Territorial and Economic Expansion

1830-1860

Manifest Destiny was the belief that the United States had a divine mission to extend its power and

civilization across America.

– 1840’s: this included Mexico and Central America.

– 1890’s: this included the Caribbean and islands in the Pacific Ocean.

• Forces: nationalism, population increase, economic development, technological advances, reform ideals

• Northerners saw Manifest Destiny as a southern attempt to spread slavery.

AMERICANS IN TEXAS•The Mexican government gave 18,000 mi2 of land to Moses & Stephen Austin to sell to settlers.•American settlement was legal (contracts w/ Mexican gov’t)

–American settlers agreed to become Catholic & Mexican citizens–Austin hand-picked settlers (prosperous southern slave-owners—cotton)–Americans outnumbered Tejanos 2:1

•1828: Mexicans sought tighter control over the North-restricted American immigration-outlawed slavery Americans were angry-enforced taxes

-Mediation difficult; in 1836, Sam Houston revolted and declared Texas independent.• Americans & Tejanos were defeated by Santa Anna @ the Alamo (1836)• Sam Houston led an army in surprise attack of Santa Anna’s troops• A forced May 1836 treaty established the Rio Grande as the border of Texan

Republic.• The Mexican Congress refused to honor the treaty; The United States was slow to

annex (agree to add) Texas due to protests in North and possible war with Mexico.

Conflict over Texas

Boundary DisputesMaine

• Lumbermen broke out into a fight (Aroostook War)

• The Webster-Ashburton Treaty – split the disputed territory

between Maine and Canada– established Minnesota’s

boundary

Oregon4 countries had claimed Oregon1. Spain (rescinded in Adams-Onis

Treaty)2. Russia3. Great Britain

• Hudson Fur Trading company’s trade

4. United States• Discovered Columbia River• Lewis and Clark’s expedition• Fur trading pose and fort in

Astoria• 5,000 Americans had settled n

Oregon to farm.Americans saw annexing Oregon as their

manifest destiny

Election of 1844• James Polk won.

• Committed to expansion and manifest destiny

• Favored annexation of Texas, Oregon and California.

• “fifty-four forty or fight”Annexing Texas

• President Tyler pushed annexation of Texas through Congress.

• Viewed as a mandate from election

Dividing Oregon• Polk agreed to the southern half of Oregon (49°)• Granted Vancouver Island AND Navigation rights to Britain.• Did not want to fight a war with both Britain and Mexico

War with Mexico Immediate Causes• Polk directed Gen. Zachary Taylor to move his

army to the Rio Grande area claimed by Mexico.• 1846: a Mexican general captured a US army

patrol.• Polk sent his war message to Congress, and most

(except Northern Whigs) approved.– Lincoln’s spot resolutions challenged Polk’s claims

Military Campaigns• The war was fought in Mexican territory with small

armies.• Gen. Kearney took Santa Fe, New Mexico, and

California.• John Fremont took over Northern California and

declared it an independent republic.• General Taylor pushed past the Rio Grande (Buena

Vista), and Gen. Winfield Scott took Mexico City in 1847.

Consequences of the War1. Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (Mexican Cession-1848)

• Mexico recognized the Rio Grande as the southern border of Texas.• The United States would take possession of California and New Mexico (The Mexican Cession) for $15 million.

2. Wilmot Proviso [slavery controversy]• David Wilmot attached an amendment onto a Bill prohibiting slavery in new territories. It was defeated in the Senate.

PROPOSED! NOT PASSED!!3. Prelude to Civil War

• The Mexican War increased tensions between North and South.• Acquisition of new land renewed the debate over slavery.• Northerners saw the war as a southern plot to extend slavery.• Ultimately, this debate led to Civil War.

Manifest Destiny in the SouthOstend Manifesto

• American diplomats met secretly in Belgium to negotiate purchasing Cuba from Spain.

• Americans found out and were angry, so the plan was halted.

Walker Expedition• William Walker took over

Nicaragua in 1855.• He hoped to develop a proslavery

central American empire.• Central American countries

invaded and executed him.

Clayton-Bulwer Treaty (1850)• This was an agreement between

the United States and Britain that neither country would take control of a future canal route in Central America.

• This treaty was replaced in 1901.

Gadsden Purchase• America paid Mexico an additional strip

of land for $10 million for railroads.• It included New Mexico and Arizona.

Post-Civil War Expansion• 1867: William Seward acquired Alaska.• From 1850-1870, issues of the Civil War

overshadowed expansionism.

Settlement of Western TerritoriesFur Traders’ Frontier

• Fur traders (“mountain men”) were the first settlers to move out West.

• In the 1820’s, they held yearly rendez-vous in the Rocky Mountains with Native Americans to trade animal skins.

• They provided early information about trails and frontier conditions.

• By the 1840’s the beaver population in the West was mostly destroyed.

Overland Trails A large group of settlers moved West hoping to farm in

California and Oregon.They followed the Oregon Santa Fe, California, and Mormon

trails, which began at the Missouri River.In 1845, 5,000 went to Oregon; in 1848, 3,000 went to

California.Settlers travelled in “trains,” hired “pilots,” and drew up

constitutions.They faced many risks:• Drowning, dehydration, cholera, axe wounds, children being

run over, etc…In 1869, the Transcontinental Railroad was the end of wagon

trains.

Settlement of Western TerritoriesMining Frontier

In January 1848, James Marshall found gold in a stream; he and others started panning for gold.

That fall, the East Coast heard of the gold, and the following year, thousands (called “forty-niners” ) left their farms and jobs to seek their fortune.

• 80% were American.• Mexicans and Latin Americans, Europeans and

Asians all moved West.• In 1852, 20,000 Chinese miners arrived in San

Francisco.• Mining camps “boomed” to life, then ”busted”

when gold was found elsewhere, leaving ghost towns.

Farming FrontierThe government provided affordable land for

people to move out ad start homesteads and begin farming.

Only the middle class could afford to move out west, so the poor had to stay in the east.

Frontier life was isolated, but communities developed over time, modeled after the east coast or foreign communities for immigrants.

Urban FrontierFrom 1848-1850, San Francisco grew from 1,000 to 35,000.From 1848-1852, California grew from 11,000 to 100,000 (whites)• California became large, affluent, culturally sophisticated, and multicultural (though unequal).• California Indians were exterminated.• Californios’ land was taken away.• Racism was consistently directed toward the Chinese.

Expanding Economy

Industrial Technology• The inventions of the sewing

machine, the telegraph, factory-produced shoes, clothing, tools, and iron products for railroads moved the country away from home-production and sped up communication and transportation across the country.

Railroads

• Railroad lines expanded rapidly and emerged as America’s largest industry.

• Merchants and farmers would buy stocks in railroad companies to connect their area to the outside world.

• The government helped railroads expand by granting land, loans. And tax breaks.

• Rapid, cheap transportation promoted western agriculture and united the Midwest and Northeast.

Foreign CommerceFactors that caused a growth in imports and exports:1. Shipping firms encouraged trade by departing on a regular schedule.2. Demand for whale oil created a whaling boom, which helped New England

merchants.3. The American clipper ship was faster and sped up the trip from New York to San

Francisco.4. Steamships replaced clipper ships in the 1850’s.5. The government sent envoys who convinced Japan to open two ports to U.S. trade.

Panic of 1857• Prices dropped for Midwestern farmers• There was unemployment in northern

cities.• The South was less affected (cotton

prices were high) [Could the South sustain itself independently?]