Today Many Americans Would Regard the Idea of a Divinely

question 93

Essay

Today many Americans would regard the idea of a divinely ordained "manifest destiny" to expand across North America as presumptuous or dangerous.Why was the American outlook so different in the 1840s? How did Americans reconcile such aggressive expansion with their belief in democracy and liberty?

---

Definitions:

Resource Demand

The demand for resources (inputs) required to produce goods and services, influenced by changes in output and productivity.

Purely Competitive

A market structure characterized by a large number of small firms, homogenous products, free entry and exit, and perfect information, leading to firms being price takers.

Marginal Revenue Product

The additional income yielded by deploying one more unit of a component, for instance, labor or capital.

Economic Resource

An asset that is used in the production of goods and services, including natural, human, and capital resources.