Manifest Destiny

According to Heidler & Heidler (2003) Manifest Destiny is defined as the 19^th century American notion about the United States being designated to expand through the North American continent, to the Pacific Ocean right from the Atlantic Seaboard. In the 1840s, Manifest Destiny was very important for Democrats for the justification of war with Mexico but after the mid-19^th century this concept was stigmatized by Whigs like John C. Calhoun, Abraham Lincoln, and Henry Clay, since they wanted to deepen the economy instead of broadening its expanse. The advocates of Manifest Destiny felt that expansion was wise, plain and inexorable hence the words manifest and destiny and therefore was used in giving support to Polk Administration's expansion plans. Woodrow Wilson and Abraham Lincoln expounded the notion in an American mission to boost and defend democracy in the whole world (Heidler & Heidler, 2003).  

The idea of Manifest Destiny was all about the destiny of the United States to take over the whole of the whole of North America from the Atlantic Seaboard to the Pacific. This idea was as well referred to as territorial expansion and was the most divisive issue within the American politics. Most of the world viewed territorial expansion positively, even if some politicians believed it negated the constitution (Heidler & Heidler, 2003). The strict constructionists opposed territorial expansion, whereas loose constructionists believed that this expansion was the destiny of the United States.  Strict constructionists focused their platform about the fact that there was no time the constitution ever directly stated that the federal government could acquire land (Posner, 2008).

Loose constructionists viewed the constitution liberally and continue to claim that the right of expansion fell under the implied powers of the nation. Loose and strict constructionists are the primary divisive factor for the political parties of the United States: the Whigs and the democrats. Due to manifest Destiny, North American continent was divided by borders into today's contiguous United States.