Manifest Destiny: Ocean-Bound Republic In The 19th Century

People think of Manifest Destiny as the official policy of territorial expansion and the idea that God had ‘blessed’ America to become an ocean-bound republic in the 19th century. The truth, however, is that presidents and secretaries of state never really used the phrase ‘manifest destiny’; it was the slogan of the journalist John L. O’Sullivan who created it in 1845 when he was writing editorials about the annexation of Texas and about the boundary dispute with Britain over the Oregon territory. He stated that it was blessed by providence – it was the manifest destiny of the country to become this continental power. It immediately sparked controversy at the time. The phrase itself ended up being used more by critics than supporters as a way