Dominion from Sea to Sea is a very in depth look at the American dream or belief in manifest destiny.
As I read these 3 chapters though, I am having problems piecing everything together because Cumings jumps around from different time periods so hopefully all of it makes sense (my notesJ) I keep having to change my whole thought process- not easy for me J
Cumings begins by trying to define what the “west” is and how its boarders have changed so drastically over time. The east is cultured and refined with much of the same characteristics as Europe. The west is uncivilized and wild, yet it is seen by the newcomers as a way to break free and move farther from their European roots. The west is like a never ending conquest – maybe I should say that moving west is a never ending conquest. We began on the east coast and slowly the boarders of what is east and what is west moved closer and closer to the Pacific. The Pacific was our Garden of Eden as Cumings calls it- a land without the constraints of the east- or better a land without the constraints of Europe.
Cumings compares Chicago to the Pacific coastal cities because of its rapid industrial growth. If I understand correctly, Cumings is comparing the 2 because the growth of Chicago linked more so than we had ever been to the “rest of the world” whatever that was during that time- Europe, the east and the west. The east on one side and the wide open west on the other meant that “Chicago was the epicenter of innovation” – the goods of the west had to first come through Chicago before a profit could be made. Chicago was like what the west coast held in store for us as far as being an epicenter to the rest of the world.
Chicago made the Midwest virtually untouchable when it came to industry. It tied our new country to the rest of the world and kind of gave us a beginning as far as trade and marketing go. New innovations of the meat market gave us a broader than ever future. Inventions such as the conveyer belt, slaughterhouse and refrigerator train cars promised a profitable future for those who owned land out west because they could grow corn or raise cattle and pigs for income. Cumings emphasizes the importance of the Homestead Act which allowed for the expansion of farmers and landowners throughout the unsettled west. This expansion led the way for market opportunity for the US which leads to worldly power.
Cumings illustrates just how profit driven and power hungry new Americans were then- just as they are today. The new colonial life set up a foundation for domestic trade and production through transatlantic and international economies. The quick transformation and success of the colonies demonstrates the settler’s interest in power and authority over their new lands, the people they found there and over their own destiny.
- I think the Monroe Doctrine illustrates our new countries desire for extreme supremacy and our capability as a new country- we were very forceful in what we wanted and we got it. I think threatened the old world in many ways.
Cumings vividly describes the European settler’s need for control as they quickly destroy the native American’s land and lives through urbanization of their lands, killing of the buffalo, the on sought of diseases and murder. This mode of power through the control of human lives was soon used again by slave holders. This all led to the Indians savage ways- the once peaceful tribes lived among each other, trading with each other and helping each other- after the whites came, the poor Indian tribes had nothing left and no choice but to use barbaric practices in order to survive or save what little of their culture was left- it became their tribe against the rest of the world, the world being all other surviving tribes and the whites.
As the settlers moved west, conquering all in sight- eventually they reached the Pacific- which was to the settlers a gold mine (latterly of possibilities). The pacific coast symbolized e very thing that was America or everything g that American wanted. The need for power and good old American greed push west. It was like a race to power- who would be the first to claim land or find gold. Jefferson led the way in settling the west; I think Cumings calls him an expansionist- perfect for him J The Donner party was a perfect example of greed and the American love of power. The Donner party, who was originally headed to California, following others decided not take a so called faster route through a mountain range- the reason for this was to get to the gold and land first. We all know what happened to that group high up in the Sierras.
The Texas Annexation led to the Mexican American war, both perfect examples of the American ideas of Manifest Destiny, we took the Indians land now we were taking the Mexican’s land. Again, we got what we wanted by way of force. Victory and conquest for the US forces sparks even more feelings of nationalism and Manifest Destiny now.
- I have been told before that America has always been the one to begin conflict either by stirring up problems with other countries which in turn leaves us no choice but (for the good of all) to intervene or by letting the weaker force strike first- exactly what we want- hhhmmm…. Pearl Harbor???
- As I read ch 3- it said exactly that- we have always provoked war in some way.
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