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Manifest Destiny Research Paper

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Kyle Matteson English 101 9-26-16 Essay 1 Draft Manifest Destiny; the great purpose of the United States. To push the reaches of civilization into the frontier and wilderness and bring it all to heel and under the “control” of civilization and the new country. Americans by the thousands flocked to the Midwest and the West Coast to make their fortune and try to carve out a life in these unbridled lands. They left all that they knew to go off into The Wilderness and bring it into subjugation of their will. But what exactly is The Wilderness and why is man so emphatic and intent of controlling it? Is The Wilderness really only a place outside the bounds of “civilization”? William Cronon describes The Wilderness as many Americans in his day …show more content…

What was it about them that required them to shape what they saw around them to their own image and idea of the world? It may have been that they were just trying to bring order to the world around them. It would certainly fall in line with the thought of the day, rebelling from chaos to create a structured, ordered world with everyone carving out a space for what they thought should be in it and making it real. They feel that they have to take the frontier, this wilderness, and create something which is naturally majestic and free, and restrain it. They have to control this thing which is outside of themselves and outside of their comfort …show more content…

Conquering fear also has the effect on people. They do not want to live in fear. They do not want to feel like there is something key to themselves which can overpower them at any second and turn them into something which is completely out of their control. It overwhelms them, making them do things which they would never do, whether that be jump off a cliff into a river to save their lives. Fear is a wild thing inside of all of us which is untamed. It is our most primal instinct and is able to drive us to actions we do not think through. It turns us into wild, thoughtless, responsive creatures. Creatures which survive well in the

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529 Words | 3 Pages

Manifest destiny was the belief that was created by John L. O'sullivan in the 1840. Manifest destiny consisted of three steps, the creation of manifest Destiny, the process of achieving manifest Destiny, and finally achieving Manifest Destiny. These are the three subjects that will be talked about in this article. Like I said in the previous Paragraph it was created by John L. O’sullivan when he wrote it in his article on Texas annexation and the dispute over the British Oregon trails. There were several diffrent way people used the word Manifest Destiny like the way John L. O'sullivan used it was he believed that “ majority of Americans at the time believed was their mission from God: to expand to west and bring the United States government to unenlightened people.”

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I disagree with Cronon’s notion that people’s idea of wilderness was historically powerful. Undoubtedly, the wilderness notion played a role in forming American identity. Cronon states the consequences of this role when he writes “Thus in the myth of the vanishing for if wild land had been so crucial in the making of the nation,”(Pg 76). But these consequences aren’t particularly profound. Even though the wilderness notion resulted in establishing national parks and preservations, it did not prevent the further development of industry, consumption of forests and mining of natural resources.

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695 Words | 3 Pages

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Manifest Destiny Research Paper

161 Words | 1 Pages

He was a highly devoted man who entered the presidency with an unambiguous plan, setting out five main goals which he successfully executed in only one term in office (Bockert par. 13). Although the incessant pressure of American westward expansion had temporarily accumulated itself behind the Great Plains, it was now about to erupt with a deluge unlike any previous occurrence (Woodworth 59; "Expansion to the Mississippi"). A new start beyond the Western horizon would prove to be crucial to Americans so Polk became determined to use the concept of Manifest Destiny. This concept proved to prompt the American westward movement and lead to a flow of immigrants, and as portrayed in the figure above, to have a massive effect on the population of

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235 Words | 1 Pages

I disagree with Cronon’s notion that people’s idea of wilderness was historically powerful. Undoubtedly, the wilderness notion played a role in forming American identity. Cronon states the consequences of this role when he writes “Thus in the myth of the vanishing frontier lay the seeds of wilderness preservation in the United States, for if wild land had been so crucial in the making of the nation”(Pg 76). The described consequences aren’t particularly profound. Even though the wilderness notion resulted in establishing national parks and preservations, it did not prevent the further development of industry, consumption of forests and mining of natural resources.

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199 Words | 1 Pages

The Trouble with Wilderness by Cronon is an essay that critiques the American idea of wilderness. Cronon described the history of the idea of wilderness from biblical beginnings to modern descriptions. He also states that wilderness is a human creation and is simply a “reflection of our own unexamined longings and desires” (1). The potential danger in society’s traditional concept of wilderness is that is somehow apart from human life. The author defends this statement by pointing to the concept of “untouched” nature.

