The belief that American control of the land that stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific was inevitable and divinely sanctioned. Because of this culturally arrogant conviction, American policy makers had few scruples about displacing Native Americans, Mexicans, and other groups inhabiting the land from the Great Plains to California.

America's mandate to expand and to conquer (also destiny).

The American White man's belief that it was inevitable that he would expand to the Pacific. It was his destiny, regardless of the consequences.

A mid 19th-century belief in the inevitability of United States expansion to the Pacific Ocean.

A phrase coined in 1845 to describe the overriding philosophy held by the American people and government during the 19th century that westward expansion to the Pacific was an inevitable and necessary federal policy. Such imperialistic expansion was seen as benevolent and inescapable, for if the land was not taken and "put to use" for some profit, then it was being wasted. For the most part, Native American land and water rights, environmental conditons, and the natural limits of the land were disregarded.

A common belief in the 19th century that the United States of America was destined by divine will to control North America from ocean to ocean.

Manifest destiny was the belief of nineteenth-century Americans that their nation's territorial expansion was inevitable and ultimately a good thing, even for those being conquered. This conviction helped Americans justify the aggressive acquisition of new territories in the 1840s and later in the 1890s.

Belief of the government of the United States that it was destined to rule the continent from coast to coast; led to annexation of Texas and Mexican-American War. (p. 767)

Manifest Destiny is a phrase that expressed the belief that the United States was destined to expand from the Atlantic seaboard to the Pacific Ocean; it has also been used to advocate for or justify other territorial acquisitions. Advocates of Manifest Destiny believed that expansion was not only good, but that it was obvious ("manifest") and certain ("destiny"). It was originally a political catch phrase or slogan used by Democrats in the 1845-1855 period, and rejected by Whigs and Republicans of that era.