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Created by Angela Zorn @kyteacher

Essential Standard

Learning Target

HS.UH.I.UE.2 Gather information and evidence from credible sources representing a variety of perspectives relevant to compelling and/or supporting questions in U.S. history.

We will evaluate the extent to which the nineteenth century belief in “Manifest Destiny” led to the growing sectional conflict in the United States.

MANIFEST

DESTINY

THE MOVEMENT WEST

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EVALUATE THE EXTENT TO WHICH THE 19TH CENTURY BELIEF IN ‘MANIFEST DESTINY’ CONTRIBUTED TO THE GROWING SECTIONAL CONFLICT IN THE U.S.

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Millions of Americans in the 1840s & 1850s believed that God had chosen Americans to control the Western Hemisphere.

Felt that it was their mission to spread democratic institutions from "sea to shining sea“
This often came at the expense of the Native Americans living in the region
Led New York journalist John L. Sullivan to coin the phrase "Manifest Destiny" in 1844

MANIFEST DESTINY

Directions: Use the text box to answer the following question.

What does the term Manifest Destiny mean?
How did it influence American policy in the 1840s & 1850s?

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DOCUMENT #1

MANIFEST DESTINY

SOURCE

ANALYSIS

THE DOCUMENT SAYS…

THIS SHOWS…

America is destined for better deeds. It is our unparalleled glory that we have no reminisces of battlefields, but in defense of humanity, of the oppressed of all nations, of the rights of conscience, the rights of personal enfranchisement…The expansive future is our arena, and for our history…We are the nation of human progress, and who will, what can, set limits to our onward march? Providence is with us, and no earthly power can. We point to the everlasting truth on the first page of our national declaration, and we proclaim and we proclaim to the millions of other lands, that “the gates of hell”—the powers of aristocracy and monarchy—“shall not prevail against it”…Yes we are the nation of progress, of individual freedom, of universal enfranchisement…freedom of conscience, freedom of person, freedom of trade…This is our highest destiny, and in nature’s eternal, inevitable decree of cause and effect we must accomplish it…our country is destined to be the great nation of futurity…

Source: John L. O’Sullivan on Manifest Destiny, 1839.

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Democrats supported "Young Hickory" James K. Polk

Sought to annex Texas & gain Oregon up to the 54-40 parallel

Whigs supported Henry Clay
Liberty Party: 1st party created to block the extension of slavery

Candidate: James G. Birney, founder of Kentucky Anti-Slavery Society
Party ran in both 1840 and 1844 elections

Polk d. Clay 170-105 (Clay lost NY by 5K votes)

THE ELECTION OF 1844

Directions: Use the text box to answer the following question.

Who were the candidates in the Election of 1844?
What issues were central to the campaign?

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THE ELECTION OF 1844

Who won the Election of 1844?

Why isn’t the Liberty Party shown on the map?

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James K. Polk was born in North Carolina & had previously served as both Speaker of the House & governor of Tennessee.
While in Congress, Polk was a Jackson supporter who used his position to attack the BUS & strictly enforced the gag rule limiting debate on slavery.
As president, Polk supported a 4-point program:

Lower the tariff
Restore the Independent Treasury System (1846)
Settle the Oregon dispute
Acquire California

PRESIDENT JAMES K. POLK

Directions: Use the text box to answer the following question.

How did Polk show his loyalty to Jackson while serving in the House of Representatives?
What did he hope to accomplish as president?

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PRESIDENT JAMES K. POLK

PRESIDENT

JAMES K. POLK

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE

IDEOLOGY

GOALS

ONE WORD

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In the 1820s, Britain and the US agreed to share control of the Oregon Territory.
By the 1840s, a flood of American pioneers came to Oregon on a trail blazed by Jedediah Smith.

Oregon Trail began at Independence, MO or Council Bluffs, IA

2,000 mile trail; average of 17 deaths per mile for pioneers
1846: 5,000 U.S. settlers lived south of Columbia River; British had only 700 people living north of river
Early in 1846, Britain agreed to 49^th parallel

Directions: Use the text box to answer the following question.

How had Britain & the U.S. handled the Oregon Territory in the 1820s?
Why did that arrangement change in the 1840s?

