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Tag Archives: John L. O’Sullivan

“Sorry, Chancellor Merkel”

30 Wednesday Oct 2013

Posted by michelinewalker in United States

≈ 18 Comments

Tags

9/11, Chancellor Merkel, George W Bush, John L. O'Sullivan, President Obama, Sally Hemings, spying, The Manifest Destiny, Thomas Jefferson, trust

Angela Merkel and Barack Obama

Angela Merkel and Barack Obama

504px-John_O'Sullivan
  

The Manifest Destiny

  
John L. O’Sullivan, (15 November 1813 – 24 March 1895) sketched in 1874, was an influential columnist as a young man, but he is now generally remembered only for his use of the phrase “manifest destiny” to advocate the annexation of Texas and   Oregon. (See Manifest Destiny, Wikipedia.)
  

Micheline is sad, says Belaud the cat. She is sad because she does not think President Obama knew to what extent practices, proponents of the “Manifest Destiny” would have allowed, were used by United States President George W. Bush.  

She also thinks that, in all likelihood, abusive surveillance continued after Barack Obama was elected President of the United States because he did not know the US was listening in on the entire world, including its friends. We need to trust at least a few persons and nations, which fully explains Chancellor Merkel’s reaction. President Obama knew he had to protect his people, but may not have been aware that the NSA (National Security Agency) was monitoring Chancellor Merkel’s mobile telephone.

“Now Micheline” I said, “you know very well that people hear what they want or wish to hear and that the manner in which a message is understood depends largely on the way it is formulated. He may not have known.” 

“Manifest Destiny”

The term “Manifest Destiny” was coined by John O’Sullivan in the July-August 1845 issue of his United States Magazine and Democratic Review and, according to William Earl Weeks,[i] quoted in Wikipedia, its three themes were the following:

  1. The special virtues of the American people and their institutions;
  2. America’s mission to redeem and remake the world in the image of America;
  3. A divine destiny under God’s direction to accomplish this wonderful task.

Thomas Jefferson

Founding father Thomas Jefferson (13 April 1743 – 4 July 1826) was a proponent of the “Manifest Destiny.” Yet, he owned hundreds of slaves and fathered six children with slave Sally Hemings (c. 1773 – 1835). Four survived to adulthood, at which point they were freed. Sally Hemings was of mixed ancestry and the children were “seven-eighths European in ancestry” and white in appearance. (See Sally Hemings, Wikipedia.)  But he did not free Sally Hemings. She would have been auctioned off, had Jefferson’s daughter, Martha Washington Jefferson Randolph, not freed her.

George W. Bush

I also told Micheline that, although former US President George W. Bush (born July 6, 1946) adhered, knowingly or unknowingly, to the concept of the “Manifest Destiny” (see Manifest Destiny, Wikipedia), after the events of 9/11, former President G. W. Bush may have felt very distraught which could have led him to enter Iraq, a sovereign country. He was the President of the United States, its Commander-in-Chief, the US had been attacked by terrorists, and he had been influenced by the “Manifest Destiny.” 

And now we have learned that former President G. W. Bush did not know how far he could go too far. He let the NSA (National Security Agency) monitor the telephones of allies of the United States. If an individual adheres to the notions set forth in the “Manifest Destiny,” there is a risk that individual will not know that his or her rights end where the rights of others begin.  

President George W. Bush may not have been as great a president as Thomas Jefferson, but I’m quite certain he will never be made to answer for his actions. All is right under the mantle of the “Manifest Destiny,” which is why Micheline fears the notion of exceptionalism. 

Conclusion

“Don’t worry, Micheline, President Obama will do all that is needed to regain the confidence of his allies. Yes, some people will use this opportunity to fault him, but it will not work.  Too large a number of United States citizens will see the truth. What is really sad, Micheline, is that we have extremists right here who threaten Canadian unity.” 

Remember McCarthyism

“The term McCarthyism, coined in 1950 in reference to Joseph McCarthy‘s practices, was soon applied to similar anti-communist activities. Today the term is used more generally in reference to demagogic, reckless, and unsubstantiated accusations, as well as public attacks on the character or patriotism of political opponents.” (See Joseph McCarthy, Wikipedia.)

The bottom line, Belaud said, is that one can fully expect citizens who insist on carrying firearms also to monitor their friend’s telephone conversations.

RELATED ARTICLES

  • The “Manifest Destiny” & the News (michelinewalker.com)
  • Le Devoir, 29 October 2013 (FR)
______________________________
[i] Weeks, William Earl, Building the continental empire: American expansion from the Revolution to the Civil War (Ivan R. Dee, 1996).
 
