Download Manifest Destiny

p.2 WHY MOVE WEST?
 Population growth in the eastern states
 Cheap, fertile land
 Economic opportunity (gold rush, logging, farming, freedom
(for runaway slaves)
 Cheaper, faster transportation (rivers and canals {Erie
Canal}, steamboats, etc.)
 Knowledge of overland trails (Oregon & Santa Fe)
 Belief in Manifest Destiny (idea that expansion was good
and right for the country)
Analyze the “Manifest
Destiny” picture and
write down five
observations.
MANIFEST DESTINY
 In the 1840s Americans became preoccupied with expansion
 Manifest Destiny was the belief that the U.S. would expand “from sea to
shining sea” Americans began to speak of manifest destiny—the belief that the
United States was meant to expand from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific
Ocean. Many believed that their movement westward was predestined by
God
 People moved west in search of economic opportunity.
 Meanwhile the U.S. government made treaties with Native Americans that it
did not honor.
UNITED STATES EXPANSION BY 1853 - MANIFEST DESTINY
FAMOUS TRAILS WEST
 No highways existed, thus wagon trails served
as the roads to the West
 Santa Fe Trail ran from Independence, Missouri
to Santa Fe, New Mexico
 Oregon Trail stretched from Independence to
Oregon City, Oregon
 Mormons especially utilized the Oregon Trail
on their way to Salt Lake City
THE UNITED STATES GAINS TEXAS
 The Mexican government invited
Americans to settle in Texas, which was
then a part of Mexico.
 Tension grew between the settlers and
the Mexican government. In 1836, Texas
won its independence.
 After nine years as an independent
republic, Texas entered the Union in
1845.
MEXICAN-AMERICAN WAR
 1844 presidential election winner, James Polk,
eagerly wanted to annex Texas as part of the U.S.
 Negotiations failed and U.S. troops moved into
Mexican territory in 1845
 America victories soon followed, and in 1848
Mexican leader Santa Anna conceded defeat
 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed – U.S.
gets (larger) Texas, New Mexico & California
MEXICAN PRESIDENT
SANTA ANNA