Transcript Manifest destiny

Manifest destiny
• “the right of our manifest
destiny to over spread to
possess the whole of the
continent which
Providence has given us
for the development for
the great experiment of
liberty and federaltive
development of self
government entrusted to
us.
Manifest destiny
• Belief that it was God’s sovereign will for
the US to expand and possess territory all
the way to the Pacific Ocean.
• Drove the United States to extend from sea
(Atlantic) to shining sea (Pacific).
• Determined the boundaries of the “lower 48
states” of the United States.
Missouri Compromise
• Law that admitted Missouri as a slave state
and Maine as a free state. The southern
boundary of Missouri at 36’30”N would
become a dividing line for any new states.
All states north of that line would be free
states, and all states south of that line would
be slave states. President Monroe signed it
into law in 1820, and it temporarily
balanced the power in Washington, D.C.
Texas Independence and
Annexation
• General Antonio Santa Anna rose to power
over the Mexican government and tightened
his control over the Mexican territory of
Texas. Sam Houston rebelled against this
control by declaring the Texas territory to be
independent. Santa Anna responded with
military force and slaughtered the Texans at
the Battle of the Alamo.(1836)
Other battles followed, and the Texans eventually
defeated Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto.
They took Santa Anna hostage and made him
recognize the Republic of Texas as independent
And withdraw his forces to the Rio Grande.
Texas remained an independent Nation until
1845 at which time they were annexed by
President Polk.
War with mexico and the
gadsden purchase
• Santa Anna considered the US annexation of
Texas to be an act of aggression, but President
Polk felt it was America’s manifest destiny to
extend to the Pacific Ocean. In 1845, Polk
ordered General Zachary Taylor to lead his troops
to the Texas border. He also sent John Slidell to
Mexico to settle disputes over the US-Mexico
border and to try to buy California and New
Mexico.
Santa Anna refused to meet with Slidell, Taylor moved his
troops to the disputed territory, and Mexican troops moved
across the border and attacked the Americans. War was
declared on May 13, 1846. It was a series of American
victories that led to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which
ended the war. The treaty required Mexico to surrender the
New Mexico and California territories to the US in exchange
for money. In 1853, the US and Mexico were still arguing
over land, so the US paid $10 million for land that is in
present-day New Mexico and Arizona. This purchase
allowed the United States to reach its goal of Manifest
Destiny.