... future. Indeed, some of the more ambitious migrants were even hostile to U.S. expansion, for they longed for a western republic of their own. Ultimately, Americans who traveled west did not ascribe to the idea of the United States’ Manifest Destiny but instead were seeking their own individual destinies...

... factions used geographic and spatial arguments not only to support and condemn varied expansionist visions, but also to justify disunion and secession. © 2017 by the Pacific Coast Branch, American Historical Association 2017 expansion secession manifest destiny territory space geography...

... western settlers themselves. The notion of manifest destiny reflects few of these complexities. The authors argue that manifest destiny was a partisan idea that emerged in a context of division and uncertainty intended to overawe opponents of expansion. Only in the early twentieth century, as the United...