"Our national birth was the beginning of a new history, the formation and progress of an untried political system, which separates us from the past and connects us with the future only... We have no interest in the scenes of antiquity, only as lessons of avoidance of nearly all their examples. The expansive future is our arena, and for our history. We are entering on its untrodden space, with the truths of God in our minds, beneficent objects in our hearts, and with a clear conscience unsullied by the past. We are the nation of human progress, and who will, what can, set limits to our onward march? Providence is with us, and no earthly power can."
— John L. O'Sullivan, "The Great Nation of Futurity," 1839
Which of the following historical developments was most directly justified by the ideas expressed in the excerpt?
- AThe establishment of mercantilist trade restrictions to enrich the federal treasury
- The territorial expansion of the United States toward the Pacific OceanCevap
- CThe formation of a permanent defensive military alliance with Latin American republics
- DThe containment of foreign political systems through overseas military intervention