Course Details
971: Manifest Destiny and US Expansion
July 8-12
9:45 AM -
11:15 AM
In-Person
Manifest destiny was the 19th-century belief that the US should expand to the Pacific. This study group will emphasize Indian land seizure; the LA Purchase; the War of 1812; the acquisition of Florida, Oregon, and Hawaii; Texas annexation and the US-Mexican War; filibustering expeditions; and the Spanish-American War. Was expansion motivated by mission, land lust, or both? Were Indians, Mexicans, and the buffalo just in the way? How did manifest destiny relate to the Monroe Doctrine? Was the US justified in seizing half of Mexico in 1848? Why did a young Ulysses Grant later say it was "a wicked war"? How did conflicts over slavery play a role? What were the roles of Lincoln, Jefferson, Jackson, Tyler, Polk, Henry Clay, Theodore Roosevelt, and others?
Class Type: Lecture and Discussion
Class Format: In-Person
Hours of Reading: Less than 1 hour/session
Study Group Leader(s):
Joe BeldenJoe Belden is of Mexican ancestry, lives part-time in Mexico, and has led other OLLI study groups.
Reading List:
A Wicked War: Polk, Clay, Lincoln, & the 1846 US Invasion of Mexico (Amy Greenberg) | 2013: Vintage Books | ISBN: 978-030747599 | RecommendedManifest Destiny and American Territorial Expansion: A Brief History with Documents (Bedford Series (Amy Greenberg) | 2017: Bedford/St. Martin's; Second edition | ISBN: 978-131908794 | Recommended
Manifest Destiny: American Expansion & the Empire of Right (Anders Stephanson) | 1996: Hill and Wang; First Edition | ISBN: 978-080901584 | Recommended
The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America (Greg Grandin) | 2020: Metropolitan Books | ISBN: 978-125021485 | Recommended