ShmoopTube

00:15

Decided to visit us on the Trail, eh?

00:17

Sure… come along… you can join in the “fun.”

00:21

You may notice that some of my traveling companions are a little teary-eyed.

00:28

Yeah – it’s not just a clever name:

00:32

“Trail of Tears.” For reals.

00:35

These poor people have lost their homes,

00:39

their land…

00:40

they all had to cancel their gym memberships too…

00:45

Why is it happening, you ask?

00:47

Well, it’s certainly not because they all wanted a change of scenery.

00:53

Heard of “Manifest Destiny?”

00:55

Manifest Destiny basically describes this silly notion some Americans have that it is

00:59

their divine purpose to expand westward and continue to claim new land.

01:05

Apparently, their God is big on uprooting some of his other creations in the name of greed.

01:11

Sounds like a good guy.

01:15

So, while many of these Native Americans had already come to look at the land as their own…

01:19

… along came the white man to show them the door.

01:22

Or… the beaver pelt. Or whatever.

01:26

And if you think the idea of Manifest Destiny

01:28

is something that is no longer around in your day and age…

01:31

… ask yourself whether some of our nation’s actions even in the 21st century are merely

01:36

offshoots of Manifest Destiny.

01:38

We often try to push our policies and beliefs on foreign cultures…

01:42

even if we only do so because we care.

01:45

Does it mean we have a superiority complex?

01:50

Do we police other nations because we’re trying to be helpful,

01:53

or because of our need to control?

01:57

It was some early success that America experienced that has bred such delusions of grandeur…

02:04

…including the Second Great Awakening, during which America nearly doubled in size.

02:11

Of course, there was no Jenny Craig back then.

02:15

Some blame goes to even earlier generations…

02:18

…such as those righteous religious groups who initially settled the New World.

02:22

They all felt they were acting by divine guidance…

02:26

… even when that guidance was to nearly obliterate an

02:29

entire race of people with disease and pestilence.

02:34

Doesn’t sound like the kind of advice you’d find in an Ann Landers.

02:39

But when it comes right down to it…

02:42

…it’s really about race.

02:44

Isn’t it always?

02:47

There is a pretty deep river of Racial Superiority

02:49

running through this country’s purple mountains and fruited plains.

02:53

Non-whites have struggled and gotten the raw end of the deal over the centuries,

02:57

there’s no denying it.

02:58

A shame, because a box of Crayola would be awfully boring if there was no variety.

03:04

These Native Americans certainly fall into the category of “non-white.”

03:09

Their rights have never been respected…

03:11

…because they have always been seen by the white man as uncivilized and in need of education.

03:19

Ah, the irony. Am I right?

03:21

Of course, it’s not just these guys behind me…

03:24

The Mexican people who claimed rights to Texas were viewed as a bit backward themselves.

03:28

And not just because they put their punctuation marks upside down.

03:34

And finally, blacks are required to follow their masters into the unknown west…

03:39

…no matter how many family members they may be leaving behind.

03:43

Yep… there’s a real miscellany of displaced folks who have to keep on movin’ until they

03:48

find a new home.

03:50

It’s a bit of a “Trail mix.”

03:52

Oy. It’s gonna be a long road trip…

Full Transcript