Manifest Destiny Pacific Northwest

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To the early Pioneer, the West was a far off place that no one person could truly define. Filled to the brim with lush forests and overarching mountains, the Pacific Northwest had a significantly different feel to it than its Southern and Eastern counterparts. The Pacific Northwest, sequestered behind large mountain ranges and deep forestry could, to the early pioneer, seem rather daunting and a surefire way to become disconnected from the rest of the world. The call of new territory would quell any such fears. Slowly, as time went on the Pacific Northwest would eventually expand into what it is today, an environmentalist hub with an underlying tension between progression and history. It would be remiss to speak about the West without first …show more content…
John O’Sullivan had coined the phrase “Manifest Destiny” in 1839, where he blatantly stated that no one had the right, or the will, to impede upon the right of Americans to expand. The articles written by him in the Democratic Review showcase the overall thinking of Americans at that point in time. This ideology would spell disaster for Native Americans, considering that it promoted the aggressive overtaking of their lands. The successful nature of the overtaking would create and sustain an ideology that would carry itself into the present. Westward expansion, in this case, would create and sustain the philosophy of Manifest Destiny; which in turn influenced the way the American Government conducted (and still does to an extent) business both internationally and …show more content…
Children would often be told about the Oregon Trail, about the trials and tribulations settlers had to face when trying to move to their new home, but never anything else. The popular image of the American West is that of a pioneer, a John Wayne type of Cowboy who saves the day. Romanticized to a significant degree, it becomes difficult to separate the truth from the fiction. The glamorized story is the one that is more accepted due to its simplicity. The West, in reality, is not a story of good triumphing over evil, of the average Joe saving the day. It’s rather a story of conquest, of differing ideals and religions clashing in one place. The West, with its diverse populace of American Settlers, Chinese-American settlers, Mexican settlers, African Americans, etc., had become a place fraught with tension. The West, in my opinion, represents diversity and its history showcases a situation wherein lack of communication and an inflated sense of superiority can and will escalate a situation. The history of the American West and its impact on the present day is rather interesting. For all of its diverse populace, many areas are somewhat segregated. It’s interesting to note as well how much of areas that used to be predominantly black or Asian are slowly, but surely, becoming much more white. This racial tension has and perhaps will always be
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