Manifest Destiny and Its Legacy

1. Manifest Destiny and Its Legacy Chapter 17

2. Essential Question? • How can expansion lead to conflict and change?

3. President William Harrison • Veteran of War of 1812 • 1st Whig elected president • Gives longest inaugural speech in history – in freezing rain • Dies of pneumonia 4 weeks later!!! • Cabinet • Daniel Webster (Sec. of State)

4. W. Harrison Administration Timeline • March 1841 • Inagurated • April 1841 • Dies

5. “and Tyler, Too!” • VP John Tyler becomes 1st VP to take over presidency • Not a true Whig, but a Democrat placed on ticket to win southern votes. • Against entire Whig platform: anti-BUS, anti-tariff, anti-internal improvement.

6. A President Without a Party • Tyler vetoes bill to create new BUS • Henry Clay and other Whigs expelled him from Whig party. • Cabinet resigns (except Webster) • Tries to mend ties with Whigs by agreeing to a tariff, but this only upsets Democrats.

7. US v. UK, Part 3? • British continued to look down upon Americans. • “tobacco spitting, slave auctioning, lynching, idiots” • Americans had borrowed millions from UK, after Panic of 1837 they had no way to pay it back. • Unsuccessful attempt by Canadians at independence aided by some Americans. • Steamship Caroline, attacked and destroyed while bringing weapons to Canada – hawks call for war. • Lumberjack or Aroostook War – minor flair ups between UK and US over border of Maine • Webster-Ashburton Treaty – Settled border of Maine and Minnesota • Minn. full of iron ore!!

8. Webster-Ashburton Treaty

9. Texas Sized Troubles • Mexico refused to recognize sovereignty of TX. • Threatened war if TX joined US. • Texans outnumbered, began to look for help. • Began to negotiate with UK and France. • UK very interested because of TX’s fertile cotton lands!

10. Lone Star Becomes 28th Star • 1844 election won by Polk on a “annex TX” platform. • North feared that TX would add to power of slave states, not likely to be approved by Congress. • President Tyler beats Polk, annexes TX through a joint resolution 3 days before leaving office. • 1845: Texas annexed • Mexico not very happy!

11. Annexation of Texas

12. Tyler Administration Timeline • 1841 • Tyler assumes presidency • 1842 • Lumberjack War • Webster-Ashburton Treaty • 1845 • Annexation of Texas

13. Oregon Fever • Oregon Country was claimed by US, UK, Spain, and Russia. • Thousands of American pioneers travelled the 2,000 mile Oregon Trail in the 1840s. • Trip took 5 months. • Many perished along the trail!!

14. Oregon Trail

15. 1844 Election • Whigs • Henry Clay (Former Speaker of the House, Sec. of State, Senator) • Democrats • James K. Polk (Speaker of House, former Gov. of TN) • Polk wins, 170 to 105

16. 1844 Election

17. President James K. Polk • Born in NC!! • Supported by Andrew Jackson (called him “Young Hickory”) • Believer in Manifest Destiny • 4 Goals all accomplished in 4 years • 1. Lower tariff • 2. Independent treasury • 3. Acquire California • 4. Settle Oregon dispute

18. Manifest Destiny Belief that God had divinely blessed the American people into controlling North America.

19. 54 ° 40’ or Fight! • Oregon Territory went as far north as Alaska. • US offers to “settle” with UK at 49°, they refuse. • By 1846, UK agrees to 49° • No 54° 40’, no fight

20. Oregon Territory

21. Misunderstandings con Mexico • Mexico believed the border of TX was on the Nueces River, US said Rio Grande (farther south) • Polk sends John Slidell to Mexico to attempt to buy CA for $25 million. • Rejected! • Polk wanted CA because of the fertile land and San Francisco Bay. • In 1840s CA occupied by Mexicans, Indians, and a few American immigrants.

22. Mexican Border?

23. Pretext for War • Since buying CA failed, Polk decided to take it, but he needed a reason for Congress to declare war. • Polk sent the Army, led by General Zachary Taylor, down to the Rio Grande in 1846. • Soon the Mexican Army attacked Taylor, 16 Americans died. • Polk got his wish, Congress declared war!

24. Opposition to War • Young Whig Congressman Abraham Lincoln opposed war (“spot resolution”) • Lost reelection, never heard from again. • Many northerners and abolitionists opposed the war on the basis that it would add more slave states south of the Missouri Compromise line. • Henry David Thoreau went to jail for refusal to pay taxes that paid for war. • Most Americans supported war effort.

25. Mastering of Mexico • Santa Anna was in exile, but US aided his return to Mex. thinking he would bring a peaceful resolution – we were wrong! • General Stephen Kearny captured Santa Fe with little trouble. • John C. Fremont, and other Americans in CA easily overthrew Mexican officials. • Gen. Taylor led the fighting in N. Mexico • Outnumbered 4 to 1 by the Mex. Army, he manages to win the Battle of Buena Vista.

26. Old Fuss and Feathers • Gen. Winfield Scott invaded Veracruz and fought his way into Mexico City. • He had too few troops, harsh terrain, diseases • Managed to overcome odds, take Mexican capital.

27. Major Campaigns of Mexican War

28. Peace Leads to War • Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends war in 1848. • US gets Mexican Cession (CA, NV, AZ, NM, CO, UT) • More land than the Louisiana Purchase • Mexico gets $15 million • Some want to take all of Mexico • What problems exist with this idea? • US image in Latin America forever tarnished • Arguments reignited over slavery in new territory.

29. Civil War Begins • Mexican War a proving ground for future Civil War leaders • Jefferson Davis • Robert Lee • Ulysses Grant • Winfield Scott • Abraham Lincoln • Future Presidents • Taylor • Lincoln • Grant • Wilmot Proviso • Proposed law that would prohibit slavery in Mexican Cession. • Never approved. • Quarreling over slavery will continue to divide nation through the 1850s.

30. Mexican Cession

31. Polk Administration Timeline • 1844 • Election • 1846 • Oregon dispute settled • Mexican War begins • Kearny takes Santa Fe • Fremont takes California • Wilmot Proviso introduced • 1847 • Battle of Buena Vista • Mexico City falls • 1848 • Mexican War ends • Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

32. Essential Question? • How can expansion lead to conflict and change?