Menu
Idea

Manifest Destiny

104
Filter by:

Filter by published date

Viewing 31–60 of 104 results. Go to first page

The Myth of the American Frontier

Greg Grandin’s new book charts the past and present of American expansionism and its high human costs.
by Jedediah Britton-Purdy via The Nation on April 1, 2019
'Hanging of the San Patricios following the Battle of Chapultepec' by Samuel E. Chamberlain

During the Mexican-American War Irish-Americans Fought for Mexico in the 'Saint Patrick's Battalion'

Anti-Catholic sentiment in the States gave men like John Riley little reason to continue to pay allegiance to the stars and stripes.
by Francine Uenuma via Smithsonian on March 15, 2019

When the Frontier Becomes the Wall

What the border fight means for one of the nation’s most potent, and most violent, myths.
by Francisco Cantú via The New Yorker on March 4, 2019

The Alamo Is a Rupture

It’s time to reckon with the true history of the mythologized Texas landmark—and the racism and imperialism it represents.
by Raúl A. Ramos via Guernica on February 19, 2019
American Progress painting by John Gast.

Getting Out of the White Settlers’ Way

Re-telling the arrival of settlers on the prairie.
by Andrew Klumpp via U.S. Intellectual History Blog on January 31, 2019
Painting of cavalry with swords drawn heading into U.S.-Mexico War battle.

American Extremism Has Always Flowed from the Border

Donald Trump says there is “a crisis of the soul” at the border. He is right, though not in the way he thinks.
by Greg Grandin via Boston Review on January 9, 2019
Aerial view of a fortress in Puerto Rico.

Telling the History of the U.S. Through Its Territories

“How to Hide an Empire,” explores America far beyond the borders of the Lower 48.
by Daniel Immerwahr, Anna Diamond via Smithsonian on January 1, 2019
Lithograph of John Winthrop.
partner

What We Get Wrong About ‘A City on Hill’

And why we need to rediscover its real meaning.
by Daniel T. Rodgers via Made By History on November 13, 2018

The Visionary John Wesley Powell Had a Plan for Developing the West, But Nobody Listened

Powell’s foresight might have prevented the 1930s dust bowl and perhaps, today’s water scarcities.
by John F. Ross via Smithsonian on July 3, 2018
Uncle Sam standing at center, gesturing to the left toward American soldiers boarding ships to return to America after defeating the Spanish in the Philippines, and gesturing to the right toward a group of matronly women, one labeled "Daughters of the Revolution", who have just arrived to educate the peoples of the Philippines.

The Left's Embrace of Empire

The history of the left in the United States is a history of betrayal.
by Lyle Jeremy Rubin via The Nation on March 28, 2018

From Yosemite to Bears Ears, Erasing Native Americans From U.S. National Parks

150 years after Yosemite opened to the public, the park's indigenous inhabitants are still struggling for recognition.
by Hunter Oatman-Stanford via Collectors Weekly on January 26, 2018
1884 map of land surrendered by the Cherokee Nation to colonial and U.S. governments from 1721 to 1835.

Cherokee Removal and the Trail of Tears

A primary source set and teaching guide created by educators.
by Nancy Schurr via Digital Public Library of America on September 18, 2017
original

Excremental Empire

John Gregory Bourke’s "Scatalogic Rites of All Nations" and the American West.
by Benjamin Breen on September 8, 2017
Lewis and Clark expedition, with Sacagawea whitened out in the center.

How The West Was Wrong: The Mystery Of Sacagawea

Sacagawea is a symbol for everything from Manifest Destiny to women’s rights to American diversity. Except we don't know much about her.
by Natalie Shure via BuzzFeed News on October 11, 2015

What Was the Confederate Flag Doing in Cuba, Vietnam, and Iraq?

The Confederate flag’s military tenure continued long after the Civil War ended.
by Greg Grandin via The Nation on July 7, 2015
Black Democrats raise their hands at the Democratic Convention.

23 Maps That Explain How Democrats Went From the Party of Racism to the Party of Obama

The longest-running party in America has seen significant shifts in its ideological and geographic makeup.
by Andrew Prokop via Vox on December 8, 2014
John Quincy Adams
partner

Are You Not Large and Unwieldy Enough Already?

John Quincy Adams challenges the idea of an expanding American frontier. 
by Andrew C. Isenberg via HNN on April 23, 2025
Engraving by Samuel de Champlain of himself and his Algonquin allies attacking the Iroquois.

An Expanding Vision of America

Major new books about the peoples who lived in North America for millennia before the arrival of Europeans are reshaping the history of the continent.
by Nicole Eustace via New York Review of Books on March 6, 2025
"American Progress" painting by John Gast, 1872.

Reconsidering Expansion

Historians question "expansion" as the defining process of U.S. growth, proposing alternative terms like "empire" and "settler colonialism."
by Rachel St. John via Teaching American History on August 20, 2024
Boys at Kamloops Indian Residential School, probably before the 1920s.

We Must Not Forget What Happened to the World’s Indigenous Children

Thousands of Indigenous children suffered and died in residential ‘schools’ around the world. Their stories must be heard.
by Steve Minton via Aeon on July 21, 2023
Illustration of the Battle of Little Big Horn.

The True History of 'Custer's Last Stand'

We're talking about the Battle of Little Bighorn all wrong.
by Olivia B. Waxman via TIME on June 25, 2023
Cormac McCarthy.

Cormac McCarthy’s Unforgiving Parables of American Empire

He demonstrated how the frontier wasn’t an incubator of democratic equality but a place of unrelenting pain, cruelty, and suffering.
by Greg Grandin via The Nation on June 21, 2023
A painting of the signing of the Treaty of Ghent.

The Treaty of Ghent: Annotated

The Treaty of Ghent ended the War of 1812, an oft overlooked conflict that continues to shape the politics and culture(s) of North America.
by Liz Tracey via JSTOR Daily on December 23, 2022
Map of Chicago Grid

Settler Colonialism in Chicago: A Living Atlas

The city of Chicago was built upon the settler colonial dispossession of Indigenous peoples and lands. That history of this conflict continues into the present.
by Andrew Herscher via Rampant on October 10, 2022

Why So Many Guns on Christmas Cards? Because Jesus was ‘Manly and Virile.’

Muscular Christianity — with scriptural interpretations that can favor “stand your ground” over “turn the other cheek” — has a long tradition in the U.S.
by Peter Manseau via Washington Post on December 14, 2021
Antiquated image of two Indigenous people, against the backdrop of a settlement.

What Slavery Looked Like in the West

Tens of thousands of Indigenous people labored in bondage across the western United States in the 1800s.
by Kevin Waite via The Atlantic on November 25, 2021
Unaccompanied children in a train station

Novel Transport

The anatomy of the “orphan train” genre.
by Kristen Martin via Lapham’s Quarterly on November 1, 2021
Statue of missionary Marcus Whitman in a park.
partner

The Nomination of Chuck Sams to Lead the Park Service is Already Changing History

The NPS is working with Cayuse historians and students to correct a historical lie that shaped the West.
by Blaine Harden via Made By History on October 18, 2021
Afghan children standing in rubble
partner

Invading Other Countries to ‘Help’ People Has Long Had Devastating Consequences

For more than a century, U.S. wars of invasion have claimed a humanitarian mantle.
by Joel Zapata via Made By History on September 10, 2021
A cracked picture of Washington crossing the Delaware River.

The Incoherence of American History

We ascribe too much meaning to the early years of the republic.
by Osita Nwanevu via The New Republic on August 11, 2021
View More
30 of
104

Filter Results:

Suggested Filters:

Idea

Person

brought to you by
© Bunk History