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Native Expulsion and Manifest Destiny

with Dr. Richard Bell

Come learn about the history and present of colonial attitudes towards Indigenous Americans and how westward expansion continues in popular imagination to this day.

Join us and Dr. Richard Bell from the University of Maryland to discuss Manifest Destiny as a driving force behind Native expulsion from their ancestral lands and how romanticization of westward expansion continues in the American imagination to this day.

This talk explores westward expansion and its impact upon Native communities. Even though the phrase ‘manifest destiny’ was not used in print until 1845, the spirit of American expansionism that it referred to was very apparent long before the 1840s. Americans had been talking about pushing westward as if it was their manifest destiny ever since folks in Jamestown in the 1600s had started eyeing the land that Natives were settled on. University of Maryland historian Richard Bell will begin by tracking the story of Native expulsion and westward expansion from the Revolution era up through the 1850s, paying particular attention in the second half to the ways in which the West and Westward Expansion came to be romanticized in the American imagination.

Registration is required and will close one hour before the program. This program will take place on Zoom and the link to the program will be sent by CCPL staff one hour prior to the event. 

Be sure to check your Spam/Junk folder if you haven't received the event login information 45 mins prior to the event start in your Inbox. If you did not receive an email at all, please contact the P. D. Brown Branch at 301-645-2864 or email pdbrownref@ccplonline.org. 

About the Presenter: Dr. Richard Bell has a BA from the University of Cambridge and a PhD from Harvard University. He has been teaching at the University of Maryland since 2006. He has published four books and more than a dozen articles and book chapters. He lives in University Park, Maryland with his wife and two daughters.

The views expressed by presenters are their own, and their appearance in a program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by Charles County Public Library.

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