building the american landscape - Univerza v Novi Gorici

Manifest Destiny
Go West, young man, go West and grow up with the country 197 .
Horace Greeley
The revolution begun by the means of transport created a collective feeling of
euphoria. The speed at which journeys could be made and the dynamism with
which the new settlements developed in wild territories were the logical
consequences of this revolution. Certain cultural impulses provided by foreign
politics were added to these experiences, which marked the highest moment of
intense territorial expansion. Once the territories of Louisiana had been annexed
and the plains of the Mid‐west of the United States had been occupied, attention
was turned to relationships with Mexico, which been granted independence from
Spain in 1882. In the decade from 1840‐1850, politics were disturbed by an ideology
called Manifest Destiny, which led to the annexation of Texas, Oregon, California,
New Mexico and Utah (some of which only subsequently became states).
The doctrine of Manifest Destiny can be described as a sort of popular belief, which
encouraged people to have faith in the resources of the United States. It believed
that the United States of America were destined to fulfil great tasks, beginning with
the control of the North American continent.
The basic conditions for these changes were evident from the 1820s, the time when
a very popular, direct politics was developed. The first presidents of the United
States came from rich, aristocratic families from the East and were well‐educated,
well‐read men. Following the election of Andrew Jackson (1767‐1845) in 1828,
ironic nicknames became common and, as the historian, Morton Keller, has shown,
a political slang caught on, which was a direct reminder of frontier life: Jackson was
the Old Hickory, Martin Van Buren the red fox of the West, whereas an unknown
candidate was nicknamed “unpredictable horse […] the awardings of funds