Download Manifest Destiny IFD presentation

Instructional Focus
Document Notes
Grade 8/Social Studies
UNIT: 08
TITLE: Manifest Destiny
Part 1: New Land and the Northwest
Ordinance
New Land
• Since the End of the American Revolution,
the United States had been acquiring new
land.
• Congress needed to come up with a system
for organizing all the new land that the
United States had acquired from the Treaty of
Paris 1783.
• The Land Ordinance of 1785- divided the land
into six mile square plots. These were called
townships and the area became known as
the Northwest Territory.
Northwest Territory
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
• This determined how the Northwest
Territory would be governed.
• 1. When the population reached 60,000,
the territory could apply to become a state.
• 2. Slavery in the Northwest Territory would
be outlawed
• 3. Rivers for navigation would be open for
all.
• 4. Freedom of religion and trial by jury.
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
• The Northwest Ordinance set a pattern for
orderly growth that the United States
continued to use throughout the years. It
provided procedures for establishing
territories and creating states. As the
nation grew, it used the same principles.
• Part 2: Westward Expansion
Lure of Oregon
• By the 1820s white settlers had occupied much
of the land east of the Mississippi River.
• The plains were considered too dry, so farmers
and settlers began heading to the far west
Oregon Territory
• Americans knew
about the enormous
territory of Oregon
west of the Rocky
Mountains
• The region included
the present day areas
of Oregon,
Washington, Idaho,
Wyoming, Montana,
and parts of Canada
Oregon Territory
• The Geography of Oregon is varied. Along
the Pacific coast, the soil is fertile.
Temperatures are mild year round and
rainfall is plentiful. Settlers found fine
farmland.
• Farther inland, dense forests are found.
Mountain men and fur trappers found
plenty of game and fur bearing animals.
Oregon Territory
• The Mountain Men
and hunters were the
first whites in the
area.
Claims to Oregon
• In the early 1800s,
four countries claimed
Oregon: Russia,
Spain, Britain, and the
United States.
• In 1818, the U.S. and
Britain agree to jointly
occupy Oregon
Oregon Trail
• As Oregon fever spread, pioneers clogged the
trails west.
• Many traveled on the Oregon Trail
Oregon Trail
• Beginning in 1843,
wagon trains left
every spring for
Oregon. Families
planning to go west
would meet at
Independence
Missouri.
• They had to leave by
early May
Journey West
• Timing was important.
They needed to be in
Oregon before the heavy
snowfalls in the
mountains.
• All the trails west faced
the hazard of crossing the
mountains
• This meant that they had
to cover 2,000 miles in 5
months. In the 1840s,
traveling 15 miles a day
was making good time
Conestoga Wagons
Journey West
• Between 1840 and 1860 more than 50,000
people had reached Oregon
Americans in Texas
• Spain had given
Moses Austin a land
grant in order to bring
settlers into Texas.
• After his death, his
son, Stephen F.
Austin took over the
land grant
Americans in Texas
• Mexico had won its Independence from
Spain, so Stephen Austin had to deal with
the new Mexican government.
• Mexico wanted the settlers to develop the
land and handle the Native Americans on
the frontier
• Starting in 1821, Austin brought in 300
families known as “The Old Three
Hundred”
Americans in Texas
• Many of the Old 300
came from the South
and started cotton
plantations in Texas
• Many had brought the
institution of slavery
with them
• By 1830, about
20,000 Americans
lived in Texas
Conflict between Texans and the
Mexican Government
• In 1830, Mexico barred American
immigration
• Mexico began to enforce laws that had
previously been ignored
• One law required all Texans to be Catholic
• Another law banned slavery in Texas
• Then Santa Anna threw out the
Constitution of 1824
Texans Take Action
• These laws angered the Texans and when
the Mexican government sent in troops to
enforce the laws, tension between the
Mexican government and the Texans
increased
• With Santa Anna in power in Mexico,
Americans living in Texas felt it was time to
take action
Four Major Occurrences in the
Texas Revolution
•
•
•
•
Battle of the Gonzales
The Alamo
Goliad
The decisive battle at
San Jacinto
Texas Annexation
• Texas became an
independent country
in September of 1836
• Sam Houston
became the
Republic’s first
President and the
Texas Constitution
closely resembled the
American Constitution
Texas Annexation
• The new Republic faced many problems
• The Mexican government till refused to
recognize the treaty that Santa Anna
signed
• Mexicans still believed Texas was a part of
Mexico
• Texas was nearly bankrupt
• Comanche and other Indian tribes
threatened small Texas communities
Texas Annexation
• Many people believed that the best way to
solve Texas’s problems would be
annexation by the United States
• The annexation of Texas became the
argument between the North and South
with slavery being the main issue
• Northerners were opposed to the idea, but
Southerners were in favor of annexation
Texas Annexation
• Northerners feared that Texas would be
admitted into the Union as a slave state
• There were also concerns that annexation
of Texas could lead to conflict with Mexico
• Because of the controversy, Congress
refused to annex Texas.
