U.S. history concepts · AP U.S. History
Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny: The nineteenth-century belief that the United States was destined to expand across North America.
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What it means
The phrase was popularized in the 1840s to justify westward expansion, including the annexation of Texas, the acquisition of Oregon and the Mexican-American War. It combined ideas of national mission, economic opportunity and racial and cultural superiority.
Expansion intensified conflict with Native American nations and Mexico, and it reopened the question of whether slavery would spread into new territories.
Example
The Mexican Cession of 1848 added vast territory to the United States and immediately raised the question of slavery's expansion.
On the exam
Manifest Destiny connects Period 5 topics: expansion, the Mexican-American War and the sectional crisis.
Lessons and practice questions
Related terms
- Missouri CompromiseThe 1820 agreement that admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state and banned slavery in the rest of the Louisiana Purchase north of 36°30′.
- Popular sovereigntyIn the sectional crisis, the idea that settlers in a territory should vote on whether to allow slavery; more broadly, the principle that government's authority comes from the people.