What started Manifest Destiny in the United States?

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

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

It started with the founding of the United States and the Pilgrims on Plymouth Rock. They set out to make their own destiny, to build a world in the manner they wanted it. Now people had been trying to colonize the Americas for some time, but the native population would easily kick their butts. The Pilgrims had good timing, though. read more