Frederick Merk

Manifest Destiny and Mission in American History: A Reinterpretation is a book written by Frederick Merk, an American historian. The book is a reinterpretation of the concept of Manifest Destiny, which is the belief that it was the destiny of the United States to expand its territory and spread its values across the North American continent. Merk argues that the concept of Manifest Destiny was not just about territorial expansion, but also about spreading American values and institutions, such as democracy and capitalism, to other parts of the world. The book is divided into three parts. The first part provides an overview of the concept of Manifest Destiny and its historical context. The second part examines the role of religion in the concept of Manifest Destiny, arguing that it was often used to justify American expansionism. The third part looks at the impact of Manifest Destiny on American foreign policy, particularly in the 20th century. Merk's reinterpretation of Manifest Destiny challenges traditional views of American history and foreign policy. He argues that the concept of Manifest Destiny was not just a justification for territorial expansion, but also a belief in the superiority of American values and institutions. This belief, according to Merk, has had a profound impact on American foreign policy, shaping the country's actions and attitudes towards other nations. Overall, Manifest Destiny and Mission in American History: A Reinterpretation is a thought-provoking and insightful book that offers a new perspective on a key concept in American history. It is a must-read for anyone interested in American history, foreign policy, and the role of ideology in shaping national identity. This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

Before this book first appeared in 1963, most historians wrote as if the continental expansion of the United States were inevitable. “What is most impressive,” Henry Steele Commager and Richard Morris declared in 1956, “is the ease, the simplicity, and seeming inevitability of the whole process.” The notion of inevitability, however, is perhaps only a secular variation on the theme of the expansionist editor John L. O’Sullivan, who in 1845 coined one of the most famous phrases in American history when he wrote of “our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions.” Frederick Merk rejected inevitability in favor of a more contingent interpretation of American expansionism in the 1840s. As his student Henry May later recalled, Merk “loved to get the facts straight.”—From the Foreword by John Mack Faragher