Chapter 17 Manifest Destiny and Expansion Section 1 (1840-1860)

1. Chapter 17 • Manifest Destiny and Expansion • Section 1 (1840-1860)

2. Manifest Destiny and Expansion • Manifest Destiny-belief that it was the U.S.’s God-given right to expand from east to west coast. • Reasons: • Spread Christianity & Democracy • Relieve over-crowding • More Farmland & markets for products • Many believed the U.S. was sure to expand all the way to the Pacific Ocean • Believed nothing could stop growth from taking place • Expansionist view became known as manifest destiny – term first used by John O’Sullivan • Roots of manifest destiny lay in Americans’ economic, political, and social experiences

3. Gone West • By 1840s, many Americans had accepted idea of manifest destiny • Many built settlements beyond the boundaries of the U.S. • Supporters of manifest destiny didn’t care about Indians & Mex. already living in the west

4. The Election of 1844 • A key issue was the annexation of TX. • President Tyler too unpopular within his own party to win the nomination for the 1844 election. • The idea of manifest destiny played an important part in the campaign. Texas allying with Britain and ending slavery. • (Whig) Henry Clay, initially opposed annexation of TX & then supported it • (Democratic) James K. Polk supported annexing TX & OR • Clay vs. Polk; Polk won

5. Acquiring New Territory • President Polk was sure that he could bring Oregon and Texas into the U.S. • As more Americans began to settle in the Oregon Country, they began to ask that Oregon become a part of the U.S. • Some politicians thought that OR Country was needed to protect trade b/t U.S. & China • Almost a war b/t U.S. & BR over where the border between the U.S. & Canada should be • Expansionists – “Fifty-four forty or fight!” (54°40’ parallel) Refers to US and GB contest over the Northern boundary of Oregon.

6. Acquiring New Territory (continued) • BR & U.S. agreed border would be 49th parallel • Drew the present-day border between Canada and the U.S. in the Pacific Northwest • OR a U.S. territory in Aug. 1848 • Texas was annexed in Dec. 1845 • Becomes a state; Mex. considered TX a “stolen province” • TX wanted to be annexed to solve financial & military problems

7. War Breaks Out • Mexico cut diplomatic ties to the U.S. after TX was annexed • Argument over TX borders • The U.S. & Mex. both claimed the land b/t the Nueces & Rio Grande Rivers • Before war had been declared, Polk 1st sent Gen. Z. Taylor & troops to Rio Grande (June 1845); War began 1846

9. The War Breaks Out (continued) • Polk sent diplomat John Slidell to Mexico City to negotiate the Texas border dispute. • The president also told Slidell to offer to buy Cali and NM. • Polk offered to buy California & New Mexico from Mexico for $30 million. Mexico would not speak to us.

10. War Breaks Out (continued) • General Taylor 1st marched his troops to the Rio Grande before Congress declared war on Mexico on May 13, 1846 • Mexico attacked Taylor because he wouldn’t move his troops from the region. • Congress declared war on Mex. on May 13, 1846

11. United Streaming Video The Mexican War

12. Chapter 17Manifest Destiny and War (1840-1860) Section 2 The Mexican War

13. Responses to War • U.S. outnumbered but we had better equipment. • Several “1st” w/ Mexican War • 1st U.S. war fought mainly on foreign soil • 1st time many newspapers covered a U.S. conflict • One of the 1st to be photographed • War led to greater national pride

14. Responses to the Mex. War • Transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau & Ralph Waldo Emerson opposed the Mexican War • Many Whigs believed the war was unjustified and unnecessary • The War upset those who were against expansion or war • Northern abolitionists opposed the War b/c worried slave states might develop in the SW • Pro-slavery southerners worried that the new territories might ban slavery

15. American Victories • Gen. Taylor won 2 battles south of the Nueces River before war was declared • Gen. Stephen Kearny attacked NM & Santa Fe & claimed it for the U.S. • Bear Flag Revolt, a group of Amer. settlers declared CA an independent republic

16. American Victories (continued) • US Navy took San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. • In 1846, Ca. was claimed for the U.S. by Commodore Robert Stockton • Polk appointed Gen. Kearny the Gov. of CA during the Mex. War.

