manifest destiny

She was referring to the 1846-48 Mexican-American War, now widely seen as a U.S. expansionist gambit in the era of Manifest Destiny.

Manifest destiny gets a mention, and the plot will conventionally pose Native humbleness against white hubris.

Velasco helped shape Mexico’s national identity much like his near-contemporaries of the Hudson River School did for the U.S.—but with a difference: American artists idealized the grandeur and promise of a new country with a Manifest Destiny, whereas Velasco’s glorious vistas proudly emphasized Mexico’s ancient roots in pre-Hispanic civilizations.

There is no gratitude here, except for the white founders who bequeathed this nation to their biological descendants by achieving its manifest destiny and taking it.

The Department of Homeland Security keeps posting images and artwork that celebrate Manifest Destiny — the idea that white people, and white people alone, saved this savage continent.