Transcript Chapter 17

Chapter 17
Manifest Destiny and War
(1840-1860)
Chapter 17
Section 1: Manifest Destiny and
Expansion
The Roots of Manifest Destiny
• By the 1840s many Americans shared Senator
Calhoun’s view. The United States, they
though, was sure to expand all the way to the
Pacific Ocean. They believed that nothing
could stop this growth from taking place. This
expansionist view became known as manifest
destiny. The term was first used by John
O’Sullivan, a New York editor.
The Election of 1844
• President John Tyler helped make western expansion an important subject in
the election of 1844. Tyler had been elected as William Henry Harrison’s vice
president in 1840. He became president when Harrison died in April 1841. Tyler
was a pro-slavery Whig from Virginia, who wanted to extend the political power
of the southern slave states. Tyler believed that the annexation of Texas would
help by adding another slave state to the country.
• Many Whigs disagreed with his expansionist beliefs. As a result, he was too
unpopular within his own party to win the 1844 presidential nomination.
Instead, the Whigs chose Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky as their candidate.
When Clay began his presidential campaign, he said he was against the
annexation of Texas. After being pressured by southern voters, however, he
decided halfheartedly to support annexation. Many of his original backers
became angry when Clay changed his mind. The Democratic Party chose former
Tennessee governor James K. Polk as its presidential candidate. Unlike Clay, Polk
strongly favored acquiring both Texas and Oregon. The idea of Manifest Destiny
played an important part in the campaign. When the votes had been counted,
Polk had defeated Clay by a very narrow margin.
Acquiring New Territory
• President Polk quickly set out to fulfill his campaign
promises. He was sure that he could bring Oregon and
Texas into the United States. Meanwhile, Britain and
the United States disagreed over where in Oregon to
draw the U.S.-Canada border.
• In 1846, Britain and the United States signed a treaty
that gave the United States all Oregon land south of
the 49th parallel. This treaty drew the present-day
border between Canada and the United States in the
Pacific Northwest. Oregon became a U.S. territory in
August in 1848.
Acquiring New Territory cont.
• Polk and his supporters also wanted to acquire Texas.
By March 1845 Congress had already approved
annexation and needed only the support of the
Republic of Texas. Many Americans continued to move
to Texas and Texas politicians hoped that joining the
United States would help solve the republic’s financial
and military problems.
• The Texas Congress approved annexation in June, and
Texas became the 28th state in December 1845. This
action angered the Mexican government, which
considered Texas a “stolen province.”
War Breaks Out
• Mexico reacted the the annexation of Texas by cutting off all
diplomatic ties with the United States. Mexico also oredered
American settlers to leave California and banned further American
immigration there. The Mexican government continued to reject
the Texas and U.S. claim that the Rio Grande marked the southern
border of Texas, arguing that the real southern border lay along the
Nueces River farther north.
• In June 1845 Polk ordered General Zachary Taylor to take U.S.
troops into the disputed border region.
• Meanwhile, Polk sent diplomat John Slidell to Mexico City to
negotiate the Texas boundary dispute. The president also told
Slidell to offer to buy California and New Mexico from the Mexican
government for $30 million. However, when Slidell arrived in
Mexico City, officials there refused to speak to him, making
negotiations impossible.
War Breaks Out cont.
• In March 1846 General Taylor led his troops to
the Rio Grande and made camp. In April the
Mexican commander insisted that General Taylor
remove the U.S. forces from the region, or else
“arms and arms alone must decide the question.”
Taylor refused to move. Mexican soldiers then
crossed the river and attacked a group of 63 U.S.
soldiers. They killed 11 Americans , wounded 5
others, and captured the rest. On May 11, 1846,
Polk declared, “Mexico has shed American blood
upon the American soil.” Two days later Congress
declared war on Mexico.
Chapter 17
Section 2: The Mexican War
Responses to War
• At the beginning of the war, the U.S. Army was greatly outnumbered by
Mexican forces. U. S. soldiers had better weapons and equipment,
however.
