Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion

Unit 2 - Expansion and Conflict

Manifest Destiny

Essential Question: How did the idea of Manifest Destiny encourage westward expansion?

Manifest Destiny

Manifest Destiny = the idea that the U.S. was destined to expand across the continent

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Pacific Atlantic

Manifest Destiny

Reasons to go West:

• religion
• missionaries to convert Native Ams.
• gold / economic opportunity
• LAND

Manifest Destiny

New Inventions

Steel Plow - John Deere

• easier to break ground for farming in the west

Mechanical Reaper - Cyrus McCormick

• made harvesting crops easier and faster

Manifest Destiny

Trails to the West

Santa Fe Trail:

• major route out west
• started in Missouri
• ended in New Mexico

Manifest Destiny

Trails to the West

Oregon Trail

• east->west trail to Oregon Territory
• created by fur traders
• 2,000 miles long
• took 4 - 5 months
• used by ~400,000 settlers and others

Manifest Destiny

Trails to the West

Mormon Trail

• used by Mormons to move west to escape persecution
• established Salt Lake City

Manifest Destiny

Problems with trails

• used guidebooks, written by earlier travelers called overlanders
• leave too late get trapped in winter snows
• Trip last 5-6 months
• Travel 15 miles a day
• kids ran over
• 1 out of 2 parents died
• Attacked by Native Americans

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Manifest Destiny

Donner Party

• took a split off a well traveled path thinking it was a shortcut
• got trapped in the mountains with little food
• survivors resorted to cannibalism to survive
• shows hardships pioneers faced on their way out west

Westward Expansion

EQ: How did the U.S. gain control of Texas and Oregon?

Westward Expansion

TEXAS

• Mexico had won independence from Spain in 1821
• had troubles with gov’t and neglected northern territories
• Mexico encouraged settlement in Texas if settlers met 3 conditions:
• became Mexican citizens
• adopted Catholicism
• followed Mexican constitution… NO SLAVERY!

Westward Expansion

Stephen Austin

• most famous American empresario
• a person that brought settlers to Mexico
• founded the town of Austin

Westward Expansion

• By 1835, 30,000 white settlers lived in TX
• outnumbered Tejanos (Hispanic Texan population) 6 to 1
• Began to ask for more autonomy (self-government)
• Austin went to Mexico City to talk to the president and was arrested
• more cries for independence

Westward Expansion

• Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna was the President of Mexico and led troops against the rebelling Texans

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Westward Expansion

The Alamo

• one group of Texans were held up at the Alamo, an old missionary
• 187 Texans v. 6,000 Mexicans
• all the Texans were killed except one woman and a few children

Westward Expansion

March 1836 - Texas declared its independence

• REMEMBER THE ALAMO becomes the rallying cry

April 1836: Battle of San Jacinto - Mexico defeated

• Lone Star Republic created (Texas)

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Westward Expansion

Sam Houston became the first President of Texas

• led the forces that defeated Santa Anna at San Jacinto

Westward Expansion

For 10 years Texas will attempt to join the Union…. but there’s a problem

• the South is happy, North is not
• why???

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SLAVERY

Westward Expansion

Webster-Ashburton Treaty (1842)

• defined the border between U.S. and British Canada

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...Oregon Country border is still undefined

Westward Expansion

James K. Polk

• Won the 1844 election over Henry Clay
• Democrat
• he was a Dark Horse candidate aka little known and not likely to succeed
• his platform called for expansion

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Westward Expansion

James K. Polk ran for president with 3 goals:

• annex Texas
• gain control of Oregon
• acquire California

Westward Expansion

One area of dispute was the Oregon Territory

• Russia, England and the US all claimed it
• The US and England nearly fought over it

The slogan 54° 40 or Fight! applies to the disputed boundary of Oregon

• Compromise with GB at 49° latitude
• the North was outraged, wanted all land

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Westward Expansion

Texas Annexation

• In December 1845 Texas entered the Union as a slave state
• but we had constant issues with Mexico over the border
• USA claimed border was Rio Grande river

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Mexican-American War

EQ: What did the U.S. gain from the Mexican-American War?

Mexican-American War

Polk sent General Zachary Taylor to the Rio Grande River to guard the border with 4,000 troops

• this was the area in dispute btwn Mexico and U.S.
• Mexican troops end up firing on American soldiers
• Polk: they shed “American blood on American soil”
• War is declared!

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Mexican-American War

Mexican-American War (1846-1847)

• Polk was President
• we already had Texas; it was NOT gained in the war
• fought to get more land
• Mexico saw this as an invasion (it was)
• The US was split over if they should fight the war (slavery)

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Mexican-American War

The U.S. defeated the Mexico easily… they were not prepared for war

• Mexico City was invaded; war over

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo 1848

• ended Mexican-American War
• set the boundary of Mexico and Texas at the Rio Grande River
• Mexico lost about 1\3 of their land
• we paid $15 million to them
• land gained was the Mexican Cession

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Mexican-American War

Before the treaty was passed a major issue was slavery expansion

• David Wilmot introduced the Wilmot Proviso that stated any land taken from Mexico would not have slaves
• it passed in the House but was defeated in the Senate
• why????

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Mexican-American War

Gadsden Purchase

• more land purchased from Mexico
• $10 million
• for the purpose of building transcontinental railroad
• Finalized the border of the south

Mexican-American War

California Gold Rush

1848: Gold found in CA

• once news spread huge migration to CA
• people who went called Forty-Niners

1847: 14,000 ppl -> 1852: 225,000

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Outcome:

• in 1849 CA applies to be a state
• 15 free and 15 slave states in the Senate
• what to do????

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Sectional Differences

Industrialization mostly occurred in the….

Northeast

factors that contributed to industrialization in the NE:

• capital ($)
• cheap labor
• fast-flowing rivers

Sectional Differences

In the South, agriculture and slavery remain the basis of the economy

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3 developments helped boost cotton production:

• cotton gin
• westward expansion (FL, TN, AL, MS, TX)
• industrialization

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Sectional Differences

“King Cotton” = ruler of the economy

• cotton and cotton textiles were over 50% of all American exports
• slaves are more valuable to their owners than ever before

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Sectional Differences

Economic Consequences

• South too dependent on one crop
• limited urban growth (very few cities)
• limited population growth (gave the North more power)

Social Consequences

• no education for slaves, limited education for poor whites
• racism was central in society
• slavery is no longer a “necessary evil” but a positive good

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Sectional Differences

Missouri Compromise

• in 1819, Missouri (MO) applies to become 23rd state
• without MO, there is an equal number of slave and free states
• this means EQUAL POWER IN SENATE

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11 Free States

+

11 Slave States

=

Equal Representation

Sectional Differences

Missouri Compromise

• in 1820 Henry Clay came up with a compromise
• MO would be slave state
• Maine would enter as a free state
• Line would be drawn at 36 30’ - states above would be free, states below would be open to slavery

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