Expansion

Expansion: The Myth of Manifest Destiny

The initial American colonial project relied on marketing the ‘New World’ to European powers. To maintain prominence and support resource acquisition, a young US Government portrayed Westward expansion as a God-given right and people’s patriotic duty, strengthening public support for growth – and laying further groundwork for state-centrism.

Romanticised depictions of the American West were popular settings for musicals in the mid-1900s; revivals of classics such as Oklahoma! continue to shape specific states’ identities even as other shows reproduce assumptions of the ‘backwards rural’.

Historical Narrative: Territories & States

Recall: what you learned about “Manifest Destiny” in school. Before you read any of this week’s materials, jot down what you remember about how it was taught (it’s okay if it’s vague!).

Read: chapter 6 of Heike Paul’s The Myths that Made America (“Agrarianism, Expansionism, and the Myth of the American West”) and complement it with the articles below to ensure you understand the concept of Manifest Destiny.

Manifest Destiny - Definition, Facts & Significance | HISTORYManifest Destiny, a phrase coined in 1845, expressed the philosophy that drove 19th-century U.S. territorial expansion. It contended that the United States was destined by God to expand its dominion and spread democracy and capitalism across the entire North American continent.

Manifest Destiny - Expansion, Westward Movement, EndManifest Destiny - Expansion, Westward Movement, End: Disputes about the new western territories and slavery helped bring the era of Manifest Destiny to a close. Mahan posited that national greatness was derived from the ability to control navigation of the seas, and this new endeavour was dubbed the “New Manifest Destiny.” Frederick Jackson Turner and the New Western Historians put forth conflicting interpretations of Manifest Destiny.

Reflect: on the lyrics to “This Land is Your Land”, a well-known and oft-covered song that does not have its origins in musical theatre, but has been featured in biopic-style jukebox musicals about Woody Guthrie.