Manifest Destiny in 1804?
Stumbled across this while on my occasional hunt to find a rare Boulevard Beer Lewis and Clark sign I spotted at restaurant once. It’s nice to see that the spirit of Manifest Destiny is alive and well in the arts and crafts community. “This listing is for an 6.25 x 10.5″ unmatted, unframed print of the Territorial Development of the United States from 1776 to 1866 with the saying Manifest Destiny and people who made that idea possible.” I assume this item is supposed to be celebratory. I’m not so sure the problem is that the creator doesn’t fully grasp the concept of Manifest Destiny. Instead, I’m more disturbed that s/he doesn’t realize how synonymous the term is with Indian extermination policies, the belief in God given superiority, or any of the other nuanced problems the concept poses. On top of that, with pictures of Lewis, Clark, Washington, and Jefferson, s/he completely got the timing of their history wrong. Poor form all around.
I sent the poster a kindly worded email urging them to remove the listing. A bit of one-on-one public history if you will.
The Sardonic Historian 