I was concerned by what I heard our president say during his inaugural speech on Monday in reference to Manifest Destiny. I was particularly concerned because he used this concept while referencing his designs on the Panama Canal, Greenland, and he specifically mentioned Manifest Destiny with his plans for the planet Mars.
The concept and application of Manifest Destiny attempts to cover a host of transgressions by believing we have a God-given right to take what is not rightfully ours and eradicating those who stand in our way. I researched Chat GPT for a short history of the abuses of Manifest Destiny, just to refresh myself about what I learned so very long ago. Mind you, I was not taught the abuses of Manifest Destiny in school because I grew up in a time when America could do no wrong. I learned, over time, the reality of the ugly American past and in which our nation had broken countless treaties and committed genocide which many on the far right now want to omit historical fact and hide.
The concept of Manifest Destiny, the 19th-century belief that the United States was destined to expand its territory across North America, has been associated with several historical actions and policies that many now consider unjust or criminal. While these actions were often framed as inevitable progress at the time, they led to significant harm to indigenous peoples, other nations, and marginalized groups. Here are the main categories of crimes and injustices linked to Manifest Destiny:
1. Displacement and Genocide of Indigenous Peoples
• Forced Removal: Policies like the Indian Removal Act of 1830 led to the forced relocation of Native American tribes from their ancestral lands, most infamously through the Trail of Tears, during which thousands of Native Americans died.
• Land Theft: Indigenous lands were seized without fair treaties or compensation, violating existing agreements and the sovereignty of tribes.
• Genocide and Violence: Armed conflicts such as the Indian Warsand massacres like those at Wounded Knee resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Indigenous people.
• Cultural Erasure: Efforts to assimilate Native Americans through forced schooling, bans on cultural practices, and suppression of languages can also be seen as crimes against humanity.
2. War and Imperialism
• Mexican-American War (1846–1848): Driven by Manifest Destiny, this war resulted in the U.S. annexing a significant portion of Mexico’s territory (modern-day California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and more) through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Many view this as an act of imperialism, with the war itself being provoked under questionable pretenses.
• Annexation of Texas: The annexation of Texas in 1845, a precursor to the Mexican-American War, involved disputes over borders and challenges to Mexico’s sovereignty.
3. Exploitation and Enslavement
• Expansion of Slavery: The push to expand U.S. territory also expanded slavery into new regions, exacerbating the exploitation of enslaved African Americans. Debates over whether new territories would allow slavery contributed to tensions leading to the Civil War.
• Exploitation of Workers: As new territories developed, many marginalized groups, including Chinese immigrants, Mexican laborers, and freed African Americans, were exploited for labor, often under harsh conditions.
4. Environmental Exploitation
• Manifest Destiny often involved the unregulated exploitation of natural resources, such as deforestation, overhunting (e.g., the near-extinction of bison), and mining practices that devastated ecosystems and indigenous ways of life.
5. Racism and Cultural Supremacy
• Manifest Destiny was fueled by the belief in white supremacy and the notion that European Americans had the right to dominate and “civilize” other peoples. This ideology justified numerous acts of violence, discrimination, and systemic oppression.
These actions and their justifications under Manifest Destiny are now widely studied as part of the darker side of American history, highlighting the human and moral costs of expansionism.
OpenAI. (2025). What Crimes are Associated with Manifest Destiny.
-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL
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