Transcript U.S. - Mexico War

U.S. - Mexico War
Manifest Destiny
Manifest – clear or obvious
 Destiny – events sure to happen
 Manifest Destiny suggested that
expansion was not only good but also
bound to happen
 After Polk’s election manifest destiny
became government policy
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Important Characters
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United States
- James K. Polk - President who
declares war
- Stephen Austin - American settler
in Texas
- Sam Houston - led troops against
Mexico
- Zachary Taylor - General who
leads American forces in Texas and
Mexico
- John Fremont - frontiersman who
leads troops in Bear Flag Republic
- Winfield Scott - General who
captures Mexico City
- Stephen Kearny - led troops
against Mexico in West
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Mexico
- Santa Anna - Dictator and
military leader
- Jose Herrera - Mexican president
- Mariano Arrillaga - Mexican
General who assumed power after
Herrera
Election of 1844 www.270towin.com
•The slavery issue impacted both national parties
•Southern Democratic nominated proslavery supported
James K. Polk
•Whigs nominated Henry Clay moderate antislavery
supporters
•Liberty Party nominated James G. Birney
•Birney takes enough votes away from Clay to enable
Polk to win
Vocabulary
Tejanos – People of Mexican heritage who
consider Texas their home.
 Empressairos – people who agreed to
recruit settlers
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Texan Independence
Stephen F. Austin establishes American
settlement in Texas
 American settlers continue to move into Texas,
outnumber natives
 conflicts over Catholic religion, trial by jury law,
and issue of slavery
 Americans want more representation in
Mexican gov’t, Santa Anna establishes
dictatorship
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Texan Independence
Texans declare independence in March 1836,
create Republic of Texas
 Santa Anna leads troops to retake Texas
 Battle of Alamo - Santa Anna lays siege to
Texans in present day San Antonio
 Sam Houston leads Texans against Santa Anna at
San Jacinto, capture Mexican leader and force
him to sign treaty
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Texas becomes a State
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United States was split over whether to admit Texas
into Union
Northerners in Congress opposed annexation
Southerners supported annexation
Election of 1844 saw James K. Polk elected President on
a platform of expansion
Polk negotiated treaty with Britain to split Oregon
Territory
Texas admitted into the United States as 28th state in
1845
Annexation of Texas causes uproar within Mexico,
public calls for war
Wilmot Proviso 1846
After the Missouri Compromise in 1820,
political disagreements over slavery
seemed to go away.
 New disagreements arose with the
outbreak of the War with Mexico in 1846.
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Northerners believed that Southerners
wanted to take territory from Mexico in
order to extend slavery.
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To prevent that, Representative David
Wilmot of Pennsylvania proposed the
Wilmot Proviso.
•Slaveholders claimed the bill was
unconstitutional because they viewed
slaves as property and the bill kept
slaveholders from taking their slaves
anywhere in the United States or its
territories.
• It outlawed slavery in any territory the
United States might acquire from the War
with Mexico.
•The Wilmot Proviso divided Congress along
regional lines.
•It passed in the House of Representatives but was
not passed in the Senate.
•It is important because
1. It led to the creation of the Free-Soil Party, a
party dedicated to stopping the expansion of
slavery.
2. The party made slavery a key issue in national
politics. Politician could ignore slavery no longer.
War with Mexico
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United States had
annexed all of the land
north of the Rio Grande
River
Polk sends General
Taylor and troops to
secure land south of
Nueces River
Mexico sees this as an
act of war and sends
own troops to disputed
area
War with Mexico
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Mexicans ambush American patrol outside of
Fort Brown, kill or wound 16 men
Polk declares war on Mexico, Congress unites
behind patriotic cause
General Taylor enters Mexico by crossing Rio
Grande River in east Texas
Stephen Kearny leads cavalry force into Mexico
in the west through New Mexico
General Santa Anna takes control of Mexican
troops after being released by Texans
Bear Flag Rebellion
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John Fremont encouraging
Californians to overthrow
Mexican rule in California
June 1846 – Fremont leads
party of 60 men and
declares California a
independent republic “Bear
Flag Republic”
Republic lasted less than a
month then U.S. took over
territory
War with Mexico
Taylor leads troops across Rio Grande
 First major battle was at Monterey
- Mexican loss and surrender of city
 Santa Anna leads troops and engages
Taylor at Battle of Buena Vista
- Mexican forces eventually retreat
because of revolt in Mexico City
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War with Mexico
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Polk sends second army lead by General
Winfield Scott by sea to Veracruz
Included in Army are: Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S.
