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Manifest Destiny & Its Legacy
1841 – 1848
Chapter 17
A.P. US History
I.
Americans & ‘Manifest Destiny’
A. Introduction (cont.)
• O’Sullivan specifically
called Americans to, “the
fulfillment of our manifest
destiny to overspread the
continent allotted by
Providence for the free
development of our yearly
multiplying millions . . .and
for the development of the
great experiment of liberty
and federated selfgovernment entrusted to
us.”
II.
Tensions With Britain
A. The Several Problems
• In the 1840s, several problems raised tensions between England
and the U.S. including,
• (1) British publications attacking the cultural crudeness of American
life,
• (2) the creditor/debtor relationship between the two countries marked
by defaults of monies owed by several states following the Panic of
1837,
• (3) the Canadian Insurrection of 1837 which led an invasion of the
U.S. and the ‘Caroline Affair’ on the New York shore of the Niagara
River,
• (4) the 1840 arrest and murder trial in New York of a Canadian
named McLeod involved in the ‘Caroline Affair’, and
• (5) the 1841 ‘Creole Affair’ involving British officials in the Bahamas
who granted 130 Virginia slaves asylum after they commandeered the
slave ship
III.
The Whigs in Power
A. Expansionism & President Tyler
• In March 1841, William Henry Harrison delivered the
longest inaugural address in the nation’s history in the rain –
he died four weeks later of pneumonia
• In April 1841, John Tyler succeeded to the presidency –
during the 1840 election he ran as a ‘Whig’ with Harrison,
but was actually a Democrat who left the party over his
dislike for Andrew Jackson
• Prominent ‘Whigs’, including Henry Clay, assumed Tyler
would support Clay’s ‘American System’ – an agenda of
programs they deemed beneficial to the nation
III.
The Whigs in Power
A. Expansionism & President Tyler (cont.)
• The ‘Whigs’ supported Henry Clay’s ‘American System’
calling for (1) continued protective tariffs, (2) a new ‘Fiscal
Bank’ to replace the defunct ‘2nd BUS’, (3) tax-supported
‘internal improvements’ [canals, roads, bridges], and (4)
opposition to admission of Texas into the Union
• Tyler, a firm expansionist, favored admission of Texas into
the Union – even though he knew that doing so might (1)
precipitate a war with Mexico, and (2) anger Northerners
opposed to admission of another slave state
• President Tyler, an ex-Democrat, was at odds with his
adoptive Whig party over virtually its entire political
platform – a fact which greatly complicated his presidency
III.
The Whigs in Power
A. Expansionism & President Tyler (cont.)
• Tyler favored admission of Texas as a means of raising his
popularity and chances of being elected in 1844 [Whigs,
angered over his opposition to their agenda, wrote Tyler out
of the party] - the Democrats would not take him back
either
• England, taking advantage of the U.S. government’s
indecision over the annexation issue, wanted to keep Texas
independent – as a market for English manufactured goods
and to serve as a buffer against further U.S. expansion
• British officials arrived in Texas to establish formal relations
between the two countries – raising northern fears that
Britain might try to annex it, and southern fears that
annexation would end the westward expansion of slavery
IV.
Disputes Over Texas & Oregon
A. The Election of 1844 & Texas
 In April 1844, secret efforts
to annex Texas to the U.S.
failed when John C.
Calhoun linked the treaty to
a defense of slavery –
ensuring its defeat in the
Senate
 In the ‘Election of 1844’,
‘Whigs’ nominated Henry
Clay, an opponent of
annexation - Democrats
chose James K. Polk, a
‘dark horse’ candidate
supportive of annexation
James K. Polk
IV.
Disputes Over Texas & Oregon
A. The Election of 1844 & Texas (cont.)
• During the campaign, Clay realized opposition to
annexation of Texas ran against the desires of most
Americans – he waffled, stating he would support
annexation under certain conditions, alienating him from
voters in both the North and South
• In November 1844, James K. Polk became the youngest
man ever elected president to that date [170 electoral votes
to 105] – Polk’s inaugural address in March 1845 affirmed
his commitment to ‘Manifest Destiny’
• In February 1845, while Tyler was still president, Congress
admitted Texas to the Union, after fierce debate, by joint
resolution of both houses
IV.
Disputes Over Texas & Oregon
B. Oregon & President Polk (cont.)
• Both the U.S. and England
claimed ‘Oregon’ – a vast
area bounded on the east
by the Rocky Mountains,
on the North by the
boundary with Russian
Alaska at 54˚40΄, on the
south by the 42˚ parallel,
and on the west by the
Pacific Ocean
The Oregon Controversy, 1846
IV.
Disputes Over Texas & Oregon
B. Oregon & President Polk (cont.)
• During the campaign of
1844, Polk had promised
to deliver Texas and
Oregon – after his
inauguration Democrats
began to pressure him to
make good on his
promises
• Expansionists began to
demand all of the ‘Oregon
Country’ to the southern
border with Russian Alaska
– the line of 54˚40΄ north
The Oregon Controversy, 1846
IV.
Disputes Over Texas & Oregon
B. Oregon & President Polk (cont.)
• Polk realized the United States, on the verge of war with
Mexico over its admission of Texas to the Union, could not
afford a war with England over Oregon
• Despite chants of ‘Fifty-four Forty or Fight’, the Polk
administration entered into treaty negotiations - in June
1846, the U.S. Senate approved the Oregon treaty giving the
U.S. the territory between the 42nd and 49th parallels;
Canada received Vancouver Island and the territory
between the 49th parallel and 54˚40΄ north
• By the time the Oregon dispute was settled, the United
States was already at war with Mexico
IV.
