I am in Las Vegas today and looking forward to participating in this three-way panel discussion and debate:
It was the notion of “Manifest Destiny” that led to the very existence of the Wild West in America’s history. Inherent was the idea that expansion into the American west by settlers was not only inevitable but inspired, and the American way of life should spread across the entire continent. But from the beginning, leaders such as Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant were against the principle, while others believed it was integral to the development of the United States as a cohesive nation. In recent years, the reality of how harshly indigenous peoples were treated because of the Manifest Destiny doctrine has led to criticism and attempts to revise the traditional historical narrative. But what’s the balance? What’s the reality? In this pivotal conversation, historians and authors John Prevas, Stephen Hicks and Thomas Clavin will discuss the history of the Old West and the impacts of Manifest Destiny — then and now.