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Manifest Destiny

[man-uh-fest des-tuh-nee]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

the belief or doctrine, held chiefly in the middle and latter part of the 19th century, that it was the destiny of the U.S. to expand its territory over the whole of North America and to extend and enhance its political, social, and economic influences.

Manifest Destiny

noun

(esp in the 19th-century US) the belief that the US was a chosen land that had been allotted the entire North American continent by God

manifest destiny

A popular slogan of the 1840s. It was used by people who believed that the United States was destined — by God, some said — to expand across North America to the Pacific Ocean. The idea of manifest destiny was used to justify the acquisition of Oregon and large parts of the Southwest, including California. (See Mexican War.)

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Word History and Origins

Origin of Manifest Destiny¹

First recorded in 1835–45

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

For example, Trump’s twin “other” wars on immigrants and on diversity, equity, and inclusion recipients are visible expressions of the same old conspiracy theories operating to defeat the cabal of Jews, African Americans, and internationalists that have allegedly been stealing the US’ true identity and manifest destiny.

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But it is the history of U.S. antagonism, with its roots in manifest destiny and President Polk’s obsession with territorial expansion, that Mexicans best remember.

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This America had a theological destiny – a manifest destiny, as it was termed in the 19th century by a pro-expansion, pro-slavery champion – “to overspread and to possess the whole of the continent which Providence has given us for the development of the great experiment of liberty and federated self-government entrusted to us.”

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When Borglum orchestrated the first dedication of Mount Rushmore in 1925, the emphasis was on “Empire,” on manifest destiny.

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George Washington, though omitted from this equation, had always been present in Borglum’s vision of a sculpture that would represent the manifest destiny that had shaped the United States.

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When To Use

�� is Manifest Destiny?

Manifest destiny is an unofficial doctrine that characterized the U.S. attitude toward territorial expansion during the 19th and 20th centuries. It rested on the principles that American society was inherently of higher value than others, and that it was an imperative and inevitable mission to incorporate the rest of the North American continent into the United States.How is Manifest Destiny pronounced?[ man-uh-fest dest-uh-nee ]

manifestative manifested

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