11)
on manifest destiny, by john l. o'sullivan, 1839
the american people having derived their origin from many other nations, and the declaration of national independence
being entirely based on the great principle of human equality, these facts demonstrate at once our disconnected position as
regards any other nation; that we have, in reality, but little connection with the past history of any of them, and still less with
all antiquity, its glories, or its crimes. on the contrary, our national birth was the beginning of a new history, the formation
and progress of an untried political system, which separates us from the past and connects us with the future only, and so far
as regards the entire development of the natural rights of man, in moral, political, and national life, we may confidently
assume that our country is destined to be the great nation of futurity.
sullivan is suggesting that the united states
a)
will not be truly free without abolition.
b)
must have a social revolution to become great.
is meant to expand across the continent and become extraordinary.
is a nation built on historically successful political practices, guaranteed to
succeed.