THE OREGON TERRITORY

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DOCUMENT #2

THE OREGON TERRITORY

SOURCE

ANALYSIS

THE DOCUMENT SAYS…

THIS SHOWS…

Our title to the country of the Oregon is "clear and unquestionable," and already are our people preparing to perfect that title by occupying it with their wives and children. But eighty years ago our population was confined on the west by the ridge of the Alleghenies. Within that period—within the lifetime, I might say, of some of my hearers—our people, increasing to many millions, have filled the eastern valley of the Mississippi, adventurously ascended the Missouri to its headsprings, and are already engaged in establishing the blessings of self-government in valleys of which the rivers flow to the Pacific. The world beholds the peaceful triumphs of the industry of our emigrants. To us belongs the duty of protecting them adequately wherever they may be upon our soil. The jurisdiction of our laws and the benefits of our republican institutions should be extended over them in the distant regions which they have selected for their homes.

Source: James K. Polk, Inaugural Address, March 1845

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During the 1820s, Stephen F. Austin led a group of 300 American settlers into Mexico.

When the Mexican government outlawed slavery in 1829, the settlers began to organize.

After years of the fighting, the American settlers in Texas fought the Texas Revolution from 1835-1836.

Battle of the Alamo: 100+ Americans, including Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett, died
Inspired 100s of Americans to fight for Texan independence

In spite of their losses, the settlers ruled themselves as the Republic of Texas from 1836-1846.

Mexico refused to recognize Texan independence & threatened war if the U.S. tried to annex the territory

Directions: Use the text box to answer the following questions:

Why did American settlers move into Mexico in the 1820s? What changed?
How did the Battle of the Alamo impact the Texas Revolution?

THE TEXAS REVOLUTION

Learn more about the Battle of the Alamo.

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Texas was the leading issue in the Election of 1844.

Southerners strongly supported annexation
Opponents feared the expansion of slavery into the new region

Then in 1845, Congress approved a joint resolution calling for the annexation of Texas.

Texas ratified the agreement in December 1845, making it the 28th state
Mexico was outraged, particularly about the boundaries which included the disputed Nueces strip

Directions: Use the text box to answer the following question.

Why did opponents resist the annexation of Texas?
What was Mexico’s biggest issue with the Texas annexation in 1845?

THE TEXAS REVOLUTION

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DOCUMENT #3

THE TEXAS REVOLUTION

SOURCE

ANALYSIS

THE DOCUMENT SAYS…

THIS SHOWS…

Source: James Baillie, “Texas Coming In!,” 1844.

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Polk was sworn into office in the midst of this dispute, but his focus was on California.

In an effort to improve relations, he sent John Slidell to Mexico with an offer of $30 million for both CA & the disputed Nueces strip
Mexico refused to receive Slidell or hear his offer

In response, Polk ordered 4000 troops led by General Zachary Taylor to cross the Nueces River and approach the Rio Grande.

April 1846: Mexican troops crossed the river and attacked Taylor and his men; 12 Americans were killed

THE MEXICAN WAR

Directions: Use the text box to answer the following question.

How did Polk respond to the Texas issue after taking office in 1845?
What happened as a result?

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Polk called on Congress to declare war claiming Mexico had invaded our territory and “shed American blood on American soil!”

Quickly approved with Southern Democrats in strong support
14 Whigs, including John Q. Adams, voted against the war
Spot Resolutions: Rep. Abraham Lincoln sought the exact “spot” where the Americans had died

Directions: Use the text box to answer the following question.

What did Polk claim in his war message to Congress?
What were the Spot Resolutions?

THE MEXICAN WAR

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THE MEXICAN WAR

TEXAS REVOLUTION

ELECTION OF 1844

ANNEXATION OF TEXAS

NUECES RIVER INCIDENT

DECLARATION OF WAR

SPOT RESOLUTIONS

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DOCUMENT #4

THE MEXICAN WAR

SOURCE

ANALYSIS

THE DOCUMENT SAYS…

THIS SHOWS…

…There are thousands who are in opinion opposed to slavery and to the war, who yet effect do nothing to put an end to them; who sit down with their hands in their pockets, and say they know not what to do, and do nothing. What is the price of an honest man and patriot today? They hesitate, and they regret, and sometimes they petition; but they do nothing in earnest and with effect. They will wait, well disposed, for others to remedy the evil, that they may no longer have it to regret. …

Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?

