What is the United States Manifest Destiny all about?

Manifest Destiny, a phrase coined in 1845, expressed the philosophy that drove 19th-century U.S. territorial expansion. Manifest Destiny held that the United States was destined—by God, its advocates believed—to expand its dominion and spread democracy and capitalism across the entire North American continent. read more

The Democratic party picked up on his word usage and the term Manifest Destiny became a slogan to summarize the views of the expansionist movement, especially those of the new President, James K. Polk. It is important to put this into the context of the time. The population of the United States had quadrupled in the last 50 years. read more

Manifest destiny played its most important role in the Oregon boundary dispute between the United States and Britain, when the phrase"manifest destiny" originated. The Anglo-American Convention of 1818 had provided for the joint occupation of the Oregon Country, and thousands of Americans migrated there in the 1840s over the Oregon Trail. read more