Grant, and Thomas Jackson
Lay siege to walled city of Veracruz and capture
city
Scott moved toward Mexican capital of Mexico
City where Santa Anna had taken hold
Scott laid siege to city and eventually captures it
Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo
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ends war with Mexico
Mexico recognized that Texas was part of the United States, and
the Rio Grande was the border between the nations.
Mexican Cession – Mexico ceded or gave up, an area that included
the present-day states of California, Nevada, Utah, most of Arizona,
and parts of New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming.
United States paid in return $15 million to Mexico and 3.25 million
of claims by U.S. citizens.
U.S. would also protect the 80,000 Mexicans living in Texas and the
Mexican Cession.
Treaty of
GuadalupeHidalgo
•Signed in February 1848 in
suburb of Mexico city by U.S. and
Mexico representatives
•Established Rio Grande River as
southern border of U.S. and
agreed to have joint team survey
the rest of the border
•U.S. Also bought Mexican
Cession (525,00 sq. miles) for $15
million US
•Mexican Cession included all or
parts of present-day New Mexico,
Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah,
Colorado, and Wyoming
•Assumed that Texas was already
part of U.S.
•Also secured property rights of
Mexicans living in newly acquired
lands
Westward Expansion and the
American-Mexican War
Gadsden Purchase –
Was the last bit of land across what is
now southern New Mexico and Arizona.
 The U.S. wanted it for a railroad and paid
$10 million to Mexico
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Gadsden Purchase
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Approved by US Congress in April 1854
US bought 38,00 sq. miles in southern Arizona and New Mexico for $10 million US
Negotiated between American Ambassador James Gadsden and Mexican leader Santa Anna
US commercial interests prompted the US to initiate the Gadsden Purchase
Southern railroad interests wanted to connect the South with the West via a railroad
Topographers found that the only suitable route for a railroad would go through Mexican
territory
Last continental acquisition for the United States
Gold Rush
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Review notes on “Word”
Election of 1848
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Polk decides not to run for reelection
Democrats nominate Lewis Cass of Michigan
Strong expansionist
Sympathetic to the South
Did not care about slavery one way or another
Election of 1848
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Whigs nominated General Zachary Taylor
◦ Slave owner and professional soldier
◦ No experience in politics
◦ Whigs party counted on him being a war hero
◦ Whigs had no party platform
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Free-Soil Party nominated Martin Van Buren
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Made up of Democrats combined with Whigs and abolitionists
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Supported the Wilmot Proviso
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Party slogan “Free Soil, Free Speech, Free Labor, and Free Men”
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Taylor won in a close election
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It was said that had Taylor not died he would have veto the Compromise
of 1850
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Vice President Millard Fillmore a professional a compromising politician
took over as President
Zachary Taylor
heat stroke, bringing on fever, and cholera .
 (Taylor dressed himself in a black high-collar suit for the
July 4, 1850 dedication of the Washington Monument,
got overheated, then shocked his system by consuming
large quantities of iced milk and cold cherries
 his internal organs began to shut down -- basically, he
waterlogged himself to death
 William Henry Harrison "got too cold and died," and
Zachary Taylor "got too hot and died.")
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Compromise of 1850
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California could not gain statehood because Congress was divided
over the issue of slavery.
Henry Clay devised a plan to compromise
◦ To please the North, California would be admitted as a free
state, and the slave trade would be abolished in Washington, D.C.
◦ To please the South, Congress would not pass laws regarding
slavery for the rest of the territories won from Mexico, and
Congress would pass a stronger law to help slaveholders
recapture runaway slaves called the Fugitive Slave Act
Caused conflict by failing to resolve slavery issue
Fugitive Slave Act
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An 1850 law to help slaveholders recapture runaway slaves
◦ People accused of being fugitives could be held without an arrest
warrant
◦ They had no right to a jury trial
◦ A federal commissioner ruled on each case
◦ The commissioner received 5 dollars for releasing the defendant and 10
dollars for turning the defendant over to a slaveholder
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Southerner felt justified because they considered slaves to be property
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Northerners resented the law because it placed fines on people who
would not cooperate and jail terms on people who helped the fugitives
escape
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Also, Southern slave catchers sometimes captured free African Americans
Election of 1852
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Democrats nominate Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire
◦ Pleasant man who lacked force or decisiveness
◦ General during the War with Mexico
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Whigs nominate General Winfield Scott from Virginia
◦ Military hero who captured Mexico City
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Franklin Pierce won by a landslide
◦ Only President to win the popular majority between 1840 and 1864
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With Pierce winning the Whig party begins to fall apart
1852
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Harriet Beecher Stowe’s book Uncle
Tom’s Cabin is published