Sharon Marie Brunner

Manifest Destiny Sharon Marie Brunner

Manifest Destiny: A Legacy of Genocide presents a revolutionary view behind how one unique cultural perspective led to centuries of genocide. Kidnapping, murders, poisoning of the environment and disease deci-mated millions of Native Americans. Their food sources reduced considerably and forced to live on useless plots of land to perish, while their children faced many forms of abuse at the hands of outsiders. The building of the United States in its entirety came at a high cost for the Native Americans. The phrase "Manifest Destiny" made its public debut in an article written by John L. O'Sullivan published in the Democratic Review in the July and August issues in 1845. The phrase referred to the western expansion of what is currently known as the United States and the expansion considered prearranged by the divine. The European immigrants were the beneficiaries. The concept O'Sullivan advocated took hold of the American public like a storm. The ideals promoted by "Manifest Destiny" held true before he brought it to public attention. From when Europeans first stepped foot on the land currently referred to as North America to the present, it has been the belief that white settlers owned the land and all its resources from sea to shining sea without consideration given to the original inhabitants.