How did the idea of Manifest Destiny help shape American society during the 1830s and 1840s? What ...

Students will note the origins of Manifest Destiny in the original Puritan view of their mission in America. Better students will also tie Manifest Destiny to the Jeffersonian ideal of yeoman farmers. Still others will see the ties between Manifest Destiny and the Second Great Awakening and see a moral imperative in westward expansion to spread American institutions across the continent. As to the concrete effects, students should be able to describe the dispute over Oregon, the Texas Revolution, Polk's 1844 campaign and the Mexican-American War as some of the more obvious results of the belief in Manifest Destiny.