In the mid-nineteenth century, newspaper editor John O'Sullivan coined the term 'manifest destiny' to describe the belief that God intended for the United States to occupy North America from Atlantic to Pacific.
Explanation:
Overview
Manifest Destiny was the idea that white Americans were divinely ordained to settle the entire continent of North America.
The ideology of Manifest Destiny inspired a variety of measures designed to remove or destroy the native population.
US President James K. Polk (1845-1849) is the leader most associated with Manifest Destiny.
Manifest Destiny inflamed sectional tensions over slavery, which ultimately led to the Civil War.
The major purpose of Spanish and Portuguese voyages of exploration were establishing sea routes to the Indies to make profits from trade. The seafaring exploration led to the discovery by Europeans of the Americas which was not the initial purpose of the voyages.
