Transcript The Mexican American War

The War with Mexico
and westward
Expansion
We are the nation of human progress,
and who will, what can, set limits to our
onward march?”
-John O’Sullivan
Vocabulary
a. Conflict with Mexico started
with Manifest Destiny – It was
the nation’s destiny to spread all
the way to the Pacific Ocean
i. The nation needs room to
expand.
ii. Americans support
President Polk’s goal of
westward expansion
b. Many Americans along with
President James K. Polk wanted
to add California and the New
Mexico Territory to the United
States in order to fulfill
“Manifest Destiny.”
c. Polk offered to buy the territories
from Mexico
i. Mexico refused
ii. Polk then plotted to take
them by force
MANIFEST DESTINY
1.Polk wanted to go to war with Mexico but
make it look like Mexico started it.
2.Texas’ annexation had already strained
relations between the two countries.
a. Texas claimed the Rio Grande
as the border.
b. Mexico recognized the Nueces
River as the border.
c. Polk would use this conflict to
spark a conflict.
The Conflict Begins
i. In order to enforce the Rio
Grande as the border, Polk sent
Gen Zachary Taylor and the
army to Corpus Christi
ii. Taylor sent a force to the Rio
Grande River who built a fort
there.
1. April 24, 1846 2000 Mexican
troops attacked a small
American force killing several
of them.
2. This became known as the
Thornton Affair.
3. May 11, 1846 Polk told
Congress that Mexico had
“invaded our territory shed
American blood upon the
American soil.”
iii. Attitude toward the
war
1. Most Americans supported
the war (mostly Democrats
who supported Polk)
1. Some Americans – mainly
the Whig Party opposed the
war
a. A Congressman from Illinois,
Abraham Lincoln demanded
to know the exact spot where
the attack occurred
b. Frederick Douglas a free
black who supported the
abolition movement feared
new territories in the west
would expand slavery also
opposed the war.
California
• California
• A group of Americans
seized the town of
Sonoma and declared an
independent Republic of
California
• They called the new
country the Bear Flag
Republic
• Californios were outraged
at what they saw was an
attempt by greedy
Americans to seize land.
The original Republic of
California Flag – it was
destroyed in the 1906 San
Francisco Fire and
Earthquake.
Naval Action
1.July 1846 Commodore
John Sloat and the US
Navy captured the ports
of San Francisco and
Monterey.
a.The American flag
replaced the Bear
Republic Flag
b.They sailed to San
Diego capturing it
as well.
Mexico City
i. Mexico City Falls
i. Gen Winfield Scott was given
the task of capturing Mexico City
1. By Aug 1847 he had reached
the outskirts of Mexico City
2. By Mid-September Mexico
City had been captured and
Mexico surrendered
3. Cost of the war The US lost
only 1721 men due to battle
but over 11,000 due to
disease
4. Mexican casualties were well
over 25,000
5. The war cost the US over
$100 million (over $2 billion in
today’s money)
The Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo
• Signed in February 1848
• Forced Mexico to give up all
claims to Texas
• The “Mexican Cession”
included California and New
Mexico which included
present day states of Utah,
Colorado and Arizona,
Nevada, as well as,
California and New Mexico.
• The US paid Mexico $15
million
• About $350 million in
today’s money
The area of the Mexican cession
equaled over 1/3 of the total territory
held by Mexico.
California
• Mexicans living in California
had been granted citizenship
and equal rights by the Treaty
of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
• The Land Law of 1851 forced
Californios to prove they
owned lands they claimed.
• Settlers could take them to
court to prove they owned
the land
• Many were able to produce
documentation proving
ownership
• Many more; however, lost
their land
• Zachary Taylor (hero of the
War with Mexico and current
President) urged citizens of
California to apply for
statehood.
• California’s constitution
banned slavery so when
they applied for statehood
in March of 1850 it
presented a crisis for
Congress
• It would take 6 months
and another compromise
with the South before
California would become
a state.
The Gold Rush
• Just a short time
after the Treaty of
Guadalupe Hidalgo
was signed, gold was
discovered in
California.
• This would ignite what
became known as the
California Gold Rush
• Tens of thousands of
people would flock to
California to get in on the
action.
• In 1849, up to 80,000
“Forty-niners” streamed
into California.
• Most were from the United
States
• 20% were foreigners from
as far away as Australia.
• A group of 300 men came
from China
• They were the
beginnings of a large
Chinese community
that would take root in
California.
• San Francisco is
currently home to
North America’s largest
“Chinatown”
Typical Gold Mining Scene
Boomtowns
• Communities that sprang up
overnight replaced
uninhabited areas of
California
• San Francisco grew from a
tiny village to city of 20,000 in
very short time.
• Crime was a big problem in
the mining towns
• No police force existed to
protect citizens and armed
gangs posed a great threat
• Vigilantes often took the law
into their hands acting as
police, judge, jury, and
sometimes executioner.
The Mormons and Utah
• The Mormons (a protestant group founded in 1830) were
severely persecuted in their settlements to the east.
• Many Mormons were badly treated by other religious groups and
the law as well.
• vigilante groups carried out violent acts against Mormons
Buildings and possession were destroyed and many Mormons
were murdered including their founder Joseph Smith who was
killed by a mob while sitting in a jail cell.
• Their new leader Brigham Young decided to move the group out
west to Utah near the Great Salt Lake
• Over 12,000 Mormons made the journey which became the largest
migration in American history
• Mormons often had conflicts with federal officials – mainly because
of disagreements over religious practices
• War almost broke out between them and the US Army
• Utah would not become a state until 1896
The Mormon Migration
Westward Expansion Poses
Problems in Congress
• America's expansion westward created a troubling political
issue –
• should these newly acquired territories permit or prohibit
slavery?
• Closely associated with this was another important issue:
representation in Congress.
• Southern states wanted to be sure that the number of slave
states in Congress remained roughly equal to that of the free
states.
• Southerners feared that if a new state were admitted to the
Union from these western territories as a free state, it would
upset the existing balance between free and slave states in
Congress.
The Gadsden Purchase
• In 1853, the United States had fulfilled its “Manifest
Destiny”
• Now it needed to somehow connect east to west.
• The Transcontinental Railroad was proposed.
• In order to complete the project the United States purchased a
small strip of land south of what is present day Arizona and New
Mexico.
• This became known as the Gadsden Purchase.
• The nearly 30,000 square mile tract of land was bought for $10
million.
• The US had paid Mexico only $15 million for the 915,000 square
mile area of the Mexican Cession.
• This would complete the territorial expansion of the United
States except for Alaska and Hawaii.
How the West was Really Won
HOTS Prompts
• Write and answer in your notebook page 64
• The most significant impact of the war with Mexico was….
• The most significant impact of the discovery of gold in California
was…