Whose 'Manifest Destiny?' Europeans thought they had been chosen by God to spread 'civilization' over the whole continent. But what of the people who were already on the continent? There are generally 4 agreed upon elements that make a civilization: shared economic system, shared religious system, shared governmental system, and shared written communication system. All of the Native American tribes had 3 of these elements and some even had the 4th. So why were these Native American cultures pushed aside by Europeans? Was it really 'God's will' or something else?

Whose 'Manifest Destiny?' Europeans thought they had been chosen by God to spread 'civilization' over the whole continent. But what of the people who were already on the continent? There are generally 4 agreed upon elements that make a civilization: shared economic system, shared religious system, shared governmental system, and shared written communication system. All of the Native American tribes had 3 of these elements and some even had the 4th. So why were these Native American cultures pushed aside by Europeans? Was it really 'God's will' or something else?