Several of Borneoâs plants challenge the senses-Rafflesia arnoldii, a parasitic species, produces the largest flower in the world, while the titan arum (Amorphophallustitanum) sporadically blooms into the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world.
Now, with territory up to the Mississippi River claimed and settled and the Louisiana Purchase explored, Americans headed west in droves. Newspaper editor John O'Sullivan coined the term manifest destiny in 1845 to describe the essence of this mindset.
In the 19th century, manifest destiny was a widely held belief in the United States that its settlers were destined to expand across North America. Historian Frederick Merk says this concept was born out of a sense of mission to redeem the Old World by high example ...