Manifest Manhood and the Antebellum American Empire [Paperback]

This book documents the potency of Manifest destiny in the antebellum era.This history of American territorial expansionism in the middle decades of the 19th century provides a new analysis of the forces driving and justifying the annexation of foreign territories by the United States. This is the first history of Manifest Destiny that places it in the context of transformations in gender ideology and ideals of manhood and womanhood at home. As Americans debated the propriety of taking new lands by force of arms, they disclosed their concerns about changes in the economy, and about the way American men and women should behave.This history of American territorial expansionism in the middle decades of the 19th century provides a new analysis of the forces driving and justifying the annexation of foreign territories by the United States. This is the first history of Manifest Destiny that places it in the context of transformations in gender ideology and ideals of manhood and womanhood at home. As Americans debated the propriety of taking new lands by force of arms, they disclosed their concerns about changes in the economy, and about the way American men and women should behave.The U.S.-Mexico War (1846-1848) brought two centuries of dramatic territorial expansionism to a close, and apparently fulfilled America's Manifest Destiny. Or did it? Even as politicians schemed to annex new lands in Latin America and the Pacific, other Americans aggressively pursued expansionism independently. In fact, an epidemic of unsanctioned attacks by private American mercenaries (known as filibusters) occurred between 1848 and 1860 throughout the Western Hemisphere. This book documents the potency of Manifest Destiny in the antebellum era, and analyzes imperial lust in the context of the social and economic transformations that were changing the definition of gender in the U.S. Amy S. Greenberg is Associate Professor of History and Women's Studies at Pennsylvania State UniversilCZ