chapter 11: "to overspread the continent" westward expansion and political conflict,...

1 Visions of America, A History of the United States

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1 Visions of America, A History of the United States

“To Overspread the Continent”Westward Expansion and Political Conflict, 1840–1848

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“To Overspread the Continent”

I. Manifest Destiny and Changing Visions of the West

II. American Expansionism into the Southwest

III. The Mexican War and Its Consequences

IV. The Wilmot Proviso and the Realignment of American Politics

WESTWARD EXPANSION AND POLITICAL CONFLICT, 1840–1848

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Manifest Destiny and Changing Visions of the West

A. The Trapper’s World

B. Manifest Destiny and the Overland Trail

C. The Native American Encounter with Manifest Destiny

D. The Mormon Flight to Utah

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The Trapper’s World

What function did the yearly rendezvous play in the culture of fur trappers?

How did reports of the West both impede and encourage migration?

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The Trapper’s World

Rendezvous – A festive annual gathering held in the Rocky Mountains in which Native Americans, mountain men, and traders would gather to exchange pelts for a variety of goods

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Manifest Destiny and the Overland Trail

What were the most important ideas associated with Manifest Destiny?

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Manifest Destiny and the Overland Trail

Manifest Destiny – A term coined by editor and columnist John O’Sullivan to describe his belief in America’s divine right to expand westward

Overland Trail – The 2,000-mile route taken by American settlers traveling to new settlements in Oregon, California, and Utah

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The Native American Encounter with Manifest Destiny

Why were tales of Indian attacks on immigrants so popular in American culture?

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Images as History

How did Catlin represent his Mandan subject for an American audience?

GEORGE CATLIN AND MAH-TO-TOH-PA: REPRESENTING INDIANS FOR AN AMERICAN AUDIENCE

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Images as HistoryGEORGE CATLIN AND MAH-TO-TOH-PA:

REPRESENTING INDIANS FOR AN AMERICAN AUDIENCE

Catlin’s journal informed his viewers that only a warrior of “extraordinary renown” was allowed to wear horns on his headdress.

By omitting the chief’s war club, tomahawk, and so on, Catlin made him less frightening to an American audience.

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Images as HistoryGEORGE CATLIN AND MAH-TO-TOH-PA:

REPRESENTING INDIANS FOR AN AMERICAN AUDIENCE

Catlin painted Mah-to-toh-pa as if he were a Roman general, like this statue of George Washington.

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The Mormon Flight to Utah

How did the Mormon immigration differ from other westward migrations?

How did Mormon communalism affect their experiences at Nauvoo?

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American Expansionism into the Southwest

A. The Transformation of Northern Mexico

B. The Clash of Interests in Texas

C. The Republic of Texas and the Politics of Annexation

D. Polk’s Expansionist Vision

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The Transformation of Northern Mexico

What was the ranchero system?

What advantages did Americans have over Mexicans in the lucrative trade with Santa Fe?

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The Transformation of Northern Mexico

Mission System – The colonial system devised by the Spanish to control the Native American population, forcing them to convert to Catholicism and work the land

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The Clash of Interests in Texas

Why did some Americans oppose the annexation of Texas? Who sought annexation and for what reasons?

How did Anglo-Texans use their defeat at the Alamo to rally support for their cause?

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The Republic of Texas and the Politics of Annexation

How did the Liberty Party affect the election of 1844?

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The Republic of Texas and the Politics of Annexation

Liberty Party – A short-lived staunchly antislavery and anti-annexation party

• Captured 62,000 votes in the 1844 election• Liberty Party votes drew support away from

Henry Clay and contributed to Polk’s election victory

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Polk’s Expansionist Vision

How did Polk pursue his expansionist agenda?

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The Mexican War and Its Consequences

A. A Controversial War

B. Images of the Mexican War

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A Controversial War

What were the most important differences between the leadership style of Generals Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott?

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A Controversial War

Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo – Formally ended the war between the United States and Mexico (1848)

• Settled the border dispute between Texas and Mexico

• Gave the United States a significant swath of new territory in the Southwest

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Choices and Consequences

Thoreau opposed the annexation of Texas because he believed the war was an effort to extend slavery.

Thoreau refused to pay his poll tax and was put in jail.

Two years later, he gave a lecture that proposed the theory of civil disobedience.

HENRY DAVID THOREAU AND CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE

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Choices and Consequences

Choices regarding civil disobedience

HENRY DAVID THOREAU AND CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE

Accept the government’s

decision and not criticize it

Obey the law but work to change it

Protest the law by refusing to obey it

and suffer the legal consequences for

challenging it

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Choices and Consequences

Decision and consequences• Thoreau refused to obey the law and spent a

night in prison.• The theory of civil disobedience influenced

many later protest movements.

How significant was Thoreau’s essay when it was published?

HENRY DAVID THOREAU AND CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE

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Choices and Consequences

Continuing Controversies

•Is the notion of a legal right of civil disobedience a contradiction in terms?

HENRY DAVID THOREAU AND CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE

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Images of the Mexican War

What role did images play in shaping American perceptions of the Mexican War?

Why did the artist pose Henry Clay in the same posture as earlier artists had used for fallen leaders such as General Wolfe?

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The Wilmot Proviso and the Realignment of American Politics

A. The Wilmot Proviso

B. Sectionalism and the Election of 1848

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The Wilmot Proviso

Why was the Wilmot Proviso so controversial?

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The Wilmot Proviso

Wilmot Proviso – Bill that would have banned slavery from the territories acquired from Mexico

Popular Sovereignty – An approach that would allow the people in each new territory to decide whether to permit slavery

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Sectionalism and the Election of 1848

Why does this political cartoon show a phrenologist examining Taylor’s skull?

Who were the Barnburners?

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Competing VisionsSLAVERY AND THE ELECTION OF 1848

Democrats asserted commitment to individual states’ rights to decide whether to allow slavery.

Whigs avoided mentioning slavery and focused on the merits of their candidate, Zachary Taylor.

What were the most important differences between the strategy of the Whigs and Democrats in the election of 1848?

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Competing VisionsSLAVERY AND THE ELECTION OF 1848

The Free-Soil Party, which opposed the spread of slavery, met in Buffalo, New York.

In this cartoon, Martin Van Buren, its candidate, is shown riding a buffalo.