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Message: 28th Principle--The United States has a manifest destiny
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28th
Principle
The United States has a manifest
destiny to be an example and a
blessing to the entire human race.
Principle
The United States has a manifest
destiny to be an example and a
blessing to the entire human race.
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All historians agree that a most singular and important
feature of the settlers of America was their overpowering
sense of mission -- a conviction that they were taking part in
the unfolding of a manifest destiny of divine design which
would shower its blessings on all mankind. As historian John
Fiske writes:
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"They believed that they were doing a wonderful
thing. They felt themselves to be instruments in
accomplishing a kind of "manifest destiny." Their exodus
[from Europe] was that of a chosen people who were at
length to lay the everlasting foundations of God's
kingdom upon earth.... This steadfast faith in an unseen
ruler and guide was to them a pillar of cloud by day and
of fire by night. It was of great moral value. It gave them
clearness of purpose and concentration of strength, and
contributed towards making them, like the children of
Israel, a people of indestructible vitality and aggressive
energy." (Fiske, The Beginnings of New England, pp. 30,
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This sense of manifest destiny has continued from that
day to this and will be found expressed in nearly all of the
inaugural addresses given by the presidents of the United
States.
"They believed that they were doing a wonderful
thing. They felt themselves to be instruments in
accomplishing a kind of "manifest destiny." Their exodus
[from Europe] was that of a chosen people who were at
length to lay the everlasting foundations of God's
kingdom upon earth.... This steadfast faith in an unseen
ruler and guide was to them a pillar of cloud by day and
of fire by night. It was of great moral value. It gave them
clearness of purpose and concentration of strength, and
contributed towards making them, like the children of
Israel, a people of indestructible vitality and aggressive
energy." (Fiske, The Beginnings of New England, pp. 30,
-
This sense of manifest destiny has continued from that
day to this and will be found expressed in nearly all of the
inaugural addresses given by the presidents of the United
States.
-
However, it is extremely important to distinguish
between a sense of mission and the spirit of perverted
chauvinism associated with the idea of "racial superiority."
The former is a call to exemplary leadership and service. The
latter is the arrogant presumption of a self-appointed role to
conquer and rule. The distinction between the two is readily
perceived in the writings of the Founders. For example, John
Adams wrote:
However, it is extremely important to distinguish
between a sense of mission and the spirit of perverted
chauvinism associated with the idea of "racial superiority."
The former is a call to exemplary leadership and service. The
latter is the arrogant presumption of a self-appointed role to
conquer and rule. The distinction between the two is readily
perceived in the writings of the Founders. For example, John
Adams wrote:
-
"I always consider the settlement of America with
reverence and wonder, as the opening of a grand scene
and design in Providence for the illumination of the
ignorant, and the emancipation of the slavish part of
mankind all over the earth." (Quoted in Conrad Cherry,
God's New Israel, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.,
-
Thomas Jefferson looked upon the development of
freedom under the Constitution as "the world's best hope,"
and wrote to John Dickinson in 1801 that what had been
accomplished in the United States "will be a standing
monument and example for the aim and imitation of the
people of other countries." (Bergh, Writings of Thomas
Jefferson, 10:217.)
"I always consider the settlement of America with
reverence and wonder, as the opening of a grand scene
and design in Providence for the illumination of the
ignorant, and the emancipation of the slavish part of
mankind all over the earth." (Quoted in Conrad Cherry,
God's New Israel, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.,
-
Thomas Jefferson looked upon the development of
freedom under the Constitution as "the world's best hope,"
and wrote to John Dickinson in 1801 that what had been
accomplished in the United States "will be a standing
monument and example for the aim and imitation of the
people of other countries." (Bergh, Writings of Thomas
Jefferson, 10:217.)
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It was not uncommon for the Founders to stress the
responsibility which had been placed upon them to perform a
mighty task. As John Adams wrote from England while the
Constitution was in preparation:
It was not uncommon for the Founders to stress the
responsibility which had been placed upon them to perform a
mighty task. As John Adams wrote from England while the
Constitution was in preparation:
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"The people of America have now the best
opportunity and the greatest trust in their hands that
Providence ever committed to so small a number."
(Koch, The American Enlightenment, p. 257.)
Alexander Hamilton emphasized the same point as the
Constitution was presented to the people for their approval.
He wrote:
"The people of America have now the best
opportunity and the greatest trust in their hands that
Providence ever committed to so small a number."
(Koch, The American Enlightenment, p. 257.)
Alexander Hamilton emphasized the same point as the
Constitution was presented to the people for their approval.
He wrote:
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"It has been frequently remarked that it seems to
have been reserved to the people of this country, by their
conduct and example, to decide the important question,
whether societies of men are really capable or not of
establishing good government from reflection and
choice, or whether they are forever destined to depend
for their political constitutions on accident and force."
