Transcript Manifest Destiny Triumphs

Manifest Destiny Triumphs
Chapter 14 section 4
Election of 1844
The Democrats’ candidate for President
in 1844 was James K. Polk.
 James K. Polk defeated Whig candidate
Henry Clay in the election of 1844.
 James K. Polk (11th POTUS)
 V.P.- George M. Dallas
 Polk was a strong believer in Manifest
Destiny.

James K. Polk
Annexing Texas and Oregon
When Polk was elected President,
Congress quickly annexed Texas, which
became a state in 1845.
 Once in office, Polk turned his attention
to Oregon. In the past, the United States
had offered to divide Oregon Country
with Britain at the 49th parallel of latitude.

Annexing Texas and Oregon

Britain refused the divide at the 49th
parallel. Now, Polk and the Democrats
were demanding all of the Oregon
Country 54 40 degrees north latitude.

The Democrats rallied behind the slogan,
“Fifty Four Forty or Fight.”
Annexation of Texas 1845
The United States of America 1845
Oregon Country
Oregon Country “54 40 or Fight”
Mexico’s Reaction to Texas
Annexation

Meanwhile Mexican officials were enraged
over the annexation of Texas. They
became even angrier when the United
States claimed the Rio Grande as its
boundary with Mexico.
The Mexican-American War 18461848

In late April 1846, Mexican troops fired at
an American patrol along the Rio Grande,
killing or wounding 16 soldiers.

On May 12, 1846, the United States
declared war on Mexico.
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed
in February 1848, marked the final
triumph of Manifest Destiny.
 Mexico had to give up more than 500,000
square miles. In return for this land,
known as the Mexican Cession, the
United States paid 15 million dollars.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo 1848
Gadsden Purchase 1853
In 1853, the United States acquired still
more land from Mexico. James Gadsden,
the United States minister to Mexico,
negotiated the $10 million dollar
purchase of a strip of land south of the
Mexican Cession.
 The U.S. wanted to build a railroad and
this land was the only part of the West
that was relatively flat.

Gadsden Purchase 1853
California
As a part of Mexico, California had a tiny
population. With the discovery of gold,
many people rushed to California.
 Gold was first discovered on land
belonging to john Sutter. A Swiss by birth
he had come to California in 1839 and
built a trading post where Sacramento is
today.

California
On January 24, 1848 one of his workers
scooped up a handful of sand from the
American River. In it he found flakes of
gold.
 In 1849, at the height of the rush, as many
as 80,000 gold seeking “forty-niners”
poured in to California.

California 1850

Although few “forty-niners” made a
fortune, many stayed in California to farm
or start businesses.

So many people rushed in seeking gold
that the population got large enough that
California became the 31st state in 1850.