Manifest Destiny1803-1853

The United States Expanded from the Atlantic to the Pacific

in 50 years

Manifest Destiny

• A belief shared by many Americans in the mid 1800s that the United States should expand across the continent to the Pacific Ocean.

• President Polk believed it was our manifest destiny, or “obvious fate” to settle land all the way to the Pacific Ocean in order to spread democracy.

Texas: 1830s

• In 1821, Texas was a part of Mexico.

• Stephen Austin was an empresario = agent to bring settlers to Texas.

• Stephen Austin brought the first 300 families to Texas - known as the Old Three Hundred.

• By 1830, 25,000 Americans were living in Texas. They were required to become Mexican citizens and become Catholic.

• The Americans had to follow Mexican law.

• When Americans complained, Mexico closed Texas to further American immigration.

Stephen Austin

The Two Sides

Mexico- More men- Military is better

organized- More money

Texas- Better led- More driven- Supported by

America- Mexico is

politically disorganized

Texas Revolution: 1835-36• After Mexico closed Texas to Americans, Stephen

Austin went to negotiate with the Mexican leader, Antonio López de Santa Anna.

• Austin was jailed, and the Texans revolted.• In February 23- March 6, 1836, Mexico attacked

the Texans at the Alamo. This 13-day siege resulted in the killing of all the Americans (except some women, children and slaves).

• This gave time for the Texans to organize an Army• In April, the Mexican army massacred the Texan

rebels at Goliad.• After the Alamo and Goliad, Sam Houston will

launch a surprise attack Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto. “Remember the Alamo! ”

• During the battle Santa Anna was captured and forced to sign a treaty giving Texas its independence

Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna

Texas Statehood: 1845

• Santa Anna was captured and forced to sign a treaty giving Texas its independence.

• Texas became an independent nation in 1836 called the Lone Star Republic.

• Sam Houston became President.

• Annexation of Texas was delayed:• Worry that adding Texas as a slave state

would upset the balance between free and slave states

• Fear that annexing Texas would lead to war with Mexico

• Texas joined the U.S. and became the 28th state in 1845.

Sam Houston

Oregon Country: 1846

• In 1820, both the U.S. and Britain claimed to own Oregon Country.

• In the 1830s and 1840s, thousands of American pioneers were going west to settle in Oregon Country.

• President Polk wanted all of Oregon to the fifty-four forty parallel. The American people cried, “Fifty-four forty or fight.”

• Neither Polk nor Britain wanted war.

• Britain and the U.S. compromised. They split Oregon in half at the 49th parallel. The U.S. got the southern half.

Bear Flag Revolt: 1846

• Small group of American settlers seized the town of Sonoma.

• Americans declared California an independent nation and made a grizzly bear flag.

• John C. Fremont was leading a mapping expedition in the Sierra Nevadas. He joined the American settlers in their revolt against the Californios.

• Shortly after, U.S. naval forces came ashore in California and raised the stars and stripes. They claimed California for the United States.

War with Mexico: 1846-48

• President Polk wanted to expand the U.S. territory clear to the Pacific Ocean.

• He offered to buy California and New Mexico territories from Mexico for $30 million. Mexico refused.

• After the U.S. annexed Texas in 1845, Mexico and the U.S. disagreed on the Texas border

• The U.S. claimed the Rio Grande River.• Mexico claimed the Nueces River.

• The U.S. sent troops to patrol the border.

• Conflict broke out and the Mexican army killed U.S. troops on “disputed land.”

• Polk declared war, claiming Mexico spilled American blood on American land.

War with Mexico:

1846-48• The U.S. Army had better weapons and

equipment, but it was greatly outnumbered by the Mexican forces and was poorly prepared.

• The U.S. took New Mexico territory without a fight and claimed the territory.

• Zachary Taylor defeats Santa Anna at the Battle of Buena Vista, he was helped by Santa Anna having to leave the battle which he was winning to put down a revolt in Mexico City

• U.S. troops under Winfield Scott (“old fuss and feathers”) capture Mexico City.

• This led to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the war.

Battle of Buena Vista

Mexican Cession: 1848

• In the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico gave the U.S. the territories of California, Nevada and Utah, most of Arizona and New Mexico, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming.

• The US also claimed Texas north of the Rio Grande

• The U.S. paid $15 million for the territory

• Today this is the American southwest.

• Mexican Cession increased the size of the US by 25%

Gadsden Purchase:

1853• After the war with Mexico,

Americans wanted to guarantee that any southern railroad to California would be built completely on American soil.

• US paid $10 million for the southern parts of Arizona and New Mexico.

• The existing boundary between the U.S. and Mexico was fixed.

California Gold Rush:

1849

• Gold was found in Sutter’s Mill in 1848.

• In 1849, about 80,000 gold seekers, known as forty-niners, came to California hoping to strike it rich.

• Panning for gold was the simplest method.

• A miner fills a pan with dirt. He then puts the pan under water and shakes it until any gold settles on the bottom.

Sutter’s Mill

California Gold Rush:

1849• Mining camps sprung up whenever enough people gathered to look for gold.

• At the mining camps, many people prospected (searched for gold). Others ran businesses that catered to the miners - laundry, food, innkeepers, legal services, supplies

Famine and economic hardship in China brought many Chinese to California. However, they faced discrimination and a high tax on foreign miners.

This trail was used after the discovery of gold in California to bring in new miners and settlers

Impact of Gold Rush

• The arrival of 49ers created a population boom

• Immigration increased diversity of population

• California became a state in 1 year

• Growth of new businesses and industry transformed California’s economy

• Gold mining was important, but farming and ranching grew

• Discrimination of Californios and Native Americans

Mormon pioneers leaving Nauvoo in 1846.

The Mormons worked hard, shared their goods and prospered. The Mormons though also made some enemies. Some people reacted angrily to the Mormon

teachings. They saw the Mormon practice of polygamy (allowing a man to have more than one wife at a time) as immoral. Others objected to their

holding common property together. An anti-Mormon mob in Illinois killed Joseph Smith.

Brigham Young, the next Mormon leader, moved his people out of the United States, His destination was Utah, then part of Mexico. The Mormons followed

part of the Oregon Trail to Utah. There they built a new settlement by the Great Salt Lake.

Joseph Smith

Donner Party: 1846

• Settlers bound for California took a southern route known as the California Trail. This path went through the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Settlers tried to cross the mountains before the first snow.

• Guidebooks helped pioneers find their way.

• Lansford Hastings wrote the “Emigrants Guide to Oregon and California.” Hastings’ guide advertised a new shortcut that would save 300-400 miles. Hastings had never traveled the route himself.

• Following Hastings’ guide and shortcut, The Donner Party left the California trail and got lost. They were trapped in the Sierra Nevada in winter. They were stuck without food and resorted to eating the dead to survive. 42 of 87 died.