(The Federalist Papers, No. 1, p. 33.)
"It has been frequently remarked that it seems to
have been reserved to the people of this country, by their
conduct and example, to decide the important question,
whether societies of men are really capable or not of
establishing good government from reflection and
choice, or whether they are forever destined to depend
for their political constitutions on accident and force."
(The Federalist Papers, No. 1, p. 33.)
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Failure Considered Treason Against the World
He went on to say that if the people of the United States
failed in this mission, it would operate to "the general
misfortune of mankind." (Ibid.) John Adams later stated that
if the people abandoned the freedom gained by the adoption
of the Constitution, it would be "treason against the hopes of
the world." (Koch, The American Enlightenment, p. 367.)
John Jay Considers America to Be a Providential Blessing
Failure Considered Treason Against the World
He went on to say that if the people of the United States
failed in this mission, it would operate to "the general
misfortune of mankind." (Ibid.) John Adams later stated that
if the people abandoned the freedom gained by the adoption
of the Constitution, it would be "treason against the hopes of
the world." (Koch, The American Enlightenment, p. 367.)
John Jay Considers America to Be a Providential Blessing
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After the task of structuring a constitutional government
had been completed for the first free people in modern times,
one of the Founders, John Jay, thought he saw in it a
manifestation of divine approbation which was too obvious to
be denied. He wrote.
After the task of structuring a constitutional government
had been completed for the first free people in modern times,
one of the Founders, John Jay, thought he saw in it a
manifestation of divine approbation which was too obvious to
be denied. He wrote.
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"It has often given me pleasure to observe that
independent America was not composed of detached and
distant territories, but that one connected, fertile, widespreading
country was the portion of our western sons
of liberty. Providence has in a particular manner blessed
it with a variety of soils and productions and watered it
with innumerable streams for the delight and
accommodation of its inhabitants. A succession of
navigable waters forms a kind of chain round its
borders, as if to bind it together; while the most noble
rivers in the world, running at convenient distances,
present them with highways for the easy communication
of friendly aids and the mutual transportation and
exchange of their various commodities."
John Jay continued:
"It has often given me pleasure to observe that
independent America was not composed of detached and
distant territories, but that one connected, fertile, widespreading
country was the portion of our western sons
of liberty. Providence has in a particular manner blessed
it with a variety of soils and productions and watered it
with innumerable streams for the delight and
accommodation of its inhabitants. A succession of
navigable waters forms a kind of chain round its
borders, as if to bind it together; while the most noble
rivers in the world, running at convenient distances,
present them with highways for the easy communication
of friendly aids and the mutual transportation and
exchange of their various commodities."
John Jay continued:
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"With equal pleasure I have often taken notice that
Providence has been pleased to give this one connected
country to one united people -- a people descended from
the same ancestors, speaking the same language,
professing the same religion, attached to the same
principles of government, very similar in their manners
and customs, and who, by their joint counsels, arms,
and efforts, fighting side by side throughout a long and
bloody war, have nobly established their general liberty
and independence."
"With equal pleasure I have often taken notice that
Providence has been pleased to give this one connected
country to one united people -- a people descended from
the same ancestors, speaking the same language,
professing the same religion, attached to the same
principles of government, very similar in their manners
and customs, and who, by their joint counsels, arms,
and efforts, fighting side by side throughout a long and
bloody war, have nobly established their general liberty
and independence."
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He then concluded as follows:
He then concluded as follows:
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"This country and this people seem to have been
made for each other, and it appears as if it was the
design of Providence that an inheritance so proper and
convenient for a band of brethren, united to each other
by the strongest ties, should never be split into a
number of unsocial, jealous, and alien sovereignties."
(The Federalist Papers, No. 2, p. 38.)
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Jay's estimate of the unique blessing of the land they
had inherited proved correct. The Founders felt that
ultimately their boundaries would extend to the western sea,
as several of the original colonial charters had provided.
When this had been accomplished, the vast Mississippi
drainage basin, extending as it does from the Rockies in the
west to the Appalachians in the east, turned out to be the
most fertile and productive piece of real estate on this planet.
"This country and this people seem to have been
made for each other, and it appears as if it was the
design of Providence that an inheritance so proper and
convenient for a band of brethren, united to each other
by the strongest ties, should never be split into a
number of unsocial, jealous, and alien sovereignties."
(The Federalist Papers, No. 2, p. 38.)
-
Jay's estimate of the unique blessing of the land they
had inherited proved correct. The Founders felt that
ultimately their boundaries would extend to the western sea,
as several of the original colonial charters had provided.
When this had been accomplished, the vast Mississippi
drainage basin, extending as it does from the Rockies in the
west to the Appalachians in the east, turned out to be the
most fertile and productive piece of real estate on this planet.
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