The Little Drummer Boy, by William Morris Hunt, 1862
Photo credit: Wikipedia
 
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Manifest Destiny

 
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29 October 2013
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The “Manifest Destiny” & the News

18 Sunday Nov 2012

Posted by michelinewalker in United States

≈ Comments Off on The “Manifest Destiny” & the News

Tags

CNN, George W Bush, Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, John L. O'Sullivan, Le Monde diplomatique, Manifest Destiny, National Post, United States

American westward expansion is idealized in Emanuel Leutze’s famous painting Westward the Course of Empire Takes its Way (1861). (Photo credit: Wikipedia) (please click on the picture to enlarge it)

Emanuel Leutze (24 May 1816 – 18 July 1868)

 

The Manifest Destiny

 (please click on the picture to enlarge it) 

John L. O’Sullivan as he appeared on the cover of Harper’s Weekly in November 1874. O’Sullivan was then attending a conference in Geneva that sought to create a process of international arbitration in order to prevent wars.

In the middle of the nineteen century a concept developed that supported the notion that the US had the right to expand and that expansion was “prearranged by Heaven.”[i]  The term “Manifest Destiny” was coined by John L. O’Sullivan (15 November 1813 – 24 March 1895), in the July–August 1845 issue of the Democratic Review.  In an article entitled Annexation, O’Sullivan advocated the annexation of Texas and, later, he would also advocate the annexation of the Oregon Country.

In the mid-nineteenth century, Americans used “Manifest Destiny” to justify expansion, at any cost, beyond Louisiana Territory.

And that claim is by the right of our manifest destiny to overspread and to possess the whole of the continent which Providence has given us for the development of the great experiment of liberty and federated self-government entrusted to us.*

*(Manifest Destiny, Wikipedia)
 

States’ Rights

John O’Sullivan was also an advocate of States’ Rights.  It was his view that “the presidency had become too powerful and that states’ rights needed to be protected  against encroachment by the central government.” (Manifest Destiny, Wikipedia)

The Indian Removal Act (1830)

What stood in the way of “Manifest Destiny” was slavery.  John Quincy Adams (11 July 1767 – 23 February 1848), the sixth President of the United States (1825–1829), had adhered to the notion of “Manifest Destiny,” but he opposed expanding slavery.  Andrew Jackson (15 March 1767 – 8 June 1845), his successor, was a slave-owner who supported slavery and played a role in the Indian removal.  The Indian Removal Act (1830)[ii] was signed into law on 26 May 1830 and forced thousands of Indians living East of the Mississippi River to relocate West of the Mississippi River to Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory.

(please click on the picture to enlarge it)

The Indian Removal Act

The Divine Right of Kings

“Manifest Destiny” reminds me of the doctrine of the divine right of kings.  In the mind of Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet (born 25 Sept.  1627, Dijon, Fr.—died 12 April 1704, Paris), arguably the most eloquent preacher in the history of France, kings were accountable to God only.

According to Wikipedia “[t]he belief in an American mission to promote and defend democracy throughout the world, as expounded by Abraham Lincoln and later by Woodrow Wilson and George W. Bush, continues to have an influence on American political ideology.”[iii]

The News

English
The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/
The Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
The Globe and Mail: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/ 
Le Monde diplomatique: http://mondediplo.com/ EN
 
CNN News: http://www.cnn.com/
CBC News: http://www.cbc.ca/news/ 
 
French
Le Monde: http://www.lemonde.fr/
Le Monde diplomatique: http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/
Le Devoir: http://www.ledevoir.com/
 
German
Die Welt: http://www.welt.de/
 
_________________________ 
[i] Frederick Merk, Manifest Destiny and Mission in American History: A Reinterpretation (New York: Knopf, 1963; reprinted Harvard University Press, 1995)
[ii]The Indian Removal Act and the Dawes Act http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~mille22c/classweb/american/dawesact.htm
[iii] National Humanities Center
http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/nineteen/nkeyinfo/mandestiny.htm 
 
 
 
© Micheline Walker
November 18th, 2012
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From Coast to Coast: the Oregon Country

18 Friday May 2012

Posted by michelinewalker in Canada, History, United States

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Columbia District, Emanuel Leutze, John L. O'Sullivan, John Quincy Adams, Manifest Destiny, Monroe Doctrine, Oregon Country, United State

 Westward the Course of Empire Takes its Way (1861)

American westward expansion is idealized in Emanuel Leutze‘s famous painting Westward the Course of Empire Takes its Way (1861). The title of the painting, from a 1726 poem by Bishop Berkeley, was a phrase often quoted in the era of Manifest Destiny, expressing a widely held belief that civilization had steadily moved westward throughout history. (Wikipedia: Manifest Destiny)

Photo credit: Wikipedia

We will now see Canada moving quickly from the Act of Union (1840-1841) to Confederation (1867).  Why this sudden rush?

