The term "Manifest Destiny" became popular in the United States during the 1840s as a way of explaining how it was geographically natural for America to expand its borders to conform with the continent. A New York journalist named John L. O'Sullivan first used the term in 1845, when he wrote the country must fulfill "our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions." It was a convenient way of saying God wanted us to beat up Mexico and take a big chunk of its land.