Download Manifest Destiny

“Manifest
Destiny”
Westward Expansion
“From Sea to Shining Sea”
There’s More
Land out There
• During the early 1800s, many settlers loaded everything they
had into Conestoga wagons (especially their rifles and axes)
and headed west.
• For these settlers, the Mississippi River and New Orleans
were vital for shipping goods.
• In 1802, Spain denied Americans access to these resources.
• In a secret agreement, Spain gave the Louisiana Territory
back to France. Napoleon was trying to establish an empire in
Europe.
• Thomas Jefferson was worried and sent Robert Livingston to
France to offer $10 million for New Orleans. Napoleon
countered with $15 million for all of Louisiana. This was too
good to pass up.
• Jefferson wasn’t sure, because the Constitution didn’t say
anything about purchasing land from other countries.
• But he was so excited about land for farmers, he found a
loophole allowing for treaties.
• In 1803, the Louisiana Purchase was done and it immediately
doubled the size of the U.S.
Lewis and Clark
• Jefferson wanted to know more about Louisiana.
He assigned Meriwether Lewis and William Clark
to assemble a crew in 1804. They were later
joined by a Shoshone woman named Sacagawea.
• The expedition left from St. Louis with these
goals:
• Find a water route that stretched across the
continent
• Establish good relations with Native Americans
• Describe the plants, animals, and landscape they
saw
• After Lewis and Clark returned from their
journey, many settlers were eager to move west.
Not a Bowl of Cherries
• Zebulon Pike was sent to explore the Southern half
of the Louisiana Purchase.
• He searched for the source of the Arkansas and
Red Rivers. He was captured by Spain after ending
up at the Rio Grande. On his way back through the
Great Plains, he described the area as a desert.
• Many Federalists disagreed with the LA Purchase.
They, along with Aaron Burr, threatened to secede.
• Hamilton had never trusted Burr and was now
worried about secession. When Burr lost his bid for
NY governor, he blamed Hamilton.
• Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel in 1804 where he
shot and killed Hamilton.
Some good…
some
bad
• There were three long-lasting
effects of Lewis & Clark and
Pike’s exploration:
1. Accurate Maps: Lewis & Clark created more
accurate maps that helped settlers move
west.
2. Growth of the Fur Trade: Boosted interest.
Hunters and trappers added to knowledge.
3. Mistaken View of the Great Plains: Pike said
that because there were no trees, it was a
desert and useless to farmers.
The Oregon Country
• The Oregon Country was the vast area between the Rocky
Mountains and the Pacific Ocean, north of California.
• In the early 1800s, four nations claimed the territory:
1)
2)
3)
4)
United States
Great Britain
Spain
Russia
• The first Americans in Oregon were fur traders. These American
adventurers were called Mountain Men.
• Mountain men made their living trapping beaver. The annual
rendezvous was the highlight of their year.
• Mountain man Jedediah Smith discovered the South Pass, which
became the most common way to cross the Rocky Mountains to
Oregon.
• In time Mountain Men killed off most of the beaver. Many like Kit
Carson became guides for families moving to Oregon.
Oregon Fever
• The first settlers to arrive in Oregon were missionaries.
Their goal was to convert Native Americans to
Christianity. (Marcus & Narcissa Whitman)
• In the early 1840s Oregon Fever swept the Mississippi
Valley. Emigrants made the trip during the Great
Migration.
• The trip to Oregon was roughly 2,000 miles and took
five or six months along the Oregon Trail.
• Families loaded up their prairie schooners and often
started from Independence, Missouri.
• From 1840 to 1845, the population of the Willamette
Valley increased from 500 people to 5,000 people.
“Manifest Destiny”
• Many Americans began to feel the mission of the United
States was to spread freedom by occupying the entire
continent.
• John O’Sullivan, a NY newspaper editor, declared it was
America’s “manifest destiny to overspread and possess
the whole of the continent which Providence has given
us.”
• Settlers in Oregon wanted the U.S. to have sole
ownership of the territory.
• In the election of 1844, James K. Polk supported their
wishes.
• Shortly afterward, the United States and Great Britain
agreed to the 49° N parallel as the border in Oregon.
Settling Texas
• Conflict in Texas began in 1803 with the Louisiana
Purchase. Americans believed that Texas was part of
the Louisiana Purchase. Spain protested.
• In the Adams-Onís Treaty (1819), America dropped all
claims to Spanish Texas.
• Most of the residents of Texas at this time were
Tejanos. To encourage settlement, the Mexican
government offered land grants to empresarios.
• Empresarios recruited families to settle in Texas.
• Moses Austin received the first land grant, but he died
before he could bring settlers.
• Stephen F. Austin took over and recruited families. The
group he recruited was called the “Old Three-Hundred.”
Trouble in Texas
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The colonists who came to Texas promised to
1.
2.
3.
4.
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Learn Spanish
Become Mexican citizens
Convert to Catholicism
Obey Mexican law
Most Texas settlers came from the United States.
They soon outnumbered the Mexicans in Texas.
Americans refused to adopt Mexican ways. And the
U.S. twice offered to purchase Texas from Mexico.
In 1830, Mexico passed a decree stopping all
immigration from the United States and placing a tax
on American made goods.
Americans were furious. They were also angry over
Mexico’s plans to ban slavery in Texas.
The Texas Revolution
• After Santa Anna refused demands to make Texas a
separate state, Stephen F. Austin encouraged Texans to
prepare for independence. He was arrested.
• Santa Anna made himself dictator and discarded the
Mexican Constitution.
• In October 1835 Mexican troops attempted to take a
cannon in Gonzales, Texas. The Texans defended the
cannon, flying the “Come and Take It” flag.
• They drove back the Mexicans in the first fight of the
Texas Revolution (Lexington of Texas).
