“Manifest Destiny” Westward Expansion

1. “Manifest Destiny”Westward Expansion “From Sea to Shining Sea”

2. 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: • 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.

3. 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.

4. “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.

5. 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.”

6. Trouble in Texas • The colonists who came to Texas promised to • 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.

7. 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, the Battle of Gonzales, (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.

8. 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.

9. Texas is Annexed • 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. Remember the Alamo!

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. War with Mexico • 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 two armies engaged in battle, 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 claiming it was to gain land for slavery. • Polk had a three part war plan: • Drive Mexico out of the disputed territory • Seize California and New Mexico • Take the capital, Mexico City • All three parts were successful. The U.S. lost 1721 men and 11,000 to disease. The war cost the U.S. $100 million.

13. 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 gave up California and the New Mexico territory to the U.S. • The United States paid Mexico $15 million for the territories. • In 1853 the United States paid Mexico $10 million for a small strip of land along the southern edge of Arizona and New Mexico that was needed by American railroad builders. • This was called the Gadsden Purchase. With the Gadsden Purchase, America reached its present size and completed its quest for Manifest Destiny.

14. The California Gold Rush • In 1848 gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill on the American River in northern 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 Treaty 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.

15. Statehood for California • Very few forty-niners became wealthy. Most miners found little gold and wasted money they had earned on gambling. • Merchants made HUGE profits. They were able to charge whatever they wanted for goods. (Example: a dozen eggs cost a miner $10.) • Levi Strauss arrived to mine for gold but instead made a fortune selling sturdy denim pants to miners. • There were hardly any females there so most miners 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. (Compromise of 1850- Henry Clay) • California eventually became a state later that same year (1850).

16. The 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 very strong 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.