A Different Mirror, A History of Multicultural America, Ronald Takaki 1993
Here the author in a passage about 19th century American imperialism, quotes a US senator talking about his views on the ways that America was expanding westward, and what its motivations for doing so were.
During the nineteenth century…Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri proclaimed that the movement toward Asia was America’s manifest destiny. The “White” race was obeying the “divine command, to subdue and replenish the earth,” as it searched for new distant lands. As whites migrated westward, Benton pointed out, they were destroying “savagery”. As civilization advanced, the “Capitol” had replaced the “wigwam”, “Christians” had replaced “savages”, and “white matrons” had replaced “red squaws”…
Close Reading Questions you should use:
What claims does the author make?
What evidence does the author use?
What language (words, phrases, images, symbols) does the author use to persuade the document’s audience?
How does the document’s language indicate the author’s perspective?
Your Close Reading Conclusions: