Manifest and Other Destinies: Territorial Fictions of the Nineteenth-Century United States by Stephanie LeMenager (review)

B o o k R e v i e w s M an if e st an d O t h e r D e st in ie s: T e r rit o rial Fic t io n s o f t h e N in e t e e n t h - C e n t u ry U n it e d S t a t e s. B y S t e p h a n i e L e M e n a g e r . Lin c o ln : U n iv e r sit y o f N e b r ask a P r ess, 2 0 0 4 . 285 p age s, $ 5 0 .0 0 . R e v ie w e d b y N i c o l e T o n k o v i c h U n iv e r sit y o f C alifo r n ia, Sa n D iego S t e p h a n ie L e M e n a g e r ’s g o a l in M an ifest an d O th er D estin ies is t o u n se a t o u r c o m m o n p la c e u n d e r st a n d in g o f M a n ife st D e st in y b y st u d y in g t h r e e “a p p a r ­ e n t ly la n d le ss” ge o gr a p h ic sit e s w h e r e in in t e r n a t io n a l c o m m e r c e c h a lle n g e d t h e n a r r a t iv e o f p r o v id e n t ia l w e stw a r d e x p a n sio n (1 ). In t h e d e se r t , o n t h e o c e a n s, a n d u p a n d d o w n t h e M ississip p i R iv e r c ir c u la t e d “d ise a se , sla v e c a r ­ go e s, e n v ir o n m e n t a l d e v a st a t io n , a n d t h e fa lse e c o n o m ie s o f g a m b lin g a n d sp e c u la t io n ” (1 ). T h e se lo c a t io n s, sh e a r gu e s, c o n st it u t e “r e gio n a l n e t w o r k s o f p o w e r t h a t w e r e ir r e d u cib le t o t h e n a t io n ’s la r ge r im p e r ia l v isio n ” (9 ). In “D e se r t ,” L e M e n a g e r e st a b lish e s h o w t h e “la w le ss in t e r v a l,” t h e G r e a t P la in s, c h a lle n g e d a gr a r ia n se t t le m e n t (2 8 ) . H o m e t o a t h r iv in g in t e r n a t io n a l a n d m u lt ir a c ia l t r a d e in fu r s a n d a lc o h o l, t h is r e gio n se e m e d...