Transcript Manifest Destiny - Mrs. Lacks 2015

US History: Mrs. Lacks
Trends in Antebellum America: 1810-1860
1. New intellectual and religious movements.
2. Social reforms.
3. Beginnings of the Industrial Revolution in America.
4. Re-emergence of a second party system and more
political democratization.
5. Increase in federal power  Marshall Ct. decisions.
6. Increase in American nationalism.
7. Further westward expansion.
Expansion of US Markets

Subsistence  Commercial Farming
farmers shift from self-sufficiency farming to specialization
farming (growing one or two crops and selling them in mass
quantities)

Entrepreneurial Spirit
Capitalism
private businesses and individuals control the means of
production (capital, factories, machines, land, etc) and use them
to earn a profit
Promotes competition; individual freedom
Impact on Households
 life was more comfortable
 manufactured goods cost less
 food of all sorts could be purchased in the cities
 new “time saving” products (sewing machine,
rubber for boots and shoes, cheaper clothes)
Regions became more
independent

Northeast - manufacturing and shipping
produced cheaper and better goods at higher quality
improved transportation made goods available to more at greater
distances
newly produced machinery - improves farming

Midwest - grain (corn) and livestock
farming made easier with new inventions
John Deere - steel plow (1837)
Cyrus McCormick - mechanical reaper (1831)
– more efficient and cheaper
– shift from subsistence farming to commercial farming

South - cotton, tobacco, rice
“Manifest Destiny”
 First coined by newspaper editor, John O’Sullivan in 1845.
Americans were ordained by God to control everything “from
sea to shining sea”
 A myth of the West as a land of romance and adventure emerged.
“American Progress” by John Gast, 1872
Motivations to move west
 abundance of land
 expansion of trade - both within country and with
new foreign markets (Asia)
 fresh start following economic Panic of 1837
 room for new immigrants
The Pony Express
 Between April, 1860 and Nov., 1861.
 Delivered news and mail between St.
Louis, MO and San Francisco, CA.
 Took 10 days.
 Replaced by the completion of the
trans-continental telegraph line.
Aroostook “War,” 1839
 The only war ever declared by a state.
 Between the Canadian region of New
Brunswick and the state of Maine.
 Cause: The expulsion of Canadian lumberjacks in the disputed area of
Aroostook by Maine officials.
 Congress called up 50,000 men and voted for
$10,000,000 to pay for the “war.”
 General Winfield Scott arranged a truce, and a
border commission was convened to resolve the issue.
Maine Boundary Settlement, 1842
Webster Ashburton Treaty

US & Britain will share Oregon! (present day Oregon, Washington,
& British Columbia)
Overland Immigration to the West
 Between 1840 and
1860, more than
250,000 people
made the trek
westward.
Trails Westward
•Oregon Trail:
northern route
(families)
•Mormon Trail:
Brigham Young led
Mormons to Salt
Lake City (Utah) to
escape persecution
•Santa Fe Trail:
southern route
(traders; single men)
The Oregon Trail – Albert Bierstadt, 1869
The Doomed Donner Party
April, 1846 – April, 1847
The Doomed Donner Party
CANNIBALISM ! !
Margaret Patrick John
Breen
Breen Breen
James Reed & Wife
 Of the 83 members of the Donner
Party, only 45 survived to get to
California!
The Oregon Dispute: 54’ 40º or Fight!
 By the mid-1840s,
“Oregon Fever” was
spurred on by the
promise of free land.
 US and British shared Oregon
Country
 Election of 1844: James K
Polk’s campaign slogan
“54’40 or Fight!” (thought US
should control it all alone)
Americans in Texas
 trade between northern
province of Mexico and US
increases
 Mexico began losing control
over northern territory
(present NM, CA, TX, NV, UT)
when Americans started
coming in (first encouraged to
come by Mexican govt; then
Mexico tried to keep US out)
Texas Declaration of Independence
Soon, there were so
many Americans in
Texas, it decided to
declare independence
from Mexico
 Mexican President,
Santa Anna doesn’t
want to allow this

Key Figures in Texas Independence, 1836
Sam Houston
(1793-1863)
Steven Austin
(1793-1836)
Texas Independence
 Texas vs. Mexico
 Major battle: the Alamo
 Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, and William Travis lead
troops into the Alamo
 12-day stand off/siege
 Mexican troops finally scaled the walls and defeated
the army
 all 187 US defenders were killed along with
hundreds of Mexicans
Remember the Alamo!
Davey Crockett’s Last Stand
The Battle of the Alamo
General Antonio Lpez de Santa Anna Recaptures the Alamo
The Republic of Texas




Texas declared independence
- March 2, 1836
Treaty of Velasco
Santa Anna agrees to sign
in exchange for freedom
grants Texas its
independence from Mexico
1st & only president: Sam
Houston
Republic for 9 yrs
 Texas tries to join the
US
 Many Americans say
no
 Why?
 South will have more
representation in
Congress
The Republic of Texas
 December 29, 1845 - Texas became the 28th state
 Mexico was furious
 This annexation caused war with Mexico
The Slidell Mission: Nov., 1845
• President Polk sends Slidell to Mexico to negotiate the
following to avoid war:
• Mexican recognition of the Rio
Grande River as the TX-US border.
 US would purchase the New Mexico
area for $5,000,000.
 US would California at any price.
 Mexico says no!
John Slidell
Wilmot Proviso, 1846
Meanwhile, the Wilmot Proviso was issued:
•Prohibited slavery in lands gained from
Mexico
•Did not pass
•Created further divide between North &
South
Congr. David Wilmot
(D-PA)
The Mexican War (1846-1848)
 President Polk
moves troops to
border
 Mexico sees this
as an attack
 War declared!
The Mexican War (1846-1848)
 Battles back and forth across the border
 John Fremont leads military expedition to California,
takes it (11 Americans die in battle)
 Stephen Kearny leads expedition to New Mexico,
takes it (no bloodshed)
 General Winfield Scott (Old Fuss and Feathers)
supervised an amphibious landing at Veracruz with
10,000 men then set off for Mexico City
 captured Mex. City Sept. 14, 1847
General Zachary Taylor at Palo Alto
“Old Rough and Ready”
The Bombardment of Vera Cruz
General Scott Enters Mexico City
“Old Fuss and Feathers”
Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, 1848
land gain - enlarged US by 1/3
 Mexico agreed to Rio Grande border
for Texas
 US agreed to pay $15 million for
Mexican Cession (includes presentday Cal., NV, NM, UT, most of AZ,
parts of CO & WY)

The Gadsden Purchase
 Am. Paid an additional $10 million for land south of
the Gila River
 Why? Good crossing for transcontinental railroad
 current borders of lower states had been
established
The Mexican Cession
More Results of the Mex-Am War
 General Zachary Taylor (Old
Rough & Ready) is elected
President in 1848 (Whig)
 Free Soil Party born –
completely anti-slavery; combats
Democrats
 Whigs + Free Soil = Republican
Party (born in 1850s)
GOLD! At Sutter’s Mill, 1848
John A. Sutter
California Gold Rush, 1849
49er’s
Two Views of San Francisco, Early 1850s
 By 1860, almost 300,000
people had traveled the
Oregon & California
Trails to the Pacific
coast.
Jimmy Falon