Asked by Chuck Bass

“[America] has grown into a resistless wave; and having overspread the great Mississippi valley, is now flowing up to the snowcapped summits of the Rocky Mountains, from thence to spread over the immense valley of the Columbia to the Pacific Ocean. Nor will it stop there; dividing its force, it will extend along the shores of the Pacific until it includes the entire American continent, from Behring’s Straits to Cape Horn. This, sir, is our great and glorious destiny! It is written on the map of the world, by the finger of God. If we prove true to ourselves, the tree of liberty, planted by our fathers, and watered with their blood, will take deep root in our soil and spread until all the human family who choose to cast their destiny on this continent may repose amid peace and plenty under its ample boughs.”
—Congressman Andrew Kennedy of Indiana, February 1, 1845

How does Kennedy’s speech use religion to support his viewpoint?

He argues that Roman Catholics are Christian brothers.

He claims that God designed the US map to include the entire continent.

He points out that the Israelites owned slaves.

He refers to a verse forbidding people from removing boundaries.

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
He claims that God designed the US map to include the entire continent.

Explanation: Kennedy invokes divine sanction—“it is written on the map of the world, by the finger of God”—to present westward expansion as God‑ordained destiny.