Annotated Bibliography

O’Sullivan, John L. Annexation. United States Magazine and Democratic Review 17, no.1 (July-August 1845): 5-10. Web. 16 Apr. 2010
http://web.grinnell.edu/courses/HIS/f01/HIS202-01/Documents/OSullivan.html
O’Sullivan wrote this paper as a result of the ongoing political battle when deciding if Texas was to be admitted into the Union as a new state. In it, O’Sullivan started with a very nice and political tone talking about the struggle over the annexation of Texas. Then he moved on to explain the various reasons why Texas was already “supposed” to be considered of American domain. O’Sullivan writing is very powerful in the sense that it tries to avoid the real reasons why Texas even separated from Mexican government, and it makes the acquisition of the territory seem righteous as if a greater force had already set this event in motion therefore the term “destiny”. Also, in this document O’Sullivan used the term “Manifest Destiny” for the first time which is historically and rhetorically significant since shortly thereafter Texas became a U.S. state.

Sampson. Robert D. John L. O’Sullivan and His Times. Kent State University Press, 2003. The portions I’ve used from this excellent book mainly gave me some of the personal background I needed to understand from John L. O’Sullivan so I would be able to analyze his writings and relate the ideals he shared from his time period. I found some interesting facts about him, for example that her mom helped fund the acquisition of the first newspaper where O’Sullivan started writing columns from a settlement against the United States government. Also I’ve understood at some extend why did O’Sullivan suddenly disappear from American history even though his ideologies proved resonant during his time. Basically, I used this source to have a better perspective of O’Sullivan’s life in general not just as a democratic political journalist.

O’Sullivan, John L. The Great Nation of Futurity. TeachingAmericanHistory.org. Web. 15 Apr. 2010 http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=668
This manifesto written by John L. Sullivan triggered the movement or ideology that has become known as manifest destiny. Basically, Sullivan starts out by outlining the different values the American nation were founded upon such as liberty, democracy and such. The introductory paragraph is an ovation to the foundation of the U.S. as a nation and that it had diverged from “older” ways of thinking and oppressive types of government that completely separated America from European history. His main claim was that the United States had several unique and good qualities that made it the chosen nation to spread goodness throughout the new continent. He praises the American political system and its people and therefore creates a vision of a perfect nation under the American values while it also describes the probable consequences of pursuing such perfect nation. At some points he justifies the future action the U.S. people would take in order to accomplish what he denominated as the American project. This document serves therefore as the basis of his concept that he would later brand as Manifest Destiny.

David and Jeanne Heidler, Manifest Destiny
Heidler, David S. Heidler, Jeanne T. Manifest Destiny. Greenwood Press, 2003. Print
This book served as a major contributor to the historical background I offered in my dissertation. It relates American expansionism from the early 19th century, all the way to the concept of Manifest Destiny and its latter effects such as the acquisition of California and New Mexico from the Mexican-American War. The great thing about this source is that it dealt more directly with the interpretation of history as it gave various perspectives around the same issues that has troubled recent works concerning this difficult time period. For the sake of this summary, I used the chapter where it deals with Polk’s crusade to provoke the Mexican-American war to accomplish the later “purchase” of the California and New Mexico territory from Mexico.

Youngberg, Quentin. "Morphology of Manifest Destiny: The Justified Violence of John O'Sullivan, Hank Morgan, and George W. Bush." Canadian Review of American Studies 35.3 (2005): 315-333. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 26 Apr. 2010
This article relates American expansionism through violence to the concept of Manifest Destiny and its historical roots. That is, the author explains how such a concept as the “divine” selection for America to expand its dominion throughout the continent emanated from religious influence of early colonists, such as the Puritans. He offers an interesting analysis of the strategies O’Sullivan seemed to use to justify his ideal for American expansion even at the cost of brute dominion over weaker groups of people. He also discusses the significance such concept has been applied in recent issues such as George W. Bush war against terrorism.