Manifest Destiny

In 1845, John L. O’Sullivan (15 November 1813 – 24 March 1895), a journalist, coined the term “Manifest Destiny” in an article published in the Democratic Review. In this article, he favoured the annexation of Texas, not so much for the purpose of territorial expansion as for moral reasons. In the same article, he also promoted the annexation of the Oregon Country.

The term Oregon Country referred to the ownership of Pacific Northwest. It included Fort Vancouver, Fort Victoria and other forts which Simon Fraser (North West Company [NWC]) and other fur-traders and explorers had travelled. The northern part of what was called the Oregon Country and later the Columbia district had been reached by land with the help of voyageurs and Amerindians, and the Hudson’s Bay Company owned part of that land which it used for fur-trading purposes. On the map below, one can see the “disputed area.”

The Oregon Country

(please click on the map to enlarge it)

The Monroe Doctrine

Under James Monroe (28 April 1758 – 4 July 1831) and John Quincy Adams (11 July 1767 – 23 February 1848), the author of the Monroe Doctrine (2 December 1823), and perhaps emboldened by the Louisiana Purchase (1803), some Americans started to believe that they were destined, as quoted above, “to establish on earth the moral dignity and salvation of man.” In particular, Americans were to go Westward.

In 1811, John Quincy Adams (11 July 1767 – 23 February 1848), who would be the sixth President of the United States (1625 -1629), wrote to his father that:

The whole continent of North America appears to be destined by Divine Providence to be peopled by one nation, speaking one language, professing one general system of religious and political principles, and accustomed to one general tenor of social usages and customs. For the common happiness of them all, for their peace and prosperity, I believe it is indispensable that they should be associated in one federal Union.

Canada’s position

Such an ideology may have been perceived as an impediment to British expansion Westward and, eventually, to Confederation, which would unite Canada’s provinces. Sir Alexander Mackenzie was the first European to cross North America north of Mexico. Credit is also due American-born Canadian explorer Simon Fraser (20 May 1776 – 18 August 1862 [NWC]). He had travelled down the Fraser river and reached the Pacific. The British were therefore in the Oregon Country and had claims to the territory.

The Treaty of 1818

“resolved standing boundary issues between the two nations, and allowed for joint occupation and settlement of the Oregon Country, known to the British and in Canadian history as the Columbia District of the Hudson’s Bay Company, and including the southern portion of its sister for district New Caledonia.” (Wikipedia: Treaty of 1818)

The Hudson’s Bay Company had not been in a hurry to see this territory settled.  However, there were US settlers arriving in the Oregon Country. As a result, in 1841, James Sinclair, of the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), took Red River Colony settlers west from Fort Garry. This was an attempt to retain Columbia District as part of British North America. He chose to guide twenty-three families to the Columbia district. The group consisted of one hundred twenty-one people.

“Most of the families were of mixed-race (Métis) and were headed by men who were well-known to Sinclair and who were capable hunters, well-suited to living off the land; while on the trail and as pioneers in Oregon Country.”  (Wikipedia: James Sinclair)

The Oregon Treaty of 1846

It was a brave effort on Sinclair’s part, but only Métis were able to make so difficult and lenghty a journey as could his Métis families. At any rate, eight years later, in 1849, under the terms of the Oregon Treaty, Britain “ceded all claims to land south of the 49th parallel” to the United States, except for Vancouver Island and little coastal islands that became the Colony of Vancouver Island.

Ten years later, because of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, British citizens fearing American expansionism founded the Colony of British Columbia. The two British colonies were amalgamated in 1866 as the United Colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia.”  (Wikipedia: Oregon Country)

In short, one could now settle in the United Colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia, but how could one get there? One obstacle, the Monroe Doctrine, had been circumvented, but another obstacle remained: getting across the Rocky Mountains: 800-km wide.

Text of the Oregon Treaty. PDF

Towards Confederation …

When Confederation was achieved, in 1867, the border remained unchanged and Canada now extended from sea to sea.  However, travelling from sea to sea or moving to what is now British Columbia was well-nigh impossible. The Panama Canal had not been built. Building started in 1880 but was not completed until 1914. You might remember that John Jacob Astor (The American Fur Trade Company) asked Gabriel Franchère, to take voyageurs from New York City to Fort Astoria, at the mouth of the Columbia river, on the Tonquin. They travelled around Cape Horn (c. 1811).  Canada would need a railway so settlers could reach the West Coast.

—ooo—

Let me pause by stating that the Fathers of Confederation knew about the Monroe Doctrine and that they did fear active expansionism on the part of the US. In fact, I do not fully understand why the United States let the northern part of the Oregon Country go to Britain and ultimately to Canada. Obviously, there was good will on the part of both parties and I believe that eventually both parties were winners, except that the disputed land was being taken from Amerindians.

 
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The Oregon Treaty

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