Manifest Destiny — Social Studies definition
A historically situated justification for U.S. territorial expansion, not proof of inevitability.
Where it is taught
- Westward Expansion, Manifest Destiny & Contested Land — Expansion, Slavery & Reform, U.S. & New York History: Indigenous Nations to Reconstruction, Grade 7
- Territorial Expansion, Indigenous Sovereignty & Removal — Expansion, Slavery, Civil War & Reconstruction, United States History & Government: Colonial Foundations to the Early 21st Century, Grade 11
In use
The phrase Manifest Destiny was coined by a newspaper editor, John O'Sullivan, in 1845, arguing it was America's obvious fate to overspread the continent.
Westward Expansion, Manifest Destiny & Contested Land