Transcript Manifest Destiny

Manifest Destiny
James K. Polk
and
American Expansion
Dark Horse- James Polk
• Election of 1844
– Whig-Henry Clay
– Democrat- James K Polk
• Key Issues:
– Should the United States add Texas?
• This would upset the balance of slave/free states
– Polk says yes
– Clay says no
– Further Expansion (Manifest Destiny)
• Polk wants to continue expanded aggressively
• Clay believes in a more cautious approach
Oregon
Country
Mexican Cession
Gadsden Purchase
Texas
Annexation
Texas Annexation
•
Texas
Annexation
Annexation of Texas occurred on February
28, 1845.
• Annex means “add on.”
• Approve the annexation of Texas (took 10
years)
– Reason
• 1- Mexican dictator Antonio López de Santa Anna
warned that annexation would be "equivalent to a
declaration of war.”
• 2- Northerners opposed annexation over the slavery
issue
• Results
– Mexican War
Mexican War
Mexican War
• Mexican War Timeline
– January 1846 - Zachary Taylor crosses the Nueces
River into the disputed border between Mexico/United
States.
– April 1846 – Mexican troops cross the Rio Grande
into the disputed border with Mexico/United States.
– April 1846 – Mexican and United States troops
skirmish with losses on both sides
– April 1846 – U.S. declares war on Mexico
Taylor’s Forces
Bang
Nueces River
Mexican Forces
Rio Grande
River
Mexican Cession
Mexican War Continued…
• May 1846 – January 1848 - Fighting on many fronts
• January 1848 – Mexico City is captured
• Results:
• Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo ends the Mexican War
– Mexico Cedes all of California and New Mexico to the
United States.
» Cede means “gives”
• Created the New Mexico Territory and California
Oregon Country
Oregon Country
• Oregon Country originally shared by
four powers
– 1. United States
– 2. Great Britain
– 3. Spain
– 4. Russia
Oregon Country
• Oregon Treaty of 1846
– Divided Oregon at latitude 49 degrees North.
• Great Britain got the land north of the line
• United States got the land south of the line
• The states of Oregon (1859), Washington (1889),
and Idaho (1890) came out of our portion
Gadsden Purchase
Gadsden Purchase
• In 1853, the United States paid Mexico
$10 million dollars for a strip of land in
Arizona and New Mexico
• Purchased this land to complete the
building of a railroad.
Native Americans
Native Americans
• Three ways the U.S. dealt with the
Native American “Problem”
– 1. War/Force
– 2. Assimilation
– 3. Segregation/Reservations
Segregation/Reservations
• Explanation: Designate areas for the Native
Americans to live
• Example: The Reservation System
• Reason: Native Americans needed to be moved off
land wanted by the United States
• Positives:
– Control Native Americans
– Don’t have to fight them again and again
• Negatives:
– Resources needed to provide for the Native
Americans
War/Force
– Explanation: Fight the Native Americans for their
land
– Example: Battle of Wounded Knee
– Reason: Native Americans wouldn’t move
– Positives:
• Don’t have to pay the Native Americans
– Negatives:
• U.S. soldiers killed
• Native Americans killed (is this a disadvantage)
• Native Americans may retreat and fight again
Assimilation
• Explanation: Bring the Native Americans into
“American” society and culture
• Example: Carlisle Indian School
• Reason: “Civilizing” the natives
• Positives:
• Native Americans could help the country
• No loss of life for U.S. soldiers
• Negatives:
• Many Native Americans refused to give up their
culture
• Only a small portion of the Native American
population was able to have schooling