Daniel J. Burge, "A Failed Vision of Empire: The Collapse of Manifest Destiny, 1845-1872" (U Nebraska Press, 2022)

New Books in American Studies · May 30, 2022 · 1h 35m

Ask you average high school student or undergraduate about nineteenth century US history and if nothing else, they likely know the phrase "manifest destiny." The idea that the United States was destined, even pre-ordained, to construct a continent-spanning nation is widely assumed to have been a motivating force in American political life in during the pre-Civil War era, and is similarly thought to have largely come to fruition. Not so, argues Dr. Daniel Joseph Burge, research coordinator and associate editor at the Kentucky Historical Society. In A Failed Vision of Empire: The Collapse of…