idea about a new nation resembling a "city upon a hill". O'Sullivan is re-stating the same ideas which characterize most Jeffersonian ideals. Essentially, he is re-stating that United States of America is a nation blessed by God or some diving power and it is the express "manifest destiny" of this country to overspread the land and to spread US-style democracy across the globe. In a sense this is a religious as well as a socio-political theory because of the theology that also concerns such doctrines.

 

 

 

The theory was later popularized further in an editorial written for O'Sullivan's newspaper, The New York Morning News. The article was published on December 27th, 1845 and largely surrounds the debate over war with England in regard to their refusal to secede the Oregon territories. O'Sullivan states, "...And that claim is by the right of our manifest destiny to overspread and to possess the whole of the continent which Providence has given us for the development of the great experiment of liberty and federated self-government entrusted to us." O'Sullivan employs almost the exact same language in order to convey the idea of a mission from God to overspread federal democracy to the masses. In neither of these articles, however, does O'Sullivan address the inherent racism within the "manifest destiny" movement. It was assumed by many proponents of the theory that the white race along with its religion, ideals, and obviously its government were meant to overspread and envelop the globe. It seems as though many of Melville's musings surrounding the Pequod as a racially diverse nation in itself were affected by the inherent contradictions in the theory of manifest destiny. At certain points I found myself wondering what Melville could have thought of the contemporary movement to annex all of Mexico, while attempting to keep Mexicans as well as black slaves racially subjugated.

Above is John Gast's American Progress, one of the most famous artistic representations of 'manifest destiny". Present is the goddess Columbia who seems to be driving the Indians as well as that which is deemed to be brutish and lesser further West while she brings light and civilization along with her. Inherent in the painting are ambivalence towards racial tensions and also a question of what progress really means, as we note the destruction of the west's natural environment and the tragic plight of the American-Indian.