Since the first settlements of Englishmen in the American colonies, Americans have believed in American exceptionalism. This belief centers on the idea that America is special and unique, and that America was destined to be great. Many Americans today still hold to this ideal, and throughout our collective history America (and Americans) have justified and explained their actions through this notion of destined greatness. For this paper, you will be exploring one period of American history and examining how the idea of American exceptionalism shaped the way Americans viewed their territorial expansion during the 19th century (1800s). John O’Sullivan, a newspaper editor, is assumed to have coined the phrase, Manifest Destiny, to describe this combination of expansion westward and ideas of exceptionalism.
1) explain American expansion in terms of Manifest Destiny, then
2) analyze the impact of American expansion and Manifest Destiny on various peoples who experienced it
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