Transcript *Go West Young Man*

“Go West Young Man”
- Horace Greeley
Westward Expansion
Themes
• Expansion of U.S. territory:
- Texas, Oregon, California, and Southwest
• Manifest Destiny
• Personalities: Stephen Austin and James K.
Polk
Move West!
Move West!
Early Settlement and Texas
• In 1821, Mexico won its independence from
Spain
• In early 1820s about 3,000 illegal immigrants
(mostly from the United States) lived in
Mexico
• Mexican Government: Passed legislation
hoping immigrants would become loyal
Mexican citizens
Mexican Colonization Law
(1824)
• American immigrants could receive a League
and Labor of land if they
1. Became Mexican citizens
2. Obeyed Mexican laws
3. Converted to Catholicism
League and Labor
• League- 4,400 acres of grazing land
• Labor – 170 acres of farmland
Texas Colonizer
• Stephen Austin
• An empresario who led many American families
to Texas
• Over 35,000 Americans had moved to Mexico
Texas by 1835
• Texans
- Former American citizens who moved to
Texas
• The majority of these settlers lived in what is now
east Texas
empresario
• empresario – facilitated relocation of
American families to Mexico
• Agents received land grants in return for
recruiting settlers to move
Mexican Government
(A New President)
• Goal of Texans and Tejanos: More autonomy
• Goal of Santa Ana: Limit power of Mexican
states
• 1829 – Mexico abolishes slavery
• Law of 1830 – The Mexican government
passes a law stopping legal immigration into
Texas from the United States
• Result- Texas War for Independence
Prelude to War
• Many Texans are angry about the Law of 1830
led by Stephen F. Austin
• In 1833, Stephen F. Austin goes to Mexico City
to discuss reforms. The trip results in him
arrested without any charges
• 1834, President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna
suspends the Mexican Constitution and
assumes power
• Result- Texas War for Independence
Texas War for Independence
(1835-1836)
• Texans and Tejanos vs. Mexico
• Sam Houston led Texan army
• Some Americans became involved but not the
U.S. government (stay out of foreign affairs)
• Texans compared their rebellion to American
Revolution
Texas War for Independence
(1835-1836)
• Texas Revolution began with the Battle of
Gonzales (1835)
• Mexican Army was sent to Gonzales to
retrieve a canon but was defeated by John
Henry Moore and Joseph W.E. Wallace
• The Texans stood their ground, and the
Mexican Calvary returned empty-handed to
San Antonio
Texas War for Independence
(1835-1836)
• With war the only option, Austin now leader of the ALL
volunteer Texan army marched out of Gonzales and to San
Antonio
• Two others shared command: James Bowie and James W.
Fannin
• Bowie and Fannin led a siege on San Antonio by wining the
Battle of Concepcion in October
• The siege of Bexar would come to an end on December 5
when over 300 volunteers, led by Benjamin R. Milam, into
the heart of the city
• After 3 days the city was taken along with the Alamo
• Milam would be shop by a sniper during the siege and die
instantly
Texas War for Independence
(1835-1836)
• By March 2 the Convention of 1836, formally
voted for independence
• The convention appointed Sam Houston major
general of the Texas army
• Shortly after Santa Ana’s forces grew to over
8,000 while he crossed the Rio Grande
heading for San Antonio
The Alamo
• Battle of the Alamo – 187 Texans vs. 5,000
Mexicans
• Texans led by Jim Bowie and William B. Travis
• While waiting for reinforcements that never
came, the Texans that stayed at the Alamo knew
they would all die fighting
- “Remember the Alamo” became a battle cry
- Davey Crocket, William B. Travis, and Jim Bowie
were killed
The Battle of Goliad
• Battle of Goliad – Santa Ana ordered the
execution of over 400 prisoners of war in a
Texan defeat
-James Fannin is executed
The Battle of Goliad
Texas War for Independence
(1835-1836)
• Battle of San Jacinto - Texans slaughter
Mexicans and win the war
• Santa Ana captured
• Treaty of Velasco signed to end the war
- Texas independence was recognized, hostilities
were ended, and the Mexican army was
retired beyond the Rio Grande
Lone Star Republic
• The Texans had won their independence and
attempted to join the United States
• From 1836-1845 Texas was an independent
nation: The Lone Star Republic
• Because of the slavery issue, Texas was not
admitted into Union
• Sam Houston became the 1st President of
Texas
• Border at Nueces River (disputed)
Stephen F. Austin
(Angleton, TX)
