Theory of Manifest Destiny: reviewing the cycles of American history and the Trump government

Abstract

The reocurring controversy over the meaning of America demonstrates the two strands twisted since the country's founding: the idea of the United States as a "democratic experiment" laden with risks and problems and the "manifest destiny", the patriotic fervor that leads Americans to their self-proclamation as an elected people, entrusted with a divine mission. This article looks at the general plan, the manifestations of destiny manifest in the American experience and in particular, in the administration of Donald Trump. The study was designed according to the premises of an essay, due to its discursive, argumentative and expository characteristics. Using the methods of exploratory research and literature review, we examined the cycles of American history in which these two trends are confronted alternately. The evidence and the level of involvement of the destiny manifested in the Trump administration in religious, economic and cultural terms were discussed. A wide range of perceptions was investigated, from criticisms about the Theory of America to the understanding of the manifest destiny as a justifying principle of the process of territorial and ideological expansion in the USA. The research found in the Trump administration's internal and foreign policy, both the messianic narrative of manifest destiny, as well as some of the geopolitical and economic foundations that characterize American conservative governments. It was concluded that the air of originality and ostentation of this government needs to be relativized, since its actions, including the evidences of the manifest destiny, are returning aspects of the cycles of America history.

Keywords: Cycles of American history; Manifest Destiny; Trumpism; Theory of America; Liberalism and Conservatism.