• Some 200,000 volunteers answered the call. The Mexican War was the
first U.S. war fought mainly on foreign soil. It was also the first time many
newspapers covered a U.S. conflict. The war was one of the first to be
photographed.
• Not all Americans supported the war, however. Many members of the
Whig Party thought that the conflict was unjustified and unnecessary.
• Transcendentalist writer and philosopher Henry David Thoreau went to jail
for refusing to pay taxes because he believed they would support the war
in Mexico.
• Northern abolitionists opposed the Mexican War, fearing that the United
States might gain lands in the Southwest. If so, they reasoned, southern
states would try to establish slavery in these new lands.
American Victories
• Taylor’s soldiers fought and won battles south of the Nueces River.
He defeated Mexican forces at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma on
May 8 and 9, 1846. Taylor’s victories drove the Mexican troops back
into Mexico. Taylor then crossed the Rio Grande and occupied
Matamoros. While Taylor waited for reinforcements, Polk ordered
Brigadier General Stephen Kearny to attack New Mexico. Kearny
took the city of Santa Fe without a fight. He claimed the entire
territory of New Mexico for the United States.
• At the same time, a small group of American settlers near the town
of Sonoma revolted against the Californios. These rebels declared
that California was an independent republic. To represent this new
nation, the rebels created a flag with a single star and a grizzly bear.
As a result, the rebellion was called the Bear Flag Revolt. Army
explorer John C. Fremont played an important part in the revolt.
American Victories cont.
• While the revolt was taking place, the U.S.
Navy took Monterey, the capital of the
Mexican province of California. The towns of
San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco
soon fell to the Americans. In August 1846,
Commodore Robert Stockton declared that
California belonged to the United States.
Some Californios continued to resist until early
1847, when they surrendered.
The War’s End
• Taylor’s success earned him popularity with his troops and back home.
Soldiers called him Old Rough-and-Ready. Taylor’s popularity troubled
President Polk, who feared the general might run for president in
1848. Polk was also concerned that Taylor might not be able to win the
war. For these reasons, Polk gave the command to General Winfield
Scott, known as Old Fuss and Feathers.
• Scott sailed down to the port of Veracruz, which was the strongest
fortress in Mexico. On March 29, after an 88 hour artillery attack,
Veracruz fell to Scott’s army. The next part of the plan was to attack
Mexico City.
• Santa Anna tried to stop the U.S. forces at Cerro Gordo in mid-April.
With a daring uphill attack on the Mexican position, U.S. soldiers won
a key victory. By August 1847, U.S. troops were at the edge of Mexico
City. Finally, on September 14, 1847, U.S. soldiers captured the
Mexican capital.
More New Territories
• The war ended after Scott took Mexico City. The Treaty of
Guadalupe Hidalgo marked the new peace. Signed in February
1848, it ceded or turned over, much of Mexico’s northern territory
to the United States. Known as the Mexican Cession, this land
included the present-day states of California, Nevada, and Utah. It
also included most of Arizona and New Mexico and parts of
Colorado and Wyoming.
• The Mexican Cession totaled more than 500,000 square miles. It
increased the size of the United States by almost 25 percent. The
United States agreed to pay Mexico $15 million and to assume
claims of more than $3 million held by American citizens against
Mexico.
• James Gadsden, U.S. minister to Mexico, negotiated the Gadsden
Purchase in December 1853. Under the terms of the purchase, the
U.S. government paid Mexico $10 million for the southern parts of
what are now Arizona and New Mexico.
Chapter 17
Section 3: More Settlers Head West
The Mormons
• One group of American settlers traveled to the West in search of religious
freedom. In 1830, a young man named Joseph Smith founded the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in western New York. The members of this
church became known as Mormons. Smith told his followers that he had
found and translated a set of golden tablets containing religious revelations.
These writings became the book of Mormon.
