**Manifest Destiny** was the belief that the United States had a divine responsibility to expand westward. It was romanticized as American exceptionalism, bringing the light of civilization to the so-called unsettled lands through settlements, missionaries, and industrial progress, as depicted in *American Progress* by John Gast. In reality, it was a period marked by violence, wars between factions and homesteads, and the genocide of Native Americans—embodied by Judge Holden in *Blood Meridian* by Cormac McCarthy.
I_Wanted_This on
*hitler taking notes very seriously*
RosewovenGlow on
History textbooks could never capture how dark and twisted Manifest Destiny actually was for so many.
CockchopsMcGraw on
Good book. Not a nice book.
Current_Emenation on
MKes me think that every empire has a collective narrative for the beneficial expansion of Us at the expense of Them…
Long_John-Grey on
Was Judge Holden based on a real person from American history?
conkerguru on
Manifest Destiny is one of my most used examples in support of my belief that the vast majority of the world’s problems, throughout history and into the modern age, are thanks to religion.
Woden-Wod on
and it was beautiful…
SemajLu_The_crusader on
perspectiveÂ
Sir-Toaster- on
There’s something so draconian and archaic thinking about American citizens in a house sipping lemonade and celebrating genocide
seanrm92 on
Most settlers were perfectly aware of the violent reality of Manifest Destiny. Back then, Americans were a lot more open about describing the nation as an “empire”, and that they were vanquishing the “savage Indians”. They were also a lot more open about eugenics, slavery, ethnic cleansing, and so on. They thought it was good. (In fact, this is somewhat depicted in that very painting.)
It was post-facto revisionism that made it sound rosey, as exemplified by that cringey School House Rock song.
Main-Investment-2160 on
Neither of these are really the truth with it though. Just two fictionalized accounts of the chaos of the frontier. Neither are really even close to the truth in practice.Â
For the colonists it was indeed a promise fulfilled of free lands and escape from the chaos and warfare of 19th century Europe as they found promised wealth and self sufficiency in the west.Â
For the natives it was an inexorable tide of doom which they couldn’t hope to stop marching coast to coast in a crashing wave that upended their way of life, stole their lands, and pushed them into reservations.Â
Most settlers never killed an Indian, and most indians never faced a massacre, but most settlers also didn’t care when Indians were massacred, since they were seen as their enemy, and likewise I don’t think any Indian particularly feels bad about the Sioux riding along and butchering homesteads.Â
Manifest destiny was no unique moral event in the course of world history. It was no different to the Bantu migration, or the Mongol conquests of Eurasia, or various Turkic expansions.Â
It’s only because the United States imagines itself as a uniquely moral country that the counter narrative to manifest destiny thinks of it as a uniquely evil invasion/migration.Â
_mogulman31 on
Manifest Destiny wasn’t special. It was basically the MO of every powerful nation state in human history to expand its territory by conquering less technologically advanced societies. Life is encoded with a desire to expand and become more resilient by evolution, and much of human behavior, especially on the macro level, is just a manifestation of a few fundamental laws of nature.
In a way, humans are divinely inspired to expand and grow their civilizations. God may not exist in the way the Christian Americans of the time believed, but God does very much exist as a representation of those things we do not yet understand and those things that lie beyond what we will ever be able to understand.
What is the purpose of life, to multiply and avoid extinction. Where did that purpose come from; it is an emergent property of biology. Where does biology come from; it is an emergent phenomenon from chemistry. Where does chemistry come from; it is an emergent phenomenon of the particle physics underlying the cosmos. Where does the cosmos come from? God, not in the sense of any of the nieve creation myths people put far too much faith in, but some unknowable truth about why there should be anything rather than nothing.
Blade_Shot24 on
Show the whole painting to get a better picture. Even in the cut image it shows native running from the pink terror
TiberiusGemellus on
He’s still dancing.
Drag0n_TamerAK on
You cropped out the part in the above photo where it shows the natives reacting as if it’s the second photo
16 Comments
**Manifest Destiny** was the belief that the United States had a divine responsibility to expand westward. It was romanticized as American exceptionalism, bringing the light of civilization to the so-called unsettled lands through settlements, missionaries, and industrial progress, as depicted in *American Progress* by John Gast. In reality, it was a period marked by violence, wars between factions and homesteads, and the genocide of Native Americans—embodied by Judge Holden in *Blood Meridian* by Cormac McCarthy.
*hitler taking notes very seriously*
History textbooks could never capture how dark and twisted Manifest Destiny actually was for so many.
Good book. Not a nice book.
MKes me think that every empire has a collective narrative for the beneficial expansion of Us at the expense of Them…
Was Judge Holden based on a real person from American history?
Manifest Destiny is one of my most used examples in support of my belief that the vast majority of the world’s problems, throughout history and into the modern age, are thanks to religion.
and it was beautiful…
perspectiveÂ
There’s something so draconian and archaic thinking about American citizens in a house sipping lemonade and celebrating genocide
Most settlers were perfectly aware of the violent reality of Manifest Destiny. Back then, Americans were a lot more open about describing the nation as an “empire”, and that they were vanquishing the “savage Indians”. They were also a lot more open about eugenics, slavery, ethnic cleansing, and so on. They thought it was good. (In fact, this is somewhat depicted in that very painting.)
It was post-facto revisionism that made it sound rosey, as exemplified by that cringey School House Rock song.
Neither of these are really the truth with it though. Just two fictionalized accounts of the chaos of the frontier. Neither are really even close to the truth in practice.Â
For the colonists it was indeed a promise fulfilled of free lands and escape from the chaos and warfare of 19th century Europe as they found promised wealth and self sufficiency in the west.Â
For the natives it was an inexorable tide of doom which they couldn’t hope to stop marching coast to coast in a crashing wave that upended their way of life, stole their lands, and pushed them into reservations.Â
Most settlers never killed an Indian, and most indians never faced a massacre, but most settlers also didn’t care when Indians were massacred, since they were seen as their enemy, and likewise I don’t think any Indian particularly feels bad about the Sioux riding along and butchering homesteads.Â
Manifest destiny was no unique moral event in the course of world history. It was no different to the Bantu migration, or the Mongol conquests of Eurasia, or various Turkic expansions.Â
It’s only because the United States imagines itself as a uniquely moral country that the counter narrative to manifest destiny thinks of it as a uniquely evil invasion/migration.Â
Manifest Destiny wasn’t special. It was basically the MO of every powerful nation state in human history to expand its territory by conquering less technologically advanced societies. Life is encoded with a desire to expand and become more resilient by evolution, and much of human behavior, especially on the macro level, is just a manifestation of a few fundamental laws of nature.
In a way, humans are divinely inspired to expand and grow their civilizations. God may not exist in the way the Christian Americans of the time believed, but God does very much exist as a representation of those things we do not yet understand and those things that lie beyond what we will ever be able to understand.
What is the purpose of life, to multiply and avoid extinction. Where did that purpose come from; it is an emergent property of biology. Where does biology come from; it is an emergent phenomenon from chemistry. Where does chemistry come from; it is an emergent phenomenon of the particle physics underlying the cosmos. Where does the cosmos come from? God, not in the sense of any of the nieve creation myths people put far too much faith in, but some unknowable truth about why there should be anything rather than nothing.
Show the whole painting to get a better picture. Even in the cut image it shows native running from the pink terror
He’s still dancing.
You cropped out the part in the above photo where it shows the natives reacting as if it’s the second photo