Imperial mission and manifest destiny: A case study of political myth in rhetorical discourse

Abstract

By differentiating between the concepts “myth” and “ideology,” this study accounts for the rise in popularity of imperialist policies in the United States and Great Britain at the end of the nineteenth century. Specifically, it is argued that the use of mythically grounded rhetorical appeals by proponents of empire explains the ultimate defeat of the anti‐imperialist movement in both Britain and the United States.