Manifest Destiny and The White Man’s Burden
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the United States was gaining influence in the world but was still very young. The country that would soon be seen as the greatest world power had begun its ascent among imperialist European nations almost one hundred years earlier. The Louisiana Purchase and then the concept of Manifest Destiny drove the westward expansion of the United States to the pacific. In the late eighteenth century, after the borders of the United States had expanded from Maine to California the idea of Manifest Destiny also expanded to include increasing the borders of the United States to outside of North America.
When looking at Manifest Destiny and the expanding United States it is easy to see the evils that came with expansion: natives were pushed from their homes and eventually were forced to live on reservations, beloved monarchs were taken from power, and entire cultures were suppressed. It is easy to see the benefits that the United States received from its expansion: natural resources became more widely available, the influence of the United States in the world increased, and the overall profit of the country increased. It is easy, therefore, to conclude that the expansion was solely negative for the territories and positive for the mainland and that the reasons for expansion were American greed and lust for power.
However, even with all of the corruption that existed and all of the negative effects of expansion, the motives of many who were part of expansion were not solely selfish but also included the desire to help the native populations. It is clear that horrible things were done during the expansion of the United States, yet the positive intentions of the expanders and are often overlooked. Their motives, while often riddled with self serving actions, were often pure and benevolent, and the expansions of the American Empire were almost always justified morally.
Leave a Reply