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Week 7 Discussion: Manifest Destiny
FACT: FACT: From the birth of the nation in 1776, to the U.S. war on terrorism in the wake of the attacks on September 11th, 2001, a sense of mission has often been part of American foreign policy. Manifest Destiny was one expression of that sense of mission, except that it had a domestic focus. John L. O’Sullivan coined the term in 1839 when he said that Americans had both a right and a moral obligation to move West. The term MANIFEST is defined as “something obvious”, so the term Manifest Destiny then means our OBVIOUS destiny to expand. O’Sullivan included a providential design into his definition, which the U.S. Government picked up on and used it to justify land dispossession of Native Americans.
DIRECTIONS
STEP 1: ANSWER THE FOLLOWING 3 QUESTIONS IN ONE MAIN POST USING AT LEAST 200 WORDS.
QUESTION #1: Discuss the attached painting “American Progress” by John Gast. How does this painting illustrate the idea of Manifest Destiny? (Refer to specific elements of the painting)
QUESTION #2: What specific territories did the United States add, from which country did we get them, and why did our country feel justified in taking these actions in our push west?
QUESTION #3: Do we see elements of Manifest Destiny in U.S. Government actions today in monitoring unfriendly activity around the world?
STEP 2: PICK 2 CLASSMATES TO WHOM YOU WILL LEAVE RESPONSE POSTS USING THE SANDWICH FORMAT (EXPLAINED BELOW). RESPOND TO EACH CLASSMATE WITH A MINIMUM OF 75 WORDS PER RESPONSE.
(AGAIN, each of you are required to make a total of THREE posts…ONE main post at least 200 words long, and TWO additional posts of at least 75 words each responding to two of your classmates.)
- Remember that the word count for your Main Post must be at least 200 words.
- Remember that your word count for the responses is at least 75 words per post. Also, remember the three-part “sandwich” format:
- Start with a compliment to the classmate who left the Main Post
- Add in some new facts/observations of your own
- End with a question or two back to the original classmate