Download 17 Manifest Destiny

Manifest Destiny and Its Legacy
Chapter 17
Essential Question?
• How can
expansion
lead to
conflict and
change?
President William Harrison
• Veteran of War of 1812
• 1st Whig elected
president
• Gives longest inaugural
speech in history – in
freezing rain
– Dies of pneumonia 4
weeks later!!!
• Cabinet
– Daniel Webster (Sec. of
State)
W. Harrison Administration Timeline
• March 1841
– Inagurated
• April 1841
– Dies
“and Tyler, Too!”
• VP John Tyler becomes
1st VP to take over
presidency
• Not a true Whig, but a
Democrat placed on
ticket to win southern
votes.
• Against entire Whig
platform: anti-BUS, antitariff, anti-internal
improvement.
A President Without a Party
• Tyler vetoes bill to create
new BUS
• Henry Clay and other
Whigs expelled him from
Whig party.
• Cabinet resigns (except
Webster)
• Tries to mend ties with
Whigs by agreeing to a
tariff, but this only upsets
Democrats.
US v. UK, Part 3?
• British continued to look
down upon Americans.
– “tobacco spitting, slave
auctioning, lynching,
idiots”
• Americans had borrowed
millions from UK, after
Panic of 1837 they had no
way to pay it back.
• Unsuccessful attempt by
Canadians at
independence aided by
some Americans.
• Steamship Caroline,
attacked and destroyed
while bringing weapons
to Canada – hawks call for
war.
• Lumberjack or Aroostook
War – minor flair ups
between UK and US over
border of Maine
• Webster-Ashburton
Treaty – Settled border of
Maine and Minnesota
– Minn. full of iron ore!!
Webster-Ashburton Treaty
Texas Sized Troubles
• Mexico refused to recognize sovereignty of TX.
– Threatened war if TX joined US.
• Texans outnumbered, began to look for help.
– Began to negotiate with UK and France.
– UK very interested because of TX’s fertile cotton
lands!
Lone Star Becomes 28th Star
• 1844 election won by Polk on a “annex TX”
platform.
• North feared that TX would add to power of
slave states, not likely to be approved by
Congress.
• President Tyler beats Polk, annexes TX through
a joint resolution 3 days before leaving office.
• 1845: Texas annexed
• Mexico not very happy!
Annexation of Texas
Tyler Administration Timeline
• 1841
– Tyler assumes
presidency
• 1842
– Lumberjack War
– Webster-Ashburton
Treaty
• 1845
– Annexation of Texas
Oregon Fever
• Oregon Country was
claimed by US, UK,
Spain, and Russia.
• Thousands of American
pioneers travelled the
2,000 mile Oregon Trail
in the 1840s.
– Trip took 5 months.
– Many perished along the
trail!!
Oregon Trail
1844 Election
• Whigs
– Henry Clay (Former Speaker of the House, Sec. of
State, Senator)
• Democrats
– James K. Polk (Speaker of House, former Gov. of
TN)
• Polk wins, 170 to 105
1844 Election
President James K. Polk
• Born in NC!!
• Supported by Andrew Jackson (called him
“Young Hickory”)
• Believer in Manifest Destiny
• 4 Goals all accomplished in 4 years
– 1. Lower tariff
– 2. Independent treasury
– 3. Acquire California
– 4. Settle Oregon dispute
Manifest Destiny
Belief that
God had
divinely
blessed the
American
people into
controlling
North
America.
54 ° 40’ or Fight!
• Oregon Territory went as far north as Alaska.
• US offers to “settle” with UK at 49°, they
refuse.
• By 1846, UK agrees to 49°
• No 54° 40’, no fight
Oregon Territory
Misunderstandings con Mexico
• Mexico believed the
border of TX was on the
Nueces River, US said
Rio Grande (farther
south)
• Polk sends John Slidell
to Mexico to attempt to
buy CA for $25 million.
– Rejected!
– Polk wanted CA because
of the fertile land and
San Francisco Bay.
• In 1840s CA occupied
by Mexicans, Indians,
and a few American
immigrants.
Mexican Border?
Pretext for War
• Since buying CA failed, Polk decided to take it,
but he needed a reason for Congress to
declare war.
• Polk sent the Army, led by General Zachary
Taylor, down to the Rio Grande in 1846.
• Soon the Mexican Army attacked Taylor, 16
Americans died.
• Polk got his wish, Congress declared war!
Opposition to War
• Young Whig Congressman Abraham Lincoln
opposed war (“spot resolution”)
– Lost reelection, never heard from again.
• Many northerners and abolitionists opposed the
war on the basis that it would add more slave
states south of the Missouri Compromise line.
• Henry David Thoreau went to jail for refusal to
pay taxes that paid for war.
• Most Americans supported war effort.
Mastering of Mexico
• Santa Anna was in exile, • John C. Fremont, and
but US aided his return
other Americans in CA
to Mex. thinking he
easily overthrew
would bring a peaceful
Mexican officials.
resolution – we were
• Gen. Taylor led the
wrong!
fighting in N. Mexico
• General Stephen
– Outnumbered 4 to 1 by
the Mex. Army, he
Kearny captured Santa
manages to win the
Fe with little trouble.
Battle of Buena Vista.
Old Fuss and Feathers
• Gen. Winfield Scott
invaded Veracruz and
fought his way into
Mexico City.
– He had too few troops,
harsh terrain, diseases
– Managed to overcome
odds, take Mexican
capital.
Major Campaigns of Mexican War
Peace Leads to War
• Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo ends war in
1848.
– US gets Mexican Cession
(CA, NV, AZ, NM, CO, UT)
– More land than the
Louisiana Purchase
– Mexico gets $15 million
• Some want to take all of
Mexico
– What problems exist
with this idea?
• US image in Latin
America forever
tarnished
• Arguments reignited
over slavery in new
territory.
Civil War Begins
• Mexican War a proving
ground for future Civil
War leaders
–
–
–
–
–
Jefferson Davis
Robert Lee
Ulysses Grant
Winfield Scott
Abraham Lincoln
• Future Presidents
– Taylor
– Lincoln
– Grant
• Wilmot Proviso
– Proposed law that would
prohibit slavery in Mexican
Cession.
– Never approved.
• Quarreling over slavery
will continue to divide
nation through the 1850s.
Mexican Cession
Polk Administration Timeline
• 1844
– Election
• 1846
–
–
–
–
–
Oregon dispute settled
Mexican War begins
Kearny takes Santa Fe
Fremont takes California
Wilmot Proviso
introduced
• 1847
– Battle of Buena Vista
– Mexico City falls
• 1848
– Mexican War ends
– Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo
Essential Question?
• How can
expansion
lead to
conflict and
change?
Texas
Annexation
Oregon
Territory
Mexican
War
Manifest
Destiny