Manifest Destiny & Abolition
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1) Define and discuss the phrase Manifest Destiny. Explain how this belief came to divide the nation.
2) Abolition was arguably the most important reform of the era. It would become an explosive issue that tore the nation apart. Discuss the objectives of the movement and describe the methods the leaders employed. What reactions did the methods and movement as a whole evoke within the different sections of the nation?
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Solution Summary
The philosophies behind Manifest Destiny and Abolition Movement are touched on in brief, with references.
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1) Manifest Destiny was the main political and social ideology adopted by Americans starting in the 1840s. It stated that the U.S. had "God-given rights" to explore, conquer, colonize, extract materials from, and otherwise settle in originally Native American (and by that time, Mexican and British) territory. Essentially they viewed themselves as "the New Israel," a religious reference to a people on a pilgrimage with rights to settle in a land that essentially was given to them by G-d (if not the native peoples). Ultimately, this was a belief borne from the zeal that democracy was a priority (and some would be strong in adding "slave-free democracy"). But eventually, this kind of religious fervor didn't belie a passion for democracy and economic opportunity for the common man - but instead covered a growing sense of American Imperialism: the right to territory was not necessarily religious, but was always without question because of the superiority of America's values and interests. More or less, this kind of imperialist "Destiny" influenced the presidencies of Polk straight through until Woodrow Wilson (though Wilson's tactics eventually shifted towards a policy ...
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