Westward Expansion

Territorial Acquisitions and Statehood

Road to Statehood• U.S. acquired territories through treaties, cessions, or annexation.

• Territories were organized and given self-rule by Congress

• As the territory’s population grew and the government became organized, it would apply for statehood

• Constitutional convention would convene,and upon ratification of a constitution, Congress would admit the state to the “Union”

Important Words

• Cession (To cede): When a land is transferred through a treaty or purchase.

• Annexation (To annex): When a smaller, less powerful entity, is merged with a larger more powerful nation. Often, this can be done forcibly.

Louisiana Purchase1803

• Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of France– After war with Spain, re-acquired Louisiane

– Had difficulty managing colonies in Caribbean

• Thomas Jefferson, president• Bought 828,000 Square miles west of the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains

• Total cost: $23,213,568• Doubled the size of the U.S.• Purchased land became the Missouri Territory

Louisiana Purchase1803

Adams-Onis Treaty1819

• James Monroe, President• John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State negotiated treaty with Luis de Onis of Spain

• Under treaty, U.S. bought Florida from Spain for approximately $5,000,000.

• Ratified by 1821

Missouri Compromise1820

• In 1820, there were 22 states in “The Union”– 11 free, 11 slave

• Missouri applied as a slave state• Unequal balance of free and slave states• Henry Clay, “The Great Compromiser”• Maine enters as free state, Missouri entered as slave state– Future states admitted to the Union north of MO’s southern boundary would be free.

– Future states admitted to the Union south of MO’s southern boundary would be slave.

Texan War of Independence

• After fierce war with Mexico from 1835-36, Texas became an independent republic.

• The Battle of the Alamo– February 23-March 6, 1836– Spanish Mission in present day San Antonio– Defended by about 180 White, Black, and “Tejanos” (Mexican Texans)

– 4500-6000 Mexican troops– Every defender killed, but held off Mexican Army and caused over 1500 casualties

– Allowed Sam Houston, Texan general, to organize for ultimate victory later

Manifest Destiny

• Belief that it was America’s mission and duty to expand

• To spread the “boundary” of democratic freedoms across the continent

• Other political factors at work:– High birth rate/population expansion– Frontier land was cheap/free– Land ownership was a means for self-sufficiency

– Maritime merchants saw an opportunity to build trading ports on the West Coast

The Mexican War1846-48

• Manifest Destiny fueled expansion west• President John Tyler answered the “Texas Question” by offering Texas annexation as a slave state in 1845

• Sent agents to Mexico to explain U.S. position

• Mexico received information as a call to war

• Mexico had a vision for a revival of “New Spain”

The Mexican War1846-48

• James K. Polk became president in 1845

• Sent troops to the Mexican border in 1846 as a show of force.

• Fighting erupted, and war ensued for several years.– Zachary Taylor and Sam Houston: American Generals

• War ended with Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo1848

• Mexican Cession• Exchange of $15,000,000 ($313,000,000 in 2008)

• U.S. acquires territory of present day CA, NV, UT, AZ, CO, and NM

Compromise of 1850• 1848: Gold is found at Sutter’s Mill, CA• Gold rush caused massive boom in CA’s population

• 1849: CA applies for entry to Union as free state

• Also many squabbles over Mexican Cessation (AZ,NM, UT, CO)

• Henry Clay• Compromise: CA would enter as free state other territories would determine status based on “popular sovereignty”

Kansas Nebraska Act• 1854• Repealed the Missouri Compromise• Now, the border between Kansas and Nebraska was the

new “dividing line” between slave and free states.• Allowed for new states and territories to decide by

popular sovereignty whether to be free or slave.• Controversial, because Kansas and Nebraska were both

north of the Missouri Compromise boundary. Some felt that slavery was creeping north.

• Lincoln-Douglas debates: response– Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln– Lincoln, in a three hour speech, outlined the

moral, legal, and economic reasons why slavery was wrong.

– Set the stage for Lincoln’s political future