• However, some Mormon beliefs and practices made them the target of
persecution. For example, some Mormon men practiced polygamy-in which
one man is married to several women at the same time. An anti-Mormon
mob murdered Smith in jail in 1844. Following Smith’s murder, Brigham
Young became the head of the Mormon Church. Young chose what is now
Utah as the group’s new home. Tens of thousands of Mormons took to the
Mormon Trail.
• The main Mormon settlement at Salt Lake City became a thriving community
with brad roads and surrounding farms. In December 1860 the Mormon
population of Utah stood at about 40,000.
Chapter 17
Section 4: The Gold Rush
The Forty-Niners
• John Sutter, the owner of Sutter’s Mill, soon learned that
gold had been discovered on his property. Both men agreed
to keep the discovery a secret. However, when they went to
examine the work site the next day, they met a Spanishspeaking Indian worker holding a nugget and shouting,
“Oro [gold]! Oro! Oro!” Sutter’s workers soon quit to search
for gold. Stories of the discovery spread across the country.
• In 1849, the California Gold Rush caused a huge rise in
California’s population. That year about 80,000 goldseekers came to California, hoping to strike it rich. These
migrants were known as forty-niners.
• As a result, San Francisco grew more rapidly than any other
city in the world at the time. Its population jumped from
about 800 in March 1848 to more than 25,000 by 1850.
Gold Fever
• Few of the forty-niners had any previous gold-mining
experience. Some people had quick success. Most of
the forty-niners would work to be difficult and timeconsuming. The forty-niners would prospect, or search,
for gold along the banks of streams or in shallow
surface mines. In 1853 California’s yearly gold
production peaked at more than $60 million. One lucky
man got two and a half pounds of gold after only 15
minutes of work. Two African American miners found a
rich gold deposit that became known as Negro Hill in
honor of their discovery. But the vast majority of gold
rush miners did not become rich.
Mining Camps and Towns
• Most miners were young, unmarried men. Only around 5
percent of gold rush immigrants were women or children.
Some married women did make the journey to California
with their husbands, however. These hardworking wives
generally made good money by cooking meals, washing
clothes, and operating boardinghouses.
• Catherine Haun’s husband was one of many people who
found that they could make a good living by supplying
miners with food, clothing, equipment, or services. Miners
paid high prices for basic necessities because the large
amounts of gold in circulation cause severe inflation in
California. A loaf of bread, for example, might cost five
cents back East, but it would sell for 50 to 75 cents in San
Francisco. Eggs sold for $ 1 apiece.
Mining Camps and Towns cont.
• Biddy Mason and her family arrived in California as
slaves. They were brought there by a Georgia
slaveholder during the gold rush years. He quickly
discovered that most Californians opposed slavery.
Mason and her family gained their liberty and moved
to the small village of Los Angeles. By working as a
nurse for $2.50 a week and doing domestic work,
Mason saved enough money to buy some land. Over
time, Mason’s property increased in value from $250 to
$200,000. She became one of the wealthiest
landowners in California. In addition, she used some of
her money to support education for African American
children.
Immigrants to California
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Famine and economic hardships in southeastern China encouraged many Chinese men
to come to America. These immigrants were known in Chinese as gam saan haak, or
“travelers to Gold Mountain.” Most of them hoped to find great wealth and then return
home to China. Between 1849 and 1853 some 24,000 young Chinese men migrated to
California.
Chinese immigrants soon found that many Americans did not welcome them, however.
In 1852 California placed a high monthly tax on all foreign miners. Chinese minders had
no choice but to pay this tax if they wished to prospect for gold in California. Chinese
workers were also the targets of violent attacks in the mining camps.
Many Chinese immigrants continued working in the gold mines, despite such treatment.
Some looked for different jobs, and many opened their own business.
Some 20,000 immigrants had come to California in 1849 alone. Like most American goldseekers, these new arrivals intended to return home after they had made their fortunes.
However, even when they did not become rich, many decided to stay. Some who
remained in California became successful business owners.
Growth in the West
• California’s population explosion made it
eligible for statehood only two years after
being acquired by the United States.