If injustice is part….of government…then, I say, break the law….Cast your whole vote, not a strip of paper merely, but your whole influence. A minority is powerless while it conforms to the majority but it is irresistible when it clogs by its whole weight. If the alternative is to keep all just men in prison, or give up war and slavery, the State will not hesitate which to choose. If a thousand men were not to pay their tax-bills this year, that would not be a violent and bloody measure, as it would be to pay them, and enable the State to commit violence and shed innocent blood.

Source: Henry David Thoreau, On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, 1849.

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After the defeat of its army & fall of its capital, Mexico entered into peace negotiations with the U.S.

Resulted in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Mexico ceded 55% of its territory, including California, Nevada, New Mexico, & Arizona
Also agreed to relinquish claims to Texas & recognize the Rio Grande as its southern boundary
The U.S. paid Mexico $15 million & assumed claims of U.S. citizens against Mexico
Approved by the Senate 38-14 in spite of bitter debate

Directions: Use the text box to answer the following question.

What did Mexico agree to in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo?
What did the U.S. give up in return?

THE MEXICAN WAR

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The most significant impact of the war was the renewed debate over slavery.

The Wilmot Proviso was first introduced at the start of the war in 1846 (failed), then again in 1847 (failed), and finally in 1848 (failed)

Proposed a ban on slavery in any territory acquired as a result of the Mexican War
Democrats in Congress suggested popular sovereignty as an alternative to the Proviso

Additionally…

U.S. territory increased by 1/3 (including Texas); bigger than Louisiana Purchase
Support for “Manifest Destiny” increased in U.S.
Latin America began to negatively view U.S. as the "Colossus of the North“
U.S. forces gained experience in war; would effect scope of Civil War

RESULTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR

Learn more about the Wilmot Proviso.

Directions: Use the text box to answer the following questions:

What was the Wilmot Proviso? Why did it fail?
What were some of the other impacts of the Mexican War?

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POPULAR

SOVEREIGNTY

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DOCUMENT #5

RESULTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR

SOURCE

ANALYSIS

THE DOCUMENT SAYS…

THIS SHOWS…

But, sir the issue now presented is not whether slavery shall exist unmolested where it now is, but whether it shall be carried to new and distant regions, now free, where the footprint of a slave cannot be found. This, sir, is the issue....We are fighting this war for Texas and for the South. I affirm it - every intelligent man knows it - Texas is the primary cause of this war....

� Now, sir, we are told that California is ours, that New Mexico is ours - won by the valor of our arms. They are free. Shall they remain free? Shall these fair provinces be the inheritance and homes of the whole labor of freemen or the black labor of slaves? This, sir, is the issue- this the question. The North has the right, and her representatives here have the power.

Source: Speech by David Wilmot: Appeals for Free Soil, 1847.

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Democrats nominated Senator Lewis Cass (MI) & Representative William Butler (KY) who had both opposed the Wilmot Proviso
Whigs, hoping to repeat their success from 1840, convinced Zachary Taylor to run

Supported by Whig leaders like William Seward & Abraham Lincoln

This led some anti-slavery Democrats & Whigs to form the Free Soil Party, nominating former president Martin Van Buren

The party platform endorsed the Wilmot Proviso & supported free labor in the western territories

THE ELECTION OF 1848

Directions: Use the text box to answer the following question.

Why did the Whigs nominate Zachary Taylor for president in 1848?
Why did his nomination lead some to form the Free Soil Party?

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THE ELECTION OF 1848

Who won the Election of 1848?

What do you notice about the voting patterns in 1848?

How do you think that will impact elections in the future?

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The discovery of gold in California in 1848 had increased its population & made the territory eligible for statehood.

Forced a debate over slavery in Mexican Cession Territories
Henry Clay & Stephen Douglas called for compromise
John C. Calhoun suggested secession over the issue
Daniel Webster defended the compromise in the famous “Seventh of March Speech”

Infuriated Northern abolitionists like William Seward who claimed that there was a “higher law” than the Constitution that demanded an end to slavery

THE COMPROMISE OF 1850

Directions: Use the text box to answer the following questions:

How did the Gold Rush impact the politics of the period?
Why did abolitionists oppose attempts at compromise on the issue?

