Manifest Destiny was a thought developed in the 1840s by a man named John L. O’Sullivan which directly correlates to how the U.S. is shaped today. He asserted in an article written in the Texas annexation “The right of our Manifest Destiny to over spread and possess the whole continent which providence has given us for the development of the greater experiment of liberty and federative development of self-government entrusted to us,” (O’Sullivan). John was expressing that it was the people’s duty to help expand and create new civilizations for the greater common good. That stretched from coast to coast, from the most eastern state to the highest mountain of the west. But with expansion, came consequences, from a war with Mexico creating borders
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While the idea supported Americans in expansion on the west, it basically desolated American tribes. When the Americans started expanding west they realized that the Native American tribes were based on exceptional lands that would produce exponential amounts of resources. President Andrew Jackson said in his fifth annual message “they have neither the intelligence, the industry, the moral habits, nor the desire of improvements which are essential to any favorable change in their condition.” (Jackson, 5th annual message) And so forth on May 28, 1830 President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian removal act into action which removed Indians to unsettled lands west of the Mississippi in exchange for their tribes land. Very few tribes went without protest and wars. During the fall and winter of 1838 the Cherokee tribe was forcibly removed from their tribes land on a trail to lands west of the Mississippi. Cherokee legislative council voiced that “we, the great mass of people think only of the love we have to our land… to let it go it will be like throwing away our mother that gave birth to us.” (Cherokee legislative council 1830) This trail became known as the trail of tears after approximately 4000 Cherokee members died on the march to new lands. As expansion grew Native American tribes shrunk, their tradition disappeared, their languages were forgotten, and many people lost their lives fighting for their home land. In today’s society the Native Americans culture is starting to make a comeback and languages are being brought back to life. But reservations are still around today and the number of people that have 25% of their ethnicity as a Native American tribe is almost non
While the idea supported Americans in expansion on the west, it basically desolated American tribes. When the Americans started expanding west they realized that the Native American tribes were based on exceptional lands that would produce exponential amounts of resources. President Andrew Jackson said in his fifth annual message “they have neither the intelligence, the industry, the moral habits, nor the desire of improvements which are essential to any favorable change in their condition.” (Jackson, 5th annual message) And so forth on May 28, 1830 President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian removal act into action which removed Indians to unsettled lands west of the Mississippi in exchange for their tribes land. Very few tribes went without protest and wars. During the fall and winter of 1838 the Cherokee tribe was forcibly removed from their tribes land on a trail to lands west of the Mississippi. Cherokee legislative council voiced that “we, the great mass of people think only of the love we have to our land… to let it go it will be like throwing away our mother that gave birth to us.” (Cherokee legislative council 1830) This trail became known as the trail of tears after approximately 4000 Cherokee members died on the march to new lands. As expansion grew Native American tribes shrunk, their tradition disappeared, their languages were forgotten, and many people lost their lives fighting for their home land. In today’s society the Native Americans culture is starting to make a comeback and languages are being brought back to life. But reservations are still around today and the number of people that have 25% of their ethnicity as a Native American tribe is almost non