Chapter 11- The Era of Manifest Destiny

Manifest Destiny

• The belief that America was destined to take over the continent

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Trouble in Texas

• Spain offered cheap/free land to American settlers

• Mexico gained independence in 1821

• The Texas Revolution (1835-1836)

• The Lone Star Republic (1836-1845)

Expansion Politics• Texans ask to be

annexed to the US• Settlers begin moving

to the Oregon Territory in the early 1840s

Expansion Politics• Texans ask to be annexed

to the US• Settlers begin moving to

the Oregon Territory in the early 1840s

• Election of 1844: Whigs nominated Henry Clay; Democrats nominated James K. Polk

• Polk wins on the promise of expanding the nation

Polk and the Mexican War• The Oregon Territory is

divided at the 49’ parallel• U.S. offers to buy New

Mexico and California• Polk ordered General

Zachary Taylor to cross the Nueces- War begins!

Polk and the Mexican War• The Oregon Territory is

divided at the 49’ parallel• U.S. offers to buy New

Mexico and California• Polk ordered General

Zachary Taylor to cross the Nueces- War begins!

• N.M. and CA were under American control by early 1847.

Polk and the Mexican War• The Oregon Territory is divided

at the 49’ parallel• U.S. offers to buy New Mexico

and California• Polk ordered General Zachary

Taylor to cross the Nueces- War begins!

• N.M. and CA were under American control by early 1847.

• Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848)

The Gold Rush• Within months of

Mexico’s surrender, gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill

• From 1851-1855, California produced 45% of the world’s gold supply

• Impact of the Gold Rush

• Immigration issues

The Price of Victory• Northern politicians viewed

the war as a means to expand slavery

• The Wilmot Proviso sought to ban slavery from the territories acquired from Mexico

• Southerners want to expand slavery to all parts of the nation

• Moderates supported “popular sovereignty”

Escape from Crisis• Gen. Zachary Taylor (W)

was elected President in 1848

• Taylor wanted to ban slavery in the Mexican cession; dies in 1850

• The Compromise of 1850 • Manifest Destiny

completed with the Gadsden Purchase (1854)