"Manifest Destiny" and Tyler and Texas
“Manifest Destiny”
- Texas was one extreme example of a broader pattern: * its expansion was messy * nothing about it was pre-ordained
- “manifest destiny” began as a partisan, political ideology * the term originated in an 1845 newspaper editorial written in support of Texas annexation * came to refer to a loose set of ideas and beliefs: * Anglo-Americans superior institutions and values entitled them to lead the hemisphere * Anglo-Americans were destined to spread their people and/or culture across North America (or farther)
1. remaking the rest of the continent in their own image 2. disagreements about how this should happen * the spread of American republicanism would save the world
- drew upon old ideas, but added new elements: * millenarianism of the 2nd Great Awakening * belief by a religion, social, or political group or movement in a coming fundamental transformation of society, after which “all things will be changed” * happening soon/now, not in some vague future * racialized: many of them believe the “Anglo-Saxon Race” was superior to other people in its path
Tyler and Texas
- William Henry Harrison dies a month into office, 1841 * died from a pneumonia
- Vice President John Tyler becomes the new president and turns on the Whigs * members of the British reforming and constitutional party that aimed for the supremacy of Parliament and was eventually succeeded by the Liberal Party in the 19th Century * John Tyler was not a good or well-liked president
- he tries to annex Texas via a treaty which was rejected by Congress
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