to the restless waves, 'Ye shall cease
here, and never mingle with the ocean,' as to expect they (the settlers)
will be prevented from descending it."[53] On the same day (February
23rd) Senator Jackson (Georgia) said: "God and nature have destined New
Orleans and the Floridas to belong to this great and rising Empire."[54]

God, nature and the requirements of American commerce were the arguments
used to justify the purchase, or if necessary, the seizure of New
Orleans. The precedent has been followed and the same arguments
presented all through the century that followed the momentous decision
to extend the territory of the United States.

Some reference has been made to the Mexican War and the argument that
the Southwest was a "natural" part of the territory of the United
States. The same argument was made in regard to Cuba and by the same
spokesmen of the slave-power. Stephen A. Douglas (New Orleans, December
13, 1858) was asked:

"How about Cuba?"

"It is our destiny to have Cuba," he answered, "and you can't prevent it
if you try."[55]

On another occasion (New York, December, 1858) Douglas stated the matter
even more broadly:

"This is a young, vigorous and growing nation and must obey the law of
increase, must multiply and as fast as we multiply we must expand. You
can't resist the law if you try. He is foolish who puts himself in the
way of American destiny."[56]

President McKinley stated that the Philippines, like Cuba and Porto
Rico, "were intrusted to our hands by the Providence of God" (Boston,
February 16, 1899), and one of his fellow imperialists--Senator
Beveridge of Indiana--carried the argument one step farther (January 9,
1900) when he said in the Senate (_Congressional Record_, January 9,
1900, p. 704): "The Philippines are ours forever.... And just beyond the
Philippines are China's illimitable markets. We will not retreat from
either. We will not repudiate our duty to the archipelago. We will not
abandon our opportunity in the Orient. We will not renounce our part in
the mission of our race, trustee, under God, of the civilization of the
world."

Manifest destiny is now urged to justify further acts of aggression by
the United States against her weaker neighbors. _The Chicago Tribune_,
discussing the Panama Canal and its implications, says editorially (May
5, 1916): "The Panama Canal has gone a long way towards making our shore
continuous and the intervals must and will be filled up; not n