• The Texans then liberated San Antonio from the
Mexican army. However, they left the city afterwards.
• Santa Anna was furious. He sent two forces into Texas.
He led soldiers to San Antonio, and General Urrea led
forces to Goliad.
Remember The Alamo
• Roughly 180 men were left to defend San Antonio at the
Alamo. The leaders of the Texans were
• Davy Crockett
• James Bowie
• William B. Travis
• After a twelve day siege, in February 1836, the Mexican
army was able to break through the walls of the Alamo.
• Santa Anna said after the battle, “The Texans fought
more like devils than like men.”
• On March 2, 1836, the Texans declared independence.
• General Urrea, who had marched to Goliad, captured the
Texans, led by James Walker Fannin.
• The captured Texans were executed on Santa Anna’s
orders.
Texas is Annexed
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Sam Houston was commander in chief of the Texas forces.
Houston made plans to surprise Santa Anna at San Jacinto.
The Texans shouted “Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad!”
The Mexican army lost 600 soldiers. But no Texans lost their lives.
Santa Anna was captured shortly after the battle of San Jacinto
and signed a treaty recognizing Texas independence in 1836.
Sam Houston was elected the first president of Texas. He asked
the U.S. to annex Texas.
But Texas was a slave state, and it would upset the balance
between slave and free states in the Union.
James K. Polk was elected president in 1844 and supported
Manifest Destiny.
Texas was annexed to the United States in 1845, becoming the
28th state.
Gaining the West
• New Mexico was the region between Texas and
California. Because of its size, Mexico had little control.
• William Becknell was the first American trader to reach
Santa Fe in 1821. His route became known as the Santa
Fe Trail.
• Spanish explorers and missionaries were the first
settlers in California.
• Missions were very important to the settlement of
California. Missions were used to convert Native
Americans to Catholicism.
• Mexican settlers bought land in California and built
ranchos similar to plantations in the South. Rancheros
treated Native Americas working their land like slaves.
Tensions Increase
• Americans wanted to reach the Pacific Ocean, which
would include California.
• The new American President, James K. Polk, twice
offered to buy New Mexico and California. Mexico
refused both times.
• Polk plotted to pull Mexico into a war. If they started it,
he could justify the war to Congress and the people.
• When the U.S. annexed Texas, tensions increased. In
addition to claiming the annexation was illegal, they
disagreed over the location of the border:
– Mexico: Border was the Nueces River
– United States: Border was the Rio Grande
• Polk sent John Slidell to offer $30 million for New
Mexico and California. Mexico refused and announced
plans to reclaim Texas.
War with Mexico
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President Polk sent Zachary Taylor to the disputed
territory south of the Nueces River. The Mexican
government sent troops north of the Rio Grande.
After the Mexican troops attacked, James K. Polk said
that Mexico had shed American blood on American soil. On
May 13, 1846, Congress declared war against Mexico.
Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass both opposed the
war with Mexico.
Polk had a three part war plan:
1. Drive Mexico out of the disputed territory
2. Seize California and New Mexico
3. Take the capital, Mexico City
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All three parts were successful. The U.S. lost 1721 men
and 11,000 to disease. The war cost the U.S. $100 million.
The Mexican Cession
• Mexico fared much worse than the U.S. After the war,
Mexico lost half its territory.
• The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed in 1848
ending the Mexican War. The terms were:
– Mexico gave up all claims to Texas and agreed to the Rio Grande
as the border
– In the Mexican Cession Mexico ceded California and New
Mexico to the U.S.
– The United States paid Mexico $15 million for the territory.
• In 1853 the United States paid Mexico $10 million for a
small strip of land along the southern edge of Arizona
and New Mexico.
• This was called the Gadsden Purchase. With the
Gadsden Purchase, America reached its present size and
completed Manifest Destiny.
The California Gold Rush
• In 1848 gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill on the
American River in California.
• 80,000 people came to California looking for gold in
1849. Those people were called forty-niners.
• Many gold seekers came by sea. Some came overland.
• The Treat of Guadalupe Hidalgo made Californios
citizens of the U.S. and also guaranteed their rights to
their land.
• But Californios had to prove they owned the land or
white settlers could move in and claim it.
• People built boomtowns in California and cities
flourished.
• The Gold Rush doubled the world’s supply of gold.
Statehood for California
• Very few forty-niners became wealthy. They found little gold and
wasted money the had earned on gambling.
• Merchants made HUGE profits. They were able to charge whatever
they wanted for goods.
• During the Gold Rush, a dozen eggs cost a miner $10.
• Levi Strauss made a fortune selling sturdy denim pants to miners.
• Many miners were lonely (few female miners). They spent their time
gambling, drinking and fighting.
• There were no police, so vigilantes took the law into their own hands.
• The Gold Rush ended in a few years but had long lasting effects on
California’s economy.
• California applied for statehood in 1850. Its application caused a
crisis in Congress because it would upset the balance between slave
and free states.
• California eventually became a state later that same year.
Mormons go to Utah
• The Mormons moved to Utah to fulfill their visions of a godly life.
• Joseph Smith founded the Mormon Church in New York in 1830.
They supported polygamy.
• The Mormons left New York because of opposition to their way of
life and headed to Illinois.
• Joseph Smith was killed by a mob in Illinois. Brigham Young took
over, leading the Mormons to the Great Salt Lake in Utah.
• In 1846 12,000 Mormons went to Utah in the single largest
migration in American history.
• They settled in Deseret, later known as Salt Lake City. They
planned towns, built irrigation systems, and developed industries.
• Utah became a territory in 1850 with Brigham Young as its
governor.
• Because of many conflicts with the American government, Utah did
not become a state until 1896.