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2056 Words | 9 Pages

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Manifest Destiny Research Paper

1057 Words | 5 Pages

In 1845 John L Sullivan coined the term “Manifest Destiny” to justify the westward expansion of the United States. A few years later in 1882 the French linguist and historian of religion Ernest Renan composed “What is a Nation”, where he wrote with the aim of successfully defining what aspects caused a physical location to become a nation. Although “What is a Nation” was written almost 40 years after “Manifest Destiny” it addressed many of the questions early American settlers found themselves asking while they were creating a nation of their own. Although the Mainfest Destiny movement was named in 1845, the philosophy behind Manifest Destiny had existed throughout early American History.

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Manifest Destiny: Assignment Instructions

264 Words | 2 Pages

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Summary Of Manifest Destiny And American Territorial Expansion

1622 Words | 7 Pages

Manifest Destiny is a unique, yet mysterious fundamental series of events in American history. No other country’s history contains such an eventful history as the United States. Amy Greenberg’s book, Manifest Destiny and American Territorial Expansion, provides documented evidence that settlers believed they were destined for expansion throughout the continent. In other words, many religious settlers believed that it was a call from God for the United States to expand west. On the other hand, people believed that Manifest Destiny vindicated the war against Mexico.

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American Wilderness Preservationism

1152 Words | 5 Pages

The American preservationist movement is arguably the oldest and longest running movement in America. Although wilderness was the bane to the existence of early settlers, it quickly became an important cornerstone of American culture, even as its vast expanses began to dwindle and become unreachable to every day Americans. American was carved by hand by hard working frontiersmen out of rough cut untouched forest making wilderness the foundation of American culture. Though historically, the only natural things man had a tolerance for were those that served his needs, good lumber, tame animals with meat milk or wool, and soil easy to plow. But through a drastic shift in public view in around the turn of the 19th century, suddenly America broke thousands of years of western cultural precedent when it declared that untouched wilderness deserved to be preserved and protected.

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90 Words | 1 Pages

In his 1995 essay “The Trouble with Wilderness,” William Cronon declares that “the time has come to rethink wilderness” (69). From the practice of agriculture to masculine frontier fantasies, Cronon argues that Americans have historically defined wilderness as an “island,” separate from their polluted urban industrial homes (69). He traces the idea of wilderness throughout American history, asserting that the idea of untouched, pristine wilderness is a harmful fantasy. By idealizing wilderness from a distance, he argues that people justify the destruction of less sublime landscapes and aggravate environmental conflict.

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Manifest Destiny Problems

1030 Words | 5 Pages

The North and South were already divided prior to the surge of exploration and conquering known as Manifest Destiny, which was largely fueled by new inventions, such as trains and the telegraph. The North had an economy quite contrary to that of the South. The North was industrializing, and the industry was quickly booming, producing many goods and boosting the North’s’ economy. The South, on the other hand, depended on its constant, slow, agricultural growth. This divide was dwarfed by the main problem that was always a challenge for the United States to deal with.

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Don T Look Up By William Cronon

1108 Words | 5 Pages

Cronon incorporates specific attitudes surrounding the connotation of wilderness into his argument. Cronon introduces a time when society viewed the wilderness as “a sacred American Icon, during the nineteenth century (Cronon 8).” This idea referring to the “wilderness” as an American Icon highlights how wilderness was romanticized and idolized. This “Iconic” idea changes quickly to society claiming the wilderness as “masculine in nature (Cronon 9).” This shift in the connotation of wilderness demonstrates how socially perpetuated institutions, such as patriarchy, influence symbols.

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Manifest Destiny: The Negative Event In The History Of America

966 Words | 4 Pages

What if hypocritical, selfish Americans took your rights, along with your land? Albert Gallatin, an American Senator from 1845, is a primary source that talks about the account of Manifest destiny (the belief that the expansion of the US throughout the American continents was both justified and inevitable,) as a negative. Indian Chief John Ross was stripped of his freedom as well as his land. Alexander Hamilton, one of the United State’s own founding fathers, bashed Thomas Jefferson on his decision, mentioning quote, “lucky coincidences and unexpected circumstances and not the result of any wise or thoughtful actions on the part of Jefferson’s administration.” Manifest destiny was an extremely negative event in the history of the United States.

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