Manifest Destiny

Westward Expansion

The International Context for American Expansion

• In 1815, save for the Louisiana Purchase, Spain held onto most of the land west of the Mississippi.

• Spanish holdings eventually encompassed present-day Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, California and more. Mexican independence in 1821 gave the new country all of Spain’s holdings.

• North of California was Oregon Territory, disputed between America and England.

Manifest Destiny• Phrase coined in 1845 by John L. O’Sullivan,

editor of the Democratic Review.• Definition: Expressed conviction that the

development of a superior system of government and lifestyle dictated a God-given right of Americans to spread their civilization to the four corners of the continent.

• Territorial expansion was a mandate of Manifest Destiny.

“Winning” the West

• Annexing Texas

• California and New Mexico

• The Oregon Question

Annexing Texas 1845

• Mexico offers land grants to American settlersA. conditions

• Stephen F. Austin, largest empressario• U.S. makes offers to by Mexico’s land• Cultural differences grow• Texas Revolution• Republic of Texas• Texas becomes the 28th state

Battle of San Jacinto - April 21, 1836• Gen. Sam Houston defeated Santa Anna, taking him prisoner.

Gen. Santa Anna standing before the wounded Sam Houston after the Battle of San Jacinto.

Triggering Event of War with Mexico• Mexico’s government unstable• Polk sends an emissary to Mexico• Polk sends military to blockade Rio Grande• Fremont leads “exploration” party through

Mexico’s land in California• Mexico sends troops to Rio Grande• Polk sends message of war to Congress

Quote from Robert E. Lee

“(The service from the American battery) was terrific, and the shells thrown from our battery were constant and regular discharges, so beautiful in their flights so destructive in their fall. It was awful ! My heart bled for the inhabitants. The soldiers I did not care so much for, but it was terrible to think of the women and the children.”

California and New Mexico• Stephen Kearney marches from Kansas to New

Mexico• Not a single shot fired and New Mexico is ours• June 1846, Sonoma Valley seized by Fremont • Republic of California formed• Kearney and Fremont join forces in California

and defeat Mexico

Meanwhile, the Oregon Question1844 - 1846

• Although disputed by both America and England, President Polk claimed settlement of Americans in the territory as a “presumption of possession.”

• The British government did not agree but were powerless to stop thousands of settlers migrating to Oregon.

• Despite slogans and diatribe, Polk was unwilling to fight and sought a diplomatic resolution to the issue.

• England eagerly accepted Vancouver Island in return for dropping her claims to Oregon.

• Attracted by open land and excellent soil, thousands of people began to travel the Oregon Trail by 1843.• Travelers had to cover 2,000 miles on foot in five months.

Emigrant John Wyeth: "We saw them in frightful droves as far as the eye could reach; appearing at a distance as if the ground itself was moving like a sea.“

Emigrant William Kilgore: "Buffalo extended the whole length of our afternoon's travel, not in hundreds, but in solid phalanx. I estimated two million."

Emigrant Isaac Foster: "The valley of the Platte for 200 miles; dotted with skeletons of buffalos; such a waste of the creatures God had made for man seems wicked, but every emigrant seems to wish to signalize himself by killing a buffalo."

Slaughtered buffalo lying dead in the snow in 1872.

• Today, the Oregon Country includes Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and parts of Wyoming and British Columbia, Canada.

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 1848The final treaty between America and Mexico in the era:• Set the Rio Grande as America’s south border (Texas)• Ceded New Mexico and California to US in return for $15

million for cession (CA, NV, NM, UT, AZ and parts of CO, and WY)

• Mexicans remaining in US territories have guaranteed right of freedom of religion, protection of property, bilingual education and open borders.

• US size increases by 1/3.• Mexico size shrinks by ½.• Note: Gadsen Purchase – 5 years later - Awarded Mexico $15

million and set terms for Gadsden Purchase of southern Arizona and parts of New Mexico for an additional $10 million