Chapter 9
Expansion Leads to Conflict
Americans Head West
Americans believed in manifest destiny, the idea that the nation had a God-given right to all of North America.
Major Western Trails
Santa Fe Trail
The first major western trail was the Santa Fe Trail, which stretched 800 miles from Independence, Missouri, to the town of Santa Fe, the capital of Spanish New Mexico. It began as a trade route.
Oregon Trail
The 2,000-mile Oregon Trail stretched from Independence, Missouri, to the rich farming lands of the Willamette Valley in Oregon. It was used by Native Americans, Lewis and Clark, fur traders and mountain men, and finally migrants.
Mormon Trail
Between 1847 and 1853, some 16,000 Mormons migrated west following the 1,300-mile route that became known as the Mormon Trail. It ran from Nauvoo, Illinois, to Salt Lake City in present-day Utah.
News from Sutter’s Mill
In 1848 gold was discovered in the American River at John Sutter’s sawmill in northern California.
When the news reached the United States, most considered it a rumor.
President James K. Polk announced the gold discovery in his State of the Union address on December 5, 1848.
Newspapers across the country carried the story, and thousands of Americans caught “gold fever.”
The Gold Rush
California gold
Getting there
Booming Cities
Major Effects of Westward Migration
The Oregon Treaty
Communication Links
The Spanish Settle Texas
The original inhabitants were Native Americans, living in Texas for thousands of years.
The Spanish explorers were the first Europeans to visit Texas, crossing it several times during the 1500s. Spain claimed Texas based on these explorations. Finding little wealth in the region, they made no attempt to settle.
In 1689, the Spanish discovered the ruins of a French fort built on the coast that had been destroyed by local Indians. Alarmed that the French would try to claim the land, the Spanish came up with a plan to settle Texas.
The mission system
The mission system ends
Americans Move into Texas
The Texas Revolution
American settlers in Texas had to agree to certain conditions in exchange for receiving land. They had to surrender their American citizenship; swear allegiance to Mexico; adopt the Roman Catholic religion; and hold the land for seven years.
Tensions in Texas
The settlers ignored the Mexican rules. They kept bringing in slaves, even after Mexico outlawed slavery. Settlers were still Americans, not Mexican. In 1830, Mexico passed a law halting American immigration and sent troops to Texas to enforce it.
International Tensions
Mexican officials suspected that the U.S. wanted to acquire Texas. Originally claimed as part of the Louisiana Purchase, the U.S. had dropped its claim. But when an offer was made to buy a large part of Texas for $1 million, Mexicans refused, but their fears of U.S. intentions were confirmed.
The Texas Revolution Begins
Tensions between settlers, now calling themselves Texans, and the Mexican government grew continually worse.
After several bloody protests, Texans held conventions to discuss the best course of action. A plan to make Texas a separate Mexican state failed. The new Mexican president, Antonio López de Santa Anna, supported a strong central government and enforced new laws banning state militias.
War came when violence erupted at Gonzales over possession of a cannon. Though small, it was the first battle of the Texas Revolution, and hopes for a peaceful resolution between the Texans and Mexico diminished. At a meeting, called the Consultation, the settlers founded a government and asked Sam Houston to raise an army.
From the Alamo to Independence
The Alamo
Rebel Texan forces captured San Antonio, which contained�a fort called the Alamo. Santa Anna led an army into Texas�to punish the rebels and put down the unrest once and for all.
Santa Anna
On February 23, 1836, Santa Anna’s force of 6,000 soldiers�reached San Antonio. A demand of surrender was met with�cannon fire from William Travis. The Mexican army laid siege to�the fort, pounding it for 12 days and nights. The fort was finally�stormed, with nearly all defenders killed.
March 2, 1836
While the Alamo was under siege, a small group of Texans met at Washington- on-the-Brazos to issue the Texas Declaration of Independence. They wrote a constitution for the new, independent nation.
Fighting for Independence
The Runaway Scrape
Texans victorious
The Annexation of Texas
Proponents
Opponents
Tensions between the United States and Mexico
Mexico responds
The annexation of Texas enraged the Mexican government. Mexico had refused to recognize the Republic of Texas, and they broke off diplomatic ties with the U.S. after the vote for annexation.
Polk and Manifest Destiny
In March 1845, James K. Polk became president. He wanted the nation to acquire the land between Texas and the Pacific Ocean. These sparsely populated territories, New Mexico and California, belonged to Mexico. Polk sought an opportunity to acquire these remote regions.
The boundary dispute
The U.S. needed to secure the boundary between Texas and Mexico. Texans put the border at the Rio Grande. Mexico maintained it was at the Nueces River. There were also disputes about money, and Polk wanted these issues resolved.
Slidell’s Trip
In the fall of 1845, Polk sent a special envoy to Mexico.
John Slidell arrived with a U.S. offer to cancel the $3 million in claims against Mexico in exchange for Mexico’s recognition of the Rio Grande as its boundary with the U.S.
He was further authorized to pay Mexico up to $30 million to purchase New Mexico and California for the United States.
Neither of the rivals for Mexico’s presidency would meet with him. An angry Slidell recommended to Polk that Mexico be punished.
The Mexican-American War
The war starts
While Slidell was in Mexico, Polk ordered General Zachary Taylor to take his troops into the disputed border territory. The U.S. used the event of a minor skirmish to declare war on Mexico.
Fighting the war
American forces under Taylor advanced into northern Mexico. General Winfield Scott marched his forces into Mexico City. In a matter of months, U.S. forces had captured New Mexico and California. When their capital fell, the Mexican government was forced to give in.
Results of the war
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hildago (1848) forced Mexico to turn over a huge tract of land known as the Mexican Cession, while the U.S. paid Mexico $15 million. Debate continues over whether the Mexican-American War was justified.