Learn more about the Compromise of 1850.

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DOCUMENT #6

THE COMPROMISE OF 1850

SOURCE

ANALYSIS

THE DOCUMENT SAYS…

THIS SHOWS…

I wish to speak to-day, not as a Massachusetts man, nor as a Northern man, but as an American….

…[I]n the excited times in which we live, there is found to exist a state of crimination and recrimination between the North and South. There are lists of grievances produced by each; and those grievances, real or supposed, alienate the minds of one portion of the country from the other, exasperate the feelings, and subdue the sense of fraternal affection, patriotic love, and mutual regard….

…I hear with distress and anguish the word "secession," especially when it falls from the lips of those who are patriotic, and known to the country, and known all over the world, for their political services. Secession! Peaceable secession! Sir, your eyes and mine are never destined to see that miracle…. There can be no such thing as peaceable secession….Peaceable secession is an utter impossibility. Is the great Constitution under which we live, covering this whole country, is it to be thawed and melted away by secession, as the snows on the mountain melt under the influence of a vernal sun, disappear almost unobserved, and run off? No, Sir! No, Sir! I will not state what might produce the disruption of the Union; but, Sir, I see as plainly as I see the sun in heaven what that disruption itself must produce; I see that it must produce war….

Source: Daniel Webster, Seventh of March Speech, 1850.

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Congress was deadlocked on the issue, & Taylor, a slaveholder himself, was likely to veto any compromise.

Then Taylor died suddenly after attending a fundraising event for the Washington Monument
President Fillmore signed the Compromise of 1850 into law

Under its terms:

California was admitted as a free state
Slavery would decided by popular sovereignty in Utah & New Mexico
The slave trade was abolished in Washington, D.C.
Fugitive Slave Act was strengthened

THE COMPROMISE OF 1850

Directions: Use the text box to answer the following question.

How did Taylor’s death impact the passage of the Compromise of 1850?
What happened as a result?

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THE COMPROMISE OF 1850

INDIVIDUAL #1	INDIVIDUAL #2	INDIVIDUAL #3

IMPORTANT FACTS

HEADLINE

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DOCUMENT #7

THE COMPROMISE OF 1850

SOURCE

ANALYSIS

THE DOCUMENT SAYS…

THIS SHOWS…

Sir, what protection does this law lend to the poor, weak, oppressed, degraded slave whose flesh had often quivered under the lash of his inhuman owner? Whose youth had been spent in labor for another? Whose intellect has been nearly blotted out? When he seeks an asylum in a land of freedom, this worse than barbarous law sends the officers of government to chase him down. The people are constrained to become his pursuers….

Sir, there is not a man in this body – there is not an intelligent man in the free states – but knows if he delivers a fugitive into the custody of his pursuers, that he will be carried to the South and sold to the sugar and cotton plantations. And his life will be sacrificed in five years if employed on the sugar plantations and in seven years on the cotton plantations….

To capture a slave and send him to the South, to die under a torture of five years, is far more criminal than ordinary murder. Sir, we will not commit this crime. Let me say to the President, no power of government can compel us to involve ourselves in such guilt. No! The freemen of Ohio will never turn out to chase the panting fugitive – they will never be metamorphosed into bloodhounds, to track him to his hiding place, and seize and drag him out, and deliver him to his tormentors. Rely upon it, they will die first. Let no man tell me there is no higher law than this fugitive bill. We feel there is a law of right, of justice, of freedom, implanted in the breast of every intelligent human being that bids him look with scorn upon this libel upon all that is called law.

Source: Joshua Giddings, Speech in Congress, 1850.

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Following the passage of the Compromise of 1850, Harriet Beecher Stowe began writing Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

Stowe, who had lived in Cincinnati, was an abolitionist & supported the Underground Railroad
First published the story as a serial in an anti-slavery journal, then as a book the following year
It depicted the horrors of slavery & showed that it touched all of society, not just those who were directly involved
In less than a year, the book sold over 300,000 copies

UNCLE TOM’S CABIN

Directions: Use the text box to answer the following question.

How did Uncle Tom’s Cabin impact the growing slavery debate in the United States?