Philip Rubenstein
Go West Young Man, Part 1: Manifest Destiny
Summary
In 1845, the editor of the New York Morning News wrote of the United States, that it was “the right of our manifest destiny to overspread and to possess the whole of the continent which Providence has given us for the development of the great experiment of liberty and federated self government entrusted to us". What propelled those early pioneers to go? Was it really an experiment of liberty? Or the promise of a better life? And how does the story of the frontier help us to better understand the American psyche?
Philip Rubenstein
Philip Rubenstein was director of the Parliamentary War Crimes Group, which, in the mid-to-late 1980s, campaigned to bring Nazi war criminals living in the UK to justice. Philip was also the founder-director of the Holocaust Educational Trust and played a role in getting the study of the Shoah onto the national school’s curriculum in the UK. These days, he works with family businesses, advising on governance and continuity from one generation to the next.
It became part of the USA only after 1846 after the treaty was concluded with the British. But before that, no it wasn’t.
Napoleon needed the money, it’s the old story. He had war in Europe to fund and he also had some major debts. So he needed some quick money. But I think the USA got the deal of the century. I think the total cost was something like $50 million.