Race's Role In Manifest Destiny
Question 1: What role did race play in the theory of Manifest Destiny?
The Manifest Destiny was another symbol of America’s progress and with the sun rising from the west, it represented “the nation’s bright future” (pg. 321), yet it still came with percussions. With more knowledge of this new territory, the government thought that the move was greatly important due to the nation’s rising popularity. However, once a certain article in a popular newspaper was written that the plenties of the West was only in certain people’s reaches, ideas of the Manifest Destiny started to turn into religious and racial superiority. John O’Sullivan wrote the article saying “The White Race alone received the divine command, to subdue and replenish the earth” (pg. 320) and "Civilization or extinction has been the fate of all people who have found themselves in the track of the advancing Whites" (pg. 320); meaning that it was fate for Whites to advance to the plentiful lands, but the whole manifest developed a very Jacksonian Democracy that emphasized white superiority. It was not only the African Americans to be affected, but the whites gave no sympathy as they walked into the Indian’s lands, subduing anyone that lived there. …show more content…
Europe wasn’t prospering during the mid 1840s and the high population couldn’t strive with the crop failure, so they sought refugee. Hundreds of thousands of Europeans migrated to America, looking forward to the progress of America; however, native-borns didn’t welcome so easily. Again, superiority defaced America and a party that was against the immigrants were formed and called the Know-Nothings. The Know-Nothings made paintings and books showing how immigrants were drunken brutes (pg. 357) and putting down the Catholic religion. The Know-Nothing gained political power as a result of most of the country favoring nativism, but soon fell after splitting like the Whig
The Manifest Destiny was another symbol of America’s progress and with the sun rising from the west, it represented “the nation’s bright future” (pg. 321), yet it still came with percussions. With more knowledge of this new territory, the government thought that the move was greatly important due to the nation’s rising popularity. However, once a certain article in a popular newspaper was written that the plenties of the West was only in certain people’s reaches, ideas of the Manifest Destiny started to turn into religious and racial superiority. John O’Sullivan wrote the article saying “The White Race alone received the divine command, to subdue and replenish the earth” (pg. 320) and "Civilization or extinction has been the fate of all people who have found themselves in the track of the advancing Whites" (pg. 320); meaning that it was fate for Whites to advance to the plentiful lands, but the whole manifest developed a very Jacksonian Democracy that emphasized white superiority. It was not only the African Americans to be affected, but the whites gave no sympathy as they walked into the Indian’s lands, subduing anyone that lived there. …show more content…
Europe wasn’t prospering during the mid 1840s and the high population couldn’t strive with the crop failure, so they sought refugee. Hundreds of thousands of Europeans migrated to America, looking forward to the progress of America; however, native-borns didn’t welcome so easily. Again, superiority defaced America and a party that was against the immigrants were formed and called the Know-Nothings. The Know-Nothings made paintings and books showing how immigrants were drunken brutes (pg. 357) and putting down the Catholic religion. The Know-Nothing gained political power as a result of most of the country favoring nativism, but soon fell after splitting like the Whig