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Reading No. 1
Unit 4: Westward Expansion
Unit 4 Objectives:
Trace the enormous territorial growth of the U.S. in the first half of the 19th century (~ 1800 to 1860)
Describe / explain results of this growth:
 Treatment of Native Americans
 Increasing differences in what the North and what the South wanted (the North and the South were 2
distinct and separate “sections” of the nation, hence the term “sectionalism” to describe the deepening
rift between the two as the 19th century proceeded)
1.
2.
Question: How and why did America expand its borders in the 1800’s?
I. What Was “Manifest Destiny”
The term Manifest Destiny was first used by a Congressman and then made popular by a newspaper
publisher in the 1840's. It meant that it was God’s will that America expand from sea to sea. Americans
claimed they were bringing God, technology and civilization to the west. Of course, they also brought death,
disease and war but that was never publicized.
II. How did America expand its borders in the 1800's?
1. Louisiana - Purchased from France in 1803 by President Thomas Jefferson for $15 million
2. Florida -
Ceded (given) to the United States as a part of the Adams-Onis Treaty in 1819. US army led
by Andrew Jackson had been perched on the border of Florida. Realizing they would be
unable to keep the territory (nor did they want it because of the harsh climate) the Spaniards
gave it up.
3. Texas -
Invited by the Mexican government, American settlers had come to Texas and built
plantations and farms. Led by Stephen Austin, the settlers asked Mexico for admission into
the Mexican nation as an independent state. The Mexicans refused and war broke out,
highlighted by Santa Anna's attack on the Alamo. Texas declared itself an independent nation
(the “Lone Star Republic”) in 1836 and its first President was Sam Houston. In 1845, Texas
was annexed by the United States and became the 28th state.
4. Oregon -
Questions over the Oregon territories had long existed. Russia, France, Britain and the United
States all had claims in the area. Russia and France gave up on their claims and then England
negotiated a treaty with the United States to draw the boundary at 49o north latitude, where it
remains today.
5. Mexican Cession - Tensions between America and her southern neighbor had been high for some time
and had only increased as a result of America's annexation of Texas. With his eye on
luring Mexico into war, President Polk sent US troops into the area between the
Nueces River and the Rio Grande River, a disputed area. When Mexico attacked the
US troops, Polk responded by claiming that the Mexicans had mounted an unprovoked
attack. Congress declared war and the US demolished the weaker Mexican army. As a
result of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo that ended the Mexican-American War, the
US gained the Mexican Cession and paid Mexico $15 million for its loss.
Renner
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2013
Reading No. 1
Unit 4: Westward Expansion
6. Gadsden Purchase - Realizing the importance of this territory for railroad building, the US paid Mexico
$10 million. Considering the price paid for Louisiana and the Cession lands, this
was a large amount. We paid this much due to a feeling of guilt over our
participation in the Mexican-American War. Note: the northern border of this land
is the Gila River.
III. What fueled westward expansion?
1. Cheap Land: After 1820, government land could be bought for about $1.00 per acre
2. Immigration: a steady stream at 1st, it became a tidal wave in the 1840’s. Disease struck the potato
crop in Ireland in the 1840’s pushing many to, or near starvation. The Irish came to
America by the thousands as a matter of survival.
3. Gold Fever:
Gold was discovered at Sutter’s Fort in California in 1849, touching off a frenzy.
Thousands rushed to the area hoping to get rich (San Francisco was little more than a
small trading post before the gold strike…almost overnight, its population swelled to
over 100,000). Over the next 15 years, news of new gold strikes around the West
continued to draw people not only from the East, but from Europe as well.
4. The RR’s:
The U.S. government awarded enormous tracts of land, tens of millions of acres, to the
various rail companies to extend their tracks. Construction of new rail lines inevitably
caused clashes with the native tribes.
IV. What problems were caused by westward expansion?
1. It should be no surprise that the main problem with the acquisition of these vast expanses of land was the
possible extension of slavery into these new territories. Put another way, as these new lands were
organized into territories and then populated, they would each eventually apply for admission to the
Union as a new state. The problem: would each be admitted as a slave state or a free state? The battle
lines were being drawn already.
2. A second issue was the treatment of the Native Americans who were “in the way” of expansion. The U.S.
government’s policy of dealing with the tribes has been a disgraceful record of human right’s violations.
Various tribes were forced to leave their ancestral lands to be relocated to federal reservations.
Renner
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2013