17. The War’s End • Gen. Taylor’s successes made him popular “Old Rough and Ready” • Pres. Polk worried that Gen. Taylor was so popular he would run for pres. in 1848 & win. So he replaced him w/ Gen. Winfield Scott. • U.S. forces won the Mex. War after victories at Veracruz, Cerro Gordo & Mex. City

19. Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo • Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mex. War & included the Mexican Cession • Mexican Cession – CA, NV,UT, AZ, NM & parts of CO & WY given to U.S. • TX border fixed at Rio Grande • U.S. agreed to pay Mexico $15 million. • The Treaty was opposed by Whigs, antislavery activists, and antiwar activists-feared acquired territory would become slave states.

20. Gadsden Purchase • Dec. 1853 • Gadsden Purchase- U.S. paid Mex. $10 million for southern parts of AZ & NM • Gave U.S. present-day continental boundaries.

22. Chapter 17Manifest Destiny and War (1840-1860) Section 3 More Settlers Head West (5)

23. Conflicts over Land • After the Mex. War, land disputes started because American settlers ignored the rights of the original people of the Mexico Cession • Most Mexican American & Indians faced legal, economic & social discrimination

24. Conflicts over Land (continued) • New settlers ignored Mexican legal ideas like community property & water rights. • Steady arrival of new settlers and policies of the U.S. government greatly affected American Indians in the Southwest • Indian raiding parties attacked settlers. Settlers retaliated. Started a vicious circle.

25. Cultural Encounters • Despite conflicts, the cultures influenced each other in the Southwest • Settlers used the Pueblo building material known as adobe • The Southwest was being pulled into the market economy, so the Navajo made & sold silver objects & hand made wool blankets

26. The Mormons • Joseph Smith founded the Mormons in 1830 & wrote the Book of Mormon • Mormon men practice Polygamy • The Book of Mormon was made up of religious revelations that Smith claimed to have translated • Some beliefs made them target of persecution – some Mormon men practiced polygamy (one man married to more than one woman at the same time) • Smith killed by Mob in MO (1844). So, Brigham Young became the head of the Church

27. The Mormons (continued) • Mormons decided to go West to UT (Mormon Trail). • In 1860 about 40,000 Mormons lived in UT, most in Salt Lake City • Most who followed the Mormon Trail were Amer. Mormons fleeing persecution & Mormon converts from BR & Scandinavia

28. Chapter 17Manifest Destiny and War (1840-1860) Section 4 The Gold Rush (5)

29. The Forty-Niners (49’ers) • James Marshall discovered gold near Sutter’s Mill (California) on January 24, 1848 • Sutter’s workers quit to search for gold • Stories began spreading across the country • CA Gold Rush of 1849 caused a rise in population for CA • Migrants who went to CA searching for gold were called 49’ers. (80% were Americans)

30. The Forty-Niners (continued) • 49’ers who 49’ers coming from U.S., South America & Europe mostly arrive in San Francisco • went around the Cape of Good Hope (South Amer.) or across Panama were usually from Europe or the eastern U.S. • 49’ers who went by wagon trains through the Rocky Mts or Santa Fe trail were from the Midwest. • Most 49’ers were young, unmarried men • Most 49’ers did not become rich, Few had mining experience

31. Mining Camps & Towns • Mining camps tended to appear & disappear quickly • No law & order • Slaves brought in benefited from California’s position on slavery (most opposed)

32. Immigrants to CA • Famine and economic hardships in southeastern China encouraged many Chinese men to come to America – “travelers to Gold Mountain” • Many Chinese immigrated to CA Between 1849 and 1853 some 24,000 • Chinese immigrants were not welcomed by Americans • Chinese suffered much discrimination but they still opened businesses & were successful. Although Chinese immigrants suffered discrimination in mining camps, many opened their own businesses • German immigrant Levi Strauss earned his fortune in CA by making denim work pants to sell to miners

33. Growth in the West • Business growth, gold mining, and trade transformed California’s economy • CA’s population explosion made it eligible for statehood in 2 yrs (31st in 1850)