Download Manifest Destiny 1818-1853 Chapter 12

Manifest Destiny
1818-1853
Chapter 12
Section 1
The Oregon Country
Rivalry in the Northwest
• Oregon Country- located between the
Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains
north of California
– Includes the present day states of Oregon
Washington, and Idaho plus parts of Montana
and Wyoming.
– Four nations had claims to the area; the
United States, Great Britain, Spain and
Russia.
Adams-Onis Treaty
• Americans wanted control of the Oregon
Territory to gain access to the Pacific Ocean.
• John Quincy Adams helped in promoting this
goal.
– Signed a treaty with Spain for a northern boundary.
(northern California east to the rocky mountains)
– Convinced Russia to give up claims to the western
part of the territory along the coast.
– Made an with agreement with Britain for joint
occupation of the Oregon Country.
Mountain Men
• The first settlers in Oregon Country were not farmers but
fur trappers
– Beaver fur was in high demand in the eastern US and Europe.
– John Jacob Astor established the American Fur Company
which allowed him to connect trade routes with the East, Pacific
Northwest and China.
• Mountain Men were adventurous fur trappers who spent
most of their time in the Rocky Mountains trapping and
trading fur with Indians.
– rendezvous- Mountain men met once a year during the
summer to exchange furs for supplies, for hefty bank notes.
• When there were no more beaver to trap. The Mountain
Men became guides for travelers heading west to
Oregon through the Rocky Mountains.
Settling Oregon
• Americans began traveling to the Oregon
Country to settle in the 1830s.Reports of
the fertile land persuaded many to take the
journey. Economic troubles at home made
new opportunities in the West look
attractive.
The Whitman Mission
• In 1836 the Whitman family traveled as
missionaries.
– They wanted to bring Christianity to the Native
Americans.
– They built a mission among the Cayuse people near
Walla Walla, Washington.
– New settlers unknowingly brought measles killing
many Indian children.
– Blaming the whites, the Cayuse killed the family and
11 others.
• Despite the incident settlers continued to move
into Oregon.
The Oregon Trail
• In the early 1840s, “Oregon Fever” swept
the nation.
– The Panic of 1837 caused many to lose their
jobs and farms.
– These people needed a new start.
• What better place than Oregon.
– The “great migration” began.
• These pioneers were called emigrants because
they left the United States to go to Oregon.
The Oregon Trail continued
• The 2000 mile journey was difficult
– The pioneers stuffed their cover wagons
called Prairie Schooners with supplies
– They started their journey in Independence
Missouri and followed the trail west.
• Across the Great Plains, along the Platte River,
and through the South Pass of the Rocky
Mountains. Then trails north along the Snake and
Columbia rivers into Oregon Country.
The Divisions of Oregon
• Most Americans
moved to the
Willamette Valley
– Between 1840 and
1845 the number of
Americans in Oregon
increased from 500 to
5000.
– British settlers
remained at about 700.
• This raises questions
of ownership of
Oregon Country
Expansion of Freedom
• Americans had their
sights set on
occupying the entire
continent.
– John Quincy Adams
expressed in 1918 that
it was as inevitable “as
that the Mississippi
should flow to the sea.”
Manifest Destiny
• John O’Sullivan put the idea in to more
specific words.
– It was the United States of America’s
“Manifest Destiny to overspread and possess
the whole of the continent which Providence
has given us.”
“Fifty-four Forty or Flight”
• American’s insisted on
ownership of Oregon.
– During the election of 1844
Democratic candidate
James K Polk defeated
Whig Henry Clay because
he supported American
Claims for Oregon Country.
– Fifty-four Forty or Flight was
the campaign slogan for
Polk.
• It refers to the line of
latitude that Democrats
believed should be the
nations northern boundary.
Reaching a Settlement
• President Polk pushed for ownership of
Oregon.
– Britain did not agree with the 54’ 40 line cause
they did not want to give up most of their
claim.
– Finally they reached a compromise at the
49’N latitude line as the boundary.
• At the same time the US was focused on
Oregon, much attention was on Texas as
well.