Manifest Destiny Trivia Quiz

Answer: John O'Sullivan

John O'Sullivan, a newspaper editor, had no intention of "coining" a phrase. He authored an article in 1845 championing the annexation of Texas, and declared that the spread of republican democracy and Christianity was America's manifest destiny. O'Sullivan declared, "the fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions."

The phrase took hold. The American population in 1800 was about 5 million, and by 1850 it had exploded to 23 million. Manifest Destiny can also be linked to the Monroe Doctrine, which warned European countries of involvement in the Americas.

Answer: Tenskwatawa

Tenskwatawa told all Native Americans who would listen that the Great Spirit has given the land to them, not to the whites, "who were a mere foulness that had washed up from the waters to the East." Many thousands did listen. They built a new town in Indiana Territory and called it Tippecanoe or Prophetstown. It became the largest settlement on the western frontier.

Tenskwatawa's brother, Tecumseh, was busy forming a confederation of other Native American tribes to bring a halt to settler expansion. In 1811 while Tecumseh was away on a recruiting trip, American forces under the command of William Henry Harrison attacked and burnt Tippecanoe to the ground.

Answer: New Madrid, Missouri

The New Madrid earthquakes were seen by some Native leaders as proof that Tenskwatawa and his brother Tecumseh were right, that the Great Spirit was angry that so many Natives had sold their land. The settlers also invoked the heavens and felt that God was punishing those who didn't sell their land.

The series of 3 earthquakes and aftershocks in 3 straight months spread fear and confusion among the Native American community. Fields, crops, and entire farms were wiped out. The quakes had an influence on the people's thoughts about Manifest Destiny. Many settlers may have felt unsafe and decided to move further west, thus pushing expansion westward. Native communities may have become more difficult to uproot.

Answer: Cherokee

Sequoyah's syllabary was a double-edged sword. It gave the Cherokee a valuable tool, enhanced communication, and spread the ideal of literacy, but in doing so it decreased the role of traditional authority within the Native community.

Literacy among Native Americans was seen to be as bad as literacy among African Americans. A main argument for Manifest Destiny was the inability of these other cultures to assimilate. The development of a common language among Native Americans was seen by whites to be dangerous because it made them more difficult to control.

Answer: John Ross

John Ross was the son of a white man and a Cherokee woman. He spent most of his life fighting for the rights of Cherokee people. Chief Ross was left with no choice but to sign the Treaty of New Echota. He realized that it was futile to fight. The U.S. Government was offering $5 million dollars, free land in the Oklahoma Territory, and numerous other incentives.

Many Cherokees refused to obey the treaty and remained on their ancestral lands. Their descendants can be found there today. With the passage of the Indian Removal Act Chief Ross was forced to lead his people on a 700 to 1200-mile-long journey to Oklahoma Territory that became known as the "Trail of Tears". The "Trail of Tears" was the forced removal of 5 Native American tribes - Cherokee, Chickasaw, Creek, Seminole, and Choctaw. Estimates differ, but approximately 60,000 people were removed resulting in the deaths of over 5,000 Cherokee alone.

Answer: The Battle of Bad Axe

The Battle of Bad Axe on August 1-2, 1832, was the concluding battle of the Black Hawk War. Despite his desire to stand by his band at the Bad Axe River, in the end Black Hawk, Wabokieshiek, and their families escaped north on foot and hid near modern Tomah, Wisconsin. They remained there until discovered by a Ho-Chunk hunter who helped them surrender to the whites days after the massacre at Bad Axe.

Black Hawk was the leader of a band that refused forced removal, like many others. Early on August 2, the remaining Sauk attempted to cross the Mississippi River. U.S. troops, who had arrived on the bluffs overnight, attacked them from behind. The steamboat "Warrior" returned to the scene about 10:00 a.m, firing its cannon. Warriors and the nearly starved non-combatants - men, women and children - were indiscriminately massacred on the shore, in the wetlands, and while trying to swim or canoe across the Mississippi. Most of the few who made it across were hunted down and killed by Sioux warriors acting at the request of U.S. officers.

The Black Hawk War was just another example of the push westward.

Answer: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

In early 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed, establishing the Rio Grande (and not the Nueces River) as the U.S.-Mexican border. Under the treaty, Mexico recognized the U.S. annexation of Texas and agreed to sell California and the rest of its territory north of the Rio Grande for $15 million.

The treaty was signed by Nicholas Trist, the Chief Clerk of the State Department, on behalf of the United States, and Luis G. Cuevas, Bernardo Couto, and Miguel Atristain as plenipotentiary representatives of Mexico.

Answer: False

False. James K. Polk was a staunch supporter of Andrew Jackson. He was a firm believer in Manifest Destiny, and led the United States into war with Mexico. The outcome of that war expanded the United States to the Pacific Ocean.

Answer: Seminole

Spain formally ceded Florida to the United States in 1821, according to terms of the Adams-Onís Treaty. As soon as the U. S. acquired Florida, it began urging the Indians there to leave their lands and relocate along with other southeastern tribes to Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma. These refusals resulted in three wars with the Seminoles.

The first took place when Florida was still owned by Spain. It took place in 1817-1818, and occurred because the Seminoles in northern Florida gave safe haven to escaped slaves. U.S. forces under General Jackson invaded Spanish Florida, and pushed the Seminoles in to central Florida. The Treaty of Payne's Landing, signed by a small number the of Seminoles in May 1832, required them to give up their Florida lands within three years and move west. When the U.S. Army arrived in 1835 to enforce the treaty, the Indians were ready for war.

The Second Seminole War (1835-1842) was one of the fiercest wars waged by the U.S. government against American Indians. This war took place in central and southern Florida, where the Seminole had a distinct advantage. Over the 7 years the U.S. sent seven commanding generals, all of whom failed to defeat Osceola and the Seminoles. Thousands of soldiers died from malaria. Osceola eventually surrendered. Ultimately over 3,800 Seminole people were rounded up at the cost of 30 to 40 million dollars - all in the name of Manifest Destiny.

A Third Seminole War broke out in 1855, when conflicts over land arose between whites and some Seminoles who had remained in Florida. Military patrols and rewards for the capture of Native Americans reduced the Seminole population to about 200 by the time the war ended in 1858.

Answer: his "red children"

Jackson constantly referred to the white man as "fathers to their red children".
In a letter addressed to the Creek Indians dated March 23, 1829, Jackson wrote, "You know I love my white and red children, and always speak straight, and not with a forked tongue; that I have always told you the truth."

In another letter, this to John Pitchlynn (Official U.S. Interpreter to the Chocktaw Indians), dated August 5, 1830, Jackson wrote, "I feel conscious of having done my duty to my red children and if any failure of my good intention arises, it will be attributable to their want of duty to themselves, not to me."

In his annual address to Congress in December 1830 Jackson spoke about the progress that had been made concerning the removal of Native American tribes. He stated, "It gives me pleasure to announce to Congress that the benevolent policy of the Government, steadily pursued for nearly thirty years, in relation to the removal of the Indians beyond the white settlements is approaching to a happy consummation." He went on to say that removal would "incalculably strengthen the southwestern frontier," and enable the Native Americans to pursue happiness "under their own rude institutions", "to cast off their savage habits and become an interesting, civilized, and Christian community."