• For the next 9 years, Texas worked to get
immigrants from the United States to come
to Texas. They even offered free land
Texas Annexation
• During the Panic of 1837,
thousands of Americans
moved to Texas.
• Immigrants from
Germany and Switzerland
also moved to Texas
• By 1840, about 140,000
people lived in Texas.
Most were American
New Mexico Territory
• In the Early 1840s,
most of the
Southwest was
known as the New
Mexico Territory.
• This included present
day Arizona, New
Mexico, Nevada,
Utah, and parts of
Colorado
Manifest Destiny
• In the mid-1840s, only about 700 people
lived in California.
• Every year, however, more and more
Americans began moving west.
• On several occasions the American
government offered to buy California from
the Mexican government.
Manifest Destiny
• The United States was eager to get control of the Pacific
ports of San Francisco and San Diego
• There were other reasons for wanting to obtain California
• President James K. Polk believed that the California
territory would produce great riches
• Many Americans felt that since the American culture was
superior to others and that democracy was the best form
of government, then it was the duty of the United States
to spread its culture and democracy across the entire
continent of North America all the way to the Pacific
Ocean
Manifest Destiny
• This belief was called Manifest Destiny
• Manifest means clear or obvious
• Destiny means something that is sure to happen
American Progress by John Gast
Manifest Destiny
• Manifest Destiny did have
a negative side
• Many Americans used the
belief to justify taking land
from cultures whom they
considered inferior to the
American culture
(Mexican and Native
American)
• Many settlers moved
west to start a new life
Mexican War
• The United States finally
annexed Texas
• This enraged Mexico and
now the Mexicans
became worried about
California
• Many Americans felt that
Mexico’s refusal to sell
California stood in the
way of Manifest Destiny
Mexican war
• A border dispute between the United States and
Mexico between the Nueces River and the Rio
Grande erupted when Mexican soldiers crossed
the Rio Grande and clashed with American
soldiers.
Mexican War
• The President of the
United States at the
time James Polk
urged Congress to
declare war on
Mexico
• Congress did declare
war
Mexican War
• Many Americans did not
approve of this war. They
thought it was a plot to
gain more slave states
• The famous writer Henry
David Thoreau refused to
pay his taxes as a protest
to the war
• For this act of Civil
Disobedience, we was
arrested and put in jail
Mexican War
• Still many more Americans supported the
war. (mostly from the South)
• General Taylor and General Winfield Scott
attacked Mexico from many fronts.
• A third Army led by Stephen Kearny,
captured much of New Mexico and
southern California
• John C. Fremont led a revolt in California
and overthrew the Mexican officials there
Mexican War
• Soon after, General Winfield Scott captured
Mexico City bringing an end to the War.
Mexican Cession
• In the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo,
Mexico had to cede all of California and the New
Mexico Territory to the United States. This was
the Mexican Cession.
• The United States agreed to pay 15 million for
the land. A few years later, the United States
needed to purchase land again from Mexico for
a railroad. This was the Gadsden Purchase
which filled in the present day borders of the
continental United States.
Mexican Cession
Gadsden Purchase
• The Gadsden purchase provided a safer
southern route to the west.
Territorial Expansion
• Most territorial expansion occurred in the early
19th century and it was all west of the
Mississippi River
Manifest Destiny Fulfilled
Mormons and Westward Expansion
• Founded by Joseph
Smith in 1830, the
Mormon churched
faced much
persecution from their
neighbors forcing
them to relocate from
New York to Ohio,
then again to
Missouri, and again to
Illinois.
Mormons and Westward Expansion
• After an angry mob
killed founding
member Joseph
Smith, the new
Mormon leader
Brigham Young
decided that the
group should move
far out to the newly
acquired Mexican
Cession territories
Mormon Trail
• For years many
Mormons moved out
to Utah where the
Mormons settled.
• The Mormons created
a trail that others
including nonMormons would use
in their journeys out
west
The Mormon Trail
California Gold Rush
• In 1848, John Sutter
discovered gold at his
sawmill.
• He tried to keep it
secret, but word
eventually leaked out
and soon hundreds of
Californians rushed to
Sutter’s Mill to find
gold.
California Gold Rush
• “Gold Fever” soon
gripped the nation.
Thousands of people
flocked to California with
dreams of striking it rich .
More than 80,000 people
made the long journey to
California in 1849.
• They became known as
the forty-niners
California Gold Rush
• California’s population
exploded almost
overnight.
• Small camps grew
quickly into thriving
cities
California Gold Rush
• Because of the greed
for gold, many people
turned to robbery and
crime. Lawlessness
soon became the way
of the wild west.
• As crime grew, people
turned to vigilantism
to combat the
violence and crime.
California Gold Rush
• People from all over the
world came to California
as the news spread.
• A great number of Asian
immigrants came to
California
• Chinese immigrants
arrived for the first time in
California with dreams of
finding gold.
• Instead they were run out
of the mines by other
miners
California Gold Rush
• Many Chinese
immigrants resorted to
building railroads and
other laborious tasks
• African Americans who
came out west also faced
discrimination
• Native Americans
suffered the worst as they
were pushed out of their
lands.