John O'Sullivan and Manifest Destiny

John O’Sullivan coined the term “manifest destiny” as a term meaning that the United States had divine and indisputable duty from God to spread its borders to encompass all of North America (i.e. to make itself into an ever-expanding empire). America’s success as a nation was the primary reason for his belief that we had the responsibility to show other regions and their inhabitants how to be more like us. “…The United States was selected by God for the greatest experiment in human history, the achievement of liberty, and that westward expansion was part and parcel of this destiny (Liberty 334). He apparently saw no contradiction in touting his home country’s freedom and attempting to overrule or replace others’ freedom to live how they saw fit at the same time.

Conflict arose between the North and South because Texas was going to be annexed. The North feared that this would increase the power and influence of the Southern slave states. The South, in turn, worried that the North would gain more influence by acquiring additional states or territories that shared their beliefs. California and Oregon were areas controlled by Mexico, and the concept of manifest destiny led America into the Mexican-American War. The tensions between the North and South would continue to percolate and would eventually bring about the Civil War.