The primary motive of Western Conquest

RANK	MANIFEST DESTINY ROOTS	ESTIMATED INFLUENCE	EVIDENCE OF IMPACT / MOTIVES & JUSTIFICATIONS
1	ECONOMIC OPPORTUNISM	PRIMARY DRIVER	• "Aspiration for economic gain" disguised as religious mission Manifest Destiny: The American Dream or an Ecological Crisis? – Emerging Perspectives on Religion and Environmental Values in America • Homestead Act distributed 270 million acres (10% of US land) The Doctrine of Discovery, Manifest Destiny, and American Exceptionalism \| Challenging Christian Hegemony • Land speculation and resource extraction drove expansion • Gold rushes and agricultural opportunities • Railroad construction and industrial expansion
2	WHITE NATIONALISM	CORE JUSTIFICATION	• American Anglo-Saxon race was "separate, innately superior" Manifest destiny - Wikipedia • "Inferior races were doomed to subordinate status or extinction" Manifest destiny - Wikipedia • Justified slavery and segregation • United poor and wealthy whites around racial identity • Made violence against non-whites acceptable
3	AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM	NATIONAL MYTHOLOGY	• Assumption of "unique moral virtue of United States" Manifest destiny - Wikipedia • America seen as having "special and unique destiny" from God Manifest Destiny \| Encyclopedia.com • Made expansion seem inevitable and righteous • Distinguished US imperialism from "corrupt" European colonialism • Opposition portrayed as un-American
4	PURITAN "CHOSEN PEOPLE"	FOUNDATIONAL FRAMEWORK	• Biblical themes "mirrored and reflected in American concept of manifest destiny" The Bible and Manifest Destiny - Bible Odyssey • Puritans as "new Israelites," North America as "new Promised Land" Manifest Destiny \| Encyclopedia.com • Provided religious vocabulary and precedent • Made conquest a sacred duty • Silenced religious objections
5	RELIGIOUS PRIDE	MORAL COVER	• Niebuhr: "claiming divine sanction and believing your religion makes you superior" Manifest Destiny: The American Dream or an Ecological Crisis? – Emerging Perspectives on Religion and Environmental Values in America • Christianity used as "veil to justify actions" Manifest Destiny: The American Dream or an Ecological Crisis? – Emerging Perspectives on Religion and Environmental Values in America • Transformed conquest into sacred duty • Made opposition seem blasphemous • Justified cultural genocide as salvation
6	PROTESTANT WORK ETHIC	CULTURAL VALIDATION	• Genesis 1:28 to "subdue and rule" land Manifest Destiny: The American Dream or an Ecological Crisis? – Emerging Perspectives on Religion and Environmental Values in America • Undeveloped land seen as sinful waste • "Improvement" of land as religious duty • Justified taking "unused" Native lands • Made industriousness a moral virtue
7	ROMANTIC NATIONALISM	EMOTIONAL APPEAL	• Expansion as "self-evident" destiny needing no proof The Religious Origins of Manifest Destiny \| National Humanities Center • Glory of frontier conquest and "winning the West" • Created popular enthusiasm for expansion • Made opposition seem unpatriotic • Frontier mythology in literature and art
8	COLONIAL PRECEDENTS	LEGAL/INSTITUTIONAL BASIS	• English charters nearly identical to papal bulls for expeditions to "heathen lands" ‘Because the Bible tells me so’: Manifest Destiny and American Indians • Doctrine of Discovery embedded in law • Provided legal framework for dispossession • Court decisions upheld conquest rights • International law accepted discovery claims
9	CULTURAL IMPERIALISM	CIVILIZING MISSION	• Native traditions viewed as "inferior or misguided" The Blogs: The Biblical Basis for Manifest Destiny \| Ed Gaskin \| The Times of Israel • Mission schools motto: "Kill the Indian, save the man" The Blogs: The Biblical Basis for Manifest Destiny \| Ed Gaskin \| The Times of Israel • Justified forced assimilation • Destruction of indigenous languages/cultures • Boarding schools and cultural erasure
10	RACIAL ANXIETY	DEMOGRAPHIC FEARS	• Fear of being outnumbered or "replaced" by non-whites • Expansion necessary to maintain white dominance • Birth rate concerns and immigration fears • Justified exclusion acts and quotas • Paranoia about racial mixing
11	ENLIGHTENMENT REPUBLICANISM	POLITICAL IDEALISM	• Mission to spread republican government and "American way of life" Manifest destiny - Wikipedia • Democracy portrayed as highest form of civilization • Justified overthrowing "despotic" governments • Made monarchies and tribal systems seem backward • Contradicted by support for slavery
12	SACRED-SECULAR FUSION	RHETORICAL STRATEGY	• "Combines religion, freedom, and patriotic duty to spread democratic republicanism" Manifest Destiny: The American Dream or an Ecological Crisis? – Emerging Perspectives on Religion and Environmental Values in America • Unified diverse motivations under single banner • Made criticism difficult • Appeals to multiple constituencies • Masked material interests with idealism
13	CIRCULAR LOGIC	SELF-REINFORCEMENT	• Destiny was "manifest" (self-evident) needing no proof The Religious Origins of Manifest Destiny \| National Humanities Center • Success proved divine favor which justified more conquest • Each victory "confirmed" chosen status • Defeats explained as tests of faith • Created unstoppable momentum
14	MORAL INVERSION	PSYCHOLOGICAL MECHANISM	• Violence reframed as civilizing mission • Genocide portrayed as salvation • Actions "contrary to traditional religious morals" justified Manifest Destiny: The American Dream or an Ecological Crisis? – Emerging Perspectives on Religion and Environmental Values in America • Victims blamed for their own destruction • Aggression portrayed as self-defense

KEY OBSERVATIONS

Economic motives were primary - "aspiration for economic gain" was the real driver, with ideology providing justification Manifest Destiny: The American Dream or an Ecological Crisis? – Emerging Perspectives on Religion and Environmental Values in America
Racial ideology provided unity - White nationalism united diverse European immigrant groups and justified extreme violence
Religious language declined over time - Strong biblical justifications (1630-1850) were replaced by racial "science" after 1850
Multiple justifications worked together - Economic opportunism drove action while racism, religion, and nationalism provided overlapping justifications
Success reinforced ideology - Each territorial gain "proved" the righteousness of the cause, creating self-fulfilling prophecy