Disputes Over Texas & Oregon
C. Texas & President Polk
• President Polk was eager to buy California from Mexico –
he also coveted Mexican territory encompassing presentday Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, and parts of
Wyoming and Colorado
• In 1845, Polk sent John Slidell to Mexico City to resolve the
Texas-Mexico boundary dispute, and to negotiate the
purchase of California for $25 million – the Mexican
government refused to receive him
• Relations with Mexico were further troubled by Mexico’s
default on nearly $3 million of claims it owed to American
citizens for damages incurred during the Texas revolution
IV.
Disputes Over Texas & Oregon
C. Texas & President Polk (cont.)
• In January 1846, the president ordered Gen. Zachary Taylor
and 4,000 troops to patrol the northern side of the Rio
Grande – with express orders not to fire on Mexican
soldiers
• Mexico’s commanding general in Matamoros ordered
Taylor’s troops back to the Nueces River (the boundary line
claimed by Mexico) – Gen. Taylor refused the demand
• On April 25, 1846, Mexican troops crossed the Rio Grande
and attacked a small patrol of U.S. soldiers – on May 13th,
the U.S. Congress passed a declaration of war
IV.
Disputes Over Texas & Oregon
C. Texas & President Polk (cont.)
• Abraham Lincoln, then a young ‘Whig’ congressman from
Illinois, tried but failed to avert war by introducing the ‘spot
resolutions’ in Congress – demanding to know the exact
‘spot’ where American blood had been spilled on American
soil
V.
Expansion & the Mexican-American War
A. The Mastering of Mexico (cont.)
• Then, between February
22nd and 23rd, 1847, Gen.
Taylor’s 5,000 man army
fought and won the ‘Battle
of Buena Vista’ against
Gen. Santa Anna’s
numerically superior army
of 21,000 men – a defeat
that forced Santa Anna to
retreat to Mexico City
Major Campaigns of the Mexican War
V.
Expansion & the Mexican-American War
A. The Mastering of Mexico (cont.)
• By August 1846, Kearny’s 1,700 man army captured Santa
Fe without firing a shot – promptly claiming New Mexico
for the United States
• After Santa Fe, the American force divided – John C.
Frémont led part of the army on to San Francisco in
California – Col. Kearny’s army moved to capture San
Diego
• By January 1847, California and New Mexico were
occupied, and Santa Anna’s 30,000 troops were holed up
behind the walls of Mexico City
V.
Expansion & the Mexican-American War
A. The Mastering of Mexico (cont.)
• In August 1847, Gen.
Scott’s army began its
assault – first at the ‘Battle
of Churubusco’ where the
American army suffered
1,000 casualties, and Santa
Anna’s forces lost 4,000
• Scott’s army attacked the
‘invincible’ fortress of
Chapultapec – scaling its
walls and engaging in bitter
hand-to-hand combat
before it fell
V.
Expansion & the Mexican-American War
A. The Mastering of Mexico (cont.)
• As these events were transpiring, Pres. Polk’s diplomatic
representative, Nicholas P. Trist, arranged an armistice with
Santa Anna - at a cost of $10,000
• Santa Anna pocketed the bribe and proceeded to stall
negotiations in order to buy time while he beefed up his
defenses - infuriating President Polk who recalled Trist
• Ignoring the recall, Trist reopened negotiations and, on
February 2, 1848, Mexican officials signed the ‘Treaty of
Guadalupe Hidalgo’ agreeing (1) to give up all claims to
Texas north of the Rio Grande, and (2) to cede the
provinces of California and New Mexico to the United
States
V.
Expansion & the Mexican-American War
A. The Mastering of Mexico (cont.)
• In addition, U.S. officials agreed to pay Mexico $15 million
for the land and to assume the claims of its citizens against
Mexico in the amount of $3,250,000
• Antislavery Whigs in Congress [a.k.a. ‘Mexican Whigs’ or
‘Conscience Whigs’], who had opposed the war from its
start, denounced the treaty
• In fact, even before the war’s end, Congressman David
Wilmot of Pennsylvania introduced the ‘Wilmot Proviso’
into Congress in 1846 - an amendment stipulating that
slavery should be banned in any territorial acquisitions
resulting from the war
V.
Expansion & the Mexican-American War
B. Profit & Loss in Mexico
• The Mexican War cost the lives of 13,000 American men far more died from disease than from wounds under enemy
fire
• The ‘Mexican Cession’ increased the expanse of the United
States by nearly one-third - a factor which accelerated the
drive for ‘Manifest Destiny’
• The war provided priceless field experience for most of the
officer corps destined to become leading generals in the
American ‘Civil War’ - men such as Robert E. Lee, Ulysses
S. Grant, George Picket, Thomas Jackson, and many others
V.
Expansion & the Mexican-American War
B. Profit & Loss in Mexico (cont.)
• Southern opposition to the ‘Wilmot Proviso’ served as a
mild warning of the much greater future political arguments
that enveloped the nation as the ‘Mexican Cession’ was
organized into territories and states
• Both Ralph Waldo Emerson and John C. Calhoun warned
of the dangerous fruits of the ‘Mexican Cession’ - land
which they accurately prophesied would ultimately spell
doom for the American Union