Journal # 39 (Last Journal!)

1. Journal #39 (Last Journal!) • Manifest destiny – the view that the U.S. had a special mission and God given right to expand westward • Forty-niners – gold seekers who flocked to California after 1849 • Prospect – to search (usually for gold) • Persecute – to cause someone to suffer because of their race, political, or religious beliefs • Inspired – stimulated to action

2. The Mexican War and the Gold Rush 14.3 and 14.4

3. Information to Know Bonus Questions Presidents 10 - 12 10. John Tyler (took over after WHH died – 1841-1845) 11. James K. Polk (1845-1849) Zachary Taylor (1849-1850) • What happened in New Spain between 1810 and 1820? • Who did Mexico hire to attract new settlers in the 1820s? Who was the most famous? • Who was elected president of Mexico in 1833? • What happened at the Battle of San Jacinto?

4. Manifest Destiny • By the 1840s, many Americans thought the U.S. was meant to expand to the Pacific • “The American claim is by the right of our manifest destiny to overspread…the whole continent which God has given us.” • American Indians and Spanish had been living in the West for hundreds of years • Americans thought the spread of American democratic, economic, and religious values was good for the world

6. Reasons People Went West • Social factors – the desire to spread religious beliefs and ease overcrowding • Political factors – the desire to spread democracy and American ideals of liberty • Economic factors – the desire for more farmland, more natural resources (gold), and more markets for economic growth

7. The Election of 1844 • John Tyler (10th president) wanted to annex Texas to expand slavery – his Whig party doesn’t nominate him for re-election • The Whigs nominate Henry Clay to run against Democrat James K. Polk • Polk wins and becomes the 11th president, he quickly tries to annex Texas Polk

8. The Beginning of War • Mexican officials were outraged, they cut off relations with the U.S. • Polk sends General Zachary Taylor to the Texas/Mexico border • Mexican troops attack Taylor’s men, killing 11 and capturing the rest • Polk, “Mexico has invaded our territory, and shed American blood upon American soil…The two nations are now at war.”

9. War With Mexico • Most Americans supported the Mexican War, they thought it would spread democracy • The U.S. asks for 50,000 men to fight – they get 200,000 volunteers • Many Whigs and transcendentalists like Ralph Waldo Emerson were against the war

10. War With Mexico • General Taylor drove Mexican troops back into Mexico • In the West, General Stephen Kearny claimed New Mexico for the U.S. and marched toward California • Kit Carson was his guide

11. The Bear Flag Revolt • Before Kearny arrived, a small group of Americans near Sutter’s Fort revolted • They declared California independent and created a new flag – with a bear • John C. Fremont and Kearny’s army soon joined the fighting • Mexicans in California surrender in 1847

12. Taylor Replaced • U.S. forces led by Taylor continued to advance into Mexico • Santa Anna was overconfident, asking for a U.S. surrender – “Taylor never surrenders” • Taylor continued to win – Polk becomes worried and replaces him with Winfield Scott • Scott immediately takes Veracruz – the strongest fort in Mexico – he continues into the heart of Mexico following Santa Anna

13. The Invasion of Mexico City • Scott’s troops reach the edge of Mexico City in September 1847, after negotiations break down – Scott attacks • On September 14, 1847, U.S. soldiers capture Mexico City • This battle ended the Mexican American War and led to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 • This agreement gave much of Mexico’s northern territory to the U.S. AKA the Mexican Cession • Included California, Nevada, Utah and parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming • Increased the size of the U.S. by 25% • U.S. pays $15 million and agrees to protect Mexican citizens living in the area

15. The Gadsden Purchase • In December 1853, James Gadsden, U.S. minister to Mexico, negotiated the Gadsden Purchase for more Mexican land • The U.S. government paid Mexico $10 million for the southern parts of what are now Arizona and New Mexico • With this purchase, the continental boundaries that the U.S. has today are fixed

16. The Growth of the West 14.4

17. The California Gold Rush • On January 24, 1848, a worker near Sutter’s Mill in California found gold • As other workers found gold, the news spread • By 1849, 80,000 gold-seekers, known as forty-niners flocked to California for the Gold Rush • “At that time, the ‘gold fever’ was contagious, and few, old or young, escaped the illness.”

18. The Gold Rush • Stories of success inspired the forty-niners • 2 ½ pounds of gold in 15 minutes • Generally, gold mining was very difficult and time consuming • Very few forty-niners became rich • Competition for gold led to arguments and violence

19. Gold Mining Techniques • The most popular method was placer mining • putting dirt into a pan or rocker device and running water over it • A sluice box could also be used to find gold in rivers • Getting gold from hard rock was very difficult and expensive – shafts and tunnels had to be dug

20. Mining Camps • Camps sprung up wherever people gathered to search for gold – many disappeared quickly • Ex: Skunk Gulch, Dry Diggings • There was little law and order • “it is surprising how indifferent people become to violence and bloodshed in this country” • Most miners were young, unmarried men – 5% of California Trail immigrants were women • Women made good money in California • Cooking meals, washing clothes, operating boarding houses • Others made lots of money by opening stores to sell goods to miners – miners paid high prices for goods

21. The Effects of the Gold Rush • 24,000 young Chinese men come to California, they were treated unfairly • Prospectors also came to California from Europe, Mexico, and South America • Many decided to stay even though they did not become rich • Ex: Levi Strauss saw the need for durable work clothes – he becomes a successful business owner

22. Native Americans and the Gold Rush • There were 300,000 Native Americans in California before Europeans arrived • The Spanish and the forty-niners brought violence, disease, and loss to the Native Americans • Indian land was taken and laws were passed in California that were aimed at extermination of the Indians • Some Indians were moved to reservations where they suffered • By 1870 only 30,000 Indians remained in California

23. California Statehood • Before gold was discovered, the population of California grew slowly • After 1849, the population exploded and gold mining, trade, and businesses boomed • California became a free state on September 9, 1850 – just 2 years after it was acquired by the U.S.

24. The Mormons • Utah also experienced a great deal of growth in the 1840s • The people who came to this area did so for religious freedom • In 1830, Joseph Smith founded the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Western New York • Smith said that he had found golden tablets with religious revelations – the translation of these became the Book of Mormon – members were called Mormons • The Mormons’ beliefs and practices made them targets for persecution – polygamy (when a man has more than one wife)

25. The Mormon Migration • Smith and his converts first move to Ohio where their settlement fails during the Panic of 1837 • Next they moved to Missouri where they were chased away by an angry mob • In Nauvoo, Illinois their settlement is successful until Smith is murdered by an angry mob in 1844 • Following Smith’s murder, Brigham Young became the leader of the Mormon Church • Brigham Young moves his people west to Utah – they travel the Mormon Trail • They arrive and begin to build Salt Lake City