American Progress… aka Manifest Destiny

American Progress -by John Gast (1872)

• Maine boundary with Canada• Oregon boundary settlement • Texas Revolution and Texas

Annexation• Mexican War and the Mexican

Cession• Overland Trails• California Gold Rush• Compromise of 1850• Sectional Tensions

Manifest Destiny and Its Legacy [1841-1850]

Maine Boundary Settlement, 1842 The Aroostook War - (Battle of the maps)

Manifest Destiny

• “Manifest Destiny — a phrase used by leaders and politicians in the 1840s to explain continental expansion by the United States — revitalized a sense of "mission" or national destiny for many Americans.”

• An American political and societal belief that it was the United States’ God-given right, its apparent destiny, to overspread the continent of North America

• John L. O’Sullivan - (1839) - notably in 1845

John L. O’Sullivan - Manifest Destiny• “It is time for opposition to the Annexation of Texas to cease. . . . It is time

for the common duty of Patriotism to the Country to succeed—if this claim will not be recognized, it is at least time for common sense to acquiesce [agree] with decent grace in the inevitable and the irrevocable.

• . . . Why, were other reasoning wanting, in favor of now elevating this question of the reception of Texas into the Union, out of the lower region of our past party dissensions, up to its proper level of a high and broad nationality, it surely is to be found, found abundantly, in the manner in which other nations have undertaken to intrude themselves into it, between us and the proper parties to the case, in a spirit of hostile interference against us, for the avowed object of thwarting our policy and hampering our power, limiting our greatness and checking the fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions. . . .”

Manifest Destiny - Why?• High birthrate and the

rapid influx of immigrants (Irish and German) = demand for space.– Estimated 4 million

Americans moved west between 1820 and 1850.

• Panic of 1819 and Panic of 1837 caused people to look to the West for a fresh start

• Frontier land =:– inexpensive – in some cases, free.

• Economic opportunity for commerce and entrepreneurial enterprise

• Land ownership = wealth • Land ownership =:

– self-sufficiency– political power– Independent self-rule OR

popular sovereignty

• Opportunity for West Coast ports for trade

Manifest Destiny

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The Conquest of the West

• Manifest Destiny• Aggressive and

‘Fantastic’ Advertising

• Oregon Country• Republic of Texas• Mexican War (1846-

1848)• Treaty of Guadalupe-

Hidalgo

Overland Trails to the West, 1840

The Texas Revolution (1835-1836)•Texans angered by Mexicangovernment policy•Texans refuse to convert to Catholicism •Texans refuse to give up slavery•Fighting erupts between Tejanos and Mexican army•Texans declare independence from Mexico•Famous battles:

Alamo, San Jacinto, Goliad, et al

Texas Revolution

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Major Battles in the Texas

Revolution: 1835–1836

The Alamo

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The Texas Revolution and the formation of the Lone Star Republic• 1835-- Texas declares independence from Mexico• 1836-- Mexican army led by Santa Anna goes to Texas to

crush rebellion– Battle of the Alamo– Battle of San Jacinto

• 1836-- Santa Anna captured by Sam Houston and signs treaty establishing the independence of Texas

• 1841-- Santa Anna returns to presidency of Mexico• 1844-- James K. Polk is elected president of the United States• 1845-- Santa Anna presidency overthrown in Mexico• 1845-- United States annexes Texas. Mexico does not

recognize Texas independence or annexation

Texas Independence

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The Election of

1844

President James K. Polk

• Tennessee Congressman• “Young Hickory” -

Andrew Jackson protege• “Napoleon of the

Stump”• President from 1845-

1849• Ardent Expansionist

James K. Polk and Expansionism

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The Oregon Controversy, 1846: “54º 40’ or Fight”

Resolved by treaty with theBritish in 1846

Oregon - “54’ 40º or Fight!”

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The Mexican-American War [1846-1848]

• 1846-- Polk orders General Taylor to advance to the Rio Grande. Mexico attacks.

• 1846-- The United States declares war on Mexico• 1846-- U.S. and Britain settle Oregon boundary

dispute• 1847-- U.S. Army occupies Mexico City• 1847-- Santa Anna is stripped of military command• 1848-- Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ratified by U.S.

Congress• 1849-- James K. Polk dies months after leaving

office.

General Zachary Taylor• Born in Orange County,

Virginia in 1784• In 1808 Zachary joined the

army as an infantry officer• During the War of 1812, he

distinguished himself under William Henry Harrison.

• General and popular hero of the Mexican American War

• “Old Rough and Ready”• The 12th President of the

United States

General Winfield Scott• Born in 1786 near Petersburg,

Virginia• He practiced law, served in the army• War of 1812, was promoted to the

rank of lieutenant colonel• Scott undertook a successful five-mo

nth campaign from Vera Cruz to Mexico City

• In 1852 Congress offered Scott the pay, rank, and emoluments of a lieutenant general, the first person to hold that office since George Washington

• “Old Fuss and Feathers”• Whig party's unsuccessful candidate

for President in 1852

Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna• Born in 1795 in Japala in the

province of Veracruz• At 15 became a cadet in the

Spanish Army stationed in Mexico

• Fought in the Mexican War of Independence in 1821

• Led a revolt against the new emperor, Agustin de Iturbide

• Defeated the Spanish invasion in 1829

• President of Mexico 11 times• Often ruled as a dictator but

always overthrown

Major Battles of the Mexican-American War

Battles of The Mexican War

Mexican-American War

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Mexican-American War: American “Firsts”

• The United States' first foreign war. • The first war anywhere in the world to be photographed. • The first war in which steamboats played an important role. • The first war in which newspaper correspondents regularly

reported from the seat of war. • The first war in which graduates of the U.S. Military

Academy at West Point participated. Among these were a number of officers who would later face each other across the battlefields of the Civil War: Robert E. Lee,Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, Braxton Bragg, Ulysses S. Grant, George Meade, George McClellan, and William T. Sherman, to name but a few.

Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo (1848)

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Mexican-American War: SignificanceIn the end, the Mexican American War had an immense impact on United States history.

• Thirteen thousand American lives were lost = two thousand were on the battlefield.

• It added over 500,000 square miles to the American frontier.

• It helped America to fulfill its “manifest destiny,” extending it from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

• With this new territory, however, came disputes that led to further sectional divide and ultimately contributed to the Civil War.

California Gold Rush Country

•1849 - Sutter’s Mill

Set of a ‘rush’ of speculators headed for California

So many people arrived in CA during 1848-1849 that California was able to attain statehood in 1850.

California: Spanish Missions and Presidios

• Much of the coast had been settled by Spanish Catholic missions and Presidios

• Were set up to secure settlements and provide for local American Indians

• Although part of Mexican government = VERY loosely connected

California and the Gold Rush: California Statehood

• California: Gold discovered in 1848 - after Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo

• Gold Rush of 1849• Drew people from all over

the US and world• Enough settlers to gain

statehood by 1850 (Compromise of 1850) as a “Free-Soil” State.

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Texas and the disputed Area before the Compromise of 1850