Sam Houston
(Huntsville, TX)
Benjamin Milam
(Milam Park, San Antonio)
James Bowie
(Texarkana, TX)
Davy Crockett
(Lawrenceburg, TN)
William B. Travis
(The Alamo, San Antonio)
James Fannin
(9 miles east of Goliad, Texas)
Expansion West
• Manifest Destiny (1840s):
- The nation’s obvious destiny was that it
expand from the Atlantic to Pacific Ocean
“ Our manifest destiny to overspread and to
possess the whole of the continent which
Providence has given us for the development of
the great experiment of liberty and federative
self-government entrusted to us”
- John L. O’Sullivan (1845)
Expansion West
• Effects of O’Sullivan
• Many Americans now believe the United
States was special because of its democracy
• It is the duty of America to conquer the land
from ocean to ocean in order to secure
democracy for all
• Critics have argued the United States wasn’t
very democratic (women, Indians, slaves)
Presidential Election and Manifest
Destiny
• Presidential Election of 1844:
James K. Polk vs. Henry Clay
Democrat- Polk
Whig – Henry Clay
• James K Polk (from Tennessee) promised to:
1. Acquire Oregon, Texas, and California
2. Retire after one term as President
Polk and Texas
• After Polk’s election but before his
inauguration:
- Texas entered the Union in 1845
Oregon Trail
• By the late 1830s, settlers began to trickle
along the Oregon Trail
• The 1st wagon trains headed west in 1841, and
by 1843 about 1,000 emigrants a year set out
from Missouri
• While many lived in peace with the Indians
along the trail there were some who resisted
• “Savage” Indians tribes- Sioux, Cheyenne,
Shoshoni, Wichita, and Comanche
Oregon Country
• Remember – Oregon was “jointly occupied”
by the United States and Great Britain since
1819
• Polk’s campaign slogan: “54, 40 or Fight!”
• Privately, Polk agreed to compromise with the
British; the led to Oregon Treaty (1846)
Oregon Country
Oregon Treaty
(1846)
1. 49th parallel became the boundary between
the United States and Great Britain (Canada)
2. Great Britain retained control of Vancouver
Island
James Polk and California
• Polk tried to purchase California, New Mexico,
and recognition of U.S. Annexation of Texas
for $25 million.
• Polk wanted the Rio Grande as the Texas
border
- Mexico rejected this offer
• Polk took advantage of the boundary dispute
to provoke a war
• U.S. troops were sent into the disputed region
Disputed Land in Texas
Mexican - American War
• Before Polk was about to go to Congress to ask
for a declaration of war, troops were attacked on
the border of deep South Texas
• Congress declared war in May 1846
• Polk and his allies supported the war
• But many in the United States were opposed
- Expansion of slavery
- War of conquest
• James K. Polk will send Zachary Taylor to fortify
Brownsville, TX
Mexican - American War
• First major battle of the War took place at Palo Alto
• Location: north side of Brownsville near the presentday city of Los Fresnos, TX
• Zachary Taylor had two locations to capture: Fort Texas,
a recently built fort on the Rio Grande near
Matamoros, and Point Isabel where his supplies were
• Taylor and Ulysses S. Grant would soon fight General
Mariano Arista at Palo Alto
• After weeks of skirmishes the fight was a draw until
Mexican troops began to retreat deeper into Mexico
Mexican War
(1846-1848)
• Zachary Taylor – Monterrey and Buena Vista
– Halted due to lack of supplies
• Battle of Buena Vista
- U.S. troops were outnumbered; however forced
the Mexican army, led by Santa Ana, to retreat
Mexican War
(1846-1848)
• Stephen Kearney – New Mexico
• John C. Freemont – California
• Winfield Scott and Robert E Lee – the Siege of
Veracruz and occupation of Mexico City
Mexican War
(1846-1848)
• About 13,000 Americans died
• Officers introduced: Robert E. Lee and Ulysses
S. Grant
• Many Mexicans became resentful of the
United States
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
(1848)
• Treaty that ended the Mexican War:
1. The Rio Grande became border between
Mexico and the United States
2. United States received California and
territory in Southwest
3. United States gave Mexico $15 million
Mexican Cession
(1848)
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
(Critics)
• Many criticized the Treaty; expansionists such
as Polk hoped to acquire more territory (ALL
of Mexico)
• Biggest obstacle: American racism
Review
• Expansion West and U.S. acquisition of Texas,
Oregon, and Southwest
• James K. Polk – accomplished all his goals