Manifest destiny was a term used to describe the belief in the 1840’s in the inevitable territorial expansion of the United States. People who believed in manifest destiny maintained that the United States should rule all North America because of U.S. economic and political superiority, because the U.S. population was growing rapidly, and because it was God’s will that the United States should do so. The phrase was first used in 1845 by John L. O’Sullivan in an article on the annexation of Texas. The spirit of manifest destiny was revived at the end of the 1800’s, during and after the Spanish-American War (see Spanish-American War ). See also United States, History of the (Expansion (1820-1849)) .
