MANIFEST DESTINY

Chapter 15

Manifest Destiny

• Obvious Fate• John O’Sullivan, a newspaper editor first

used the expression and argued that Americans had the divine right to settle this area and make it their own.

• The idea caught on and Americans believed that it was “God’s plan” to expand the idea of liberty.

Louisiana Territory

• Napoleon wanted to colonize the America through the Louisiana

Territory but changed his mind, so he decides to sell the territory to the

United States.

• Since the Constitution does not specifically give the President the power

to acquire land, Jefferson, an Anti-Federalist, was philosophically torn.

• Jefferson would end up using the Elastic Clause that he despised.

• The US purchased the territory for $15 million dollars.

• The U.S. doubled its size and acquired 800,000 square miles for three

cents per acre

• The U.S. received the western half of the richest river valley in the world

• We were guaranteed the Mississippi waterway to the Gulf of Mexico

included New Orleans

Florida

• White landowners in Georgia wanted the US to acquire Florida from Spain.– Slave owners were tired of their slaves

running away to Florida.– Landowners were tired of Seminole raids on

their property.• In 1804, Jefferson sent diplomats to Spain to

purchase Florida. They said, “NO”.

Florida

• Spain loses its control of Florida and the raids get worse.

• In 1818, President Monroe sends Andrew Jackson to Georgia to end the raids.

• Jackson was supposed to chase the Seminoles back into Florida but not invade the Spanish colony.

• But this is “Old Hickory”, after all…

Florida

• And he not only chases them to Florida, but invades Florida.– Captures military posts– Arrests, tries, and executes two British

subjects that were stirring up Indian attacks. – Replaces the Spanish governor with an

American.

Florida

• Most want Jackson punished for disobeying orders, but John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State offers an alternative.

• “Govern or Get Out”• Spain agrees to give up the land if the US

pays off $5 million in settlers’ claims against Spain.

Texas

• Much of Texas was well suited for growing cotton, which made it valuable land for many Americans.

• Once Texas gained its independence, it became the Lone Star Republic, but most Texans wanted to become part of the United States.

• Texas remained independent for 10 years.

Texas

Election of 1844• The hot topic of the election was whether or not to annex

Texas.

Annex – to add territory to a country

Candidates– Henry Clay (yes, again!)

• “Annexation and war with Mexico are identical”

– James Polk• Strong believer in manifest destiny and eager to

annex Texas.

Texas

James Polk wins the election and shortly after, in 1845, Texas is admitted as the 28th state.

Mexican American War

• Polk’s next plan was to expand to California and New Mexico.

• Mexico saw the annexation of Texas as an act of war and refuses to meet with the US, plus they disagreed on where the borders should be.

Mexican American War

• April 25, 1846, Mexican soldiers fire on US troops along the Rio Grande.

• Two days later, Congress declares war on Mexico.

• US takes control of New Mexico and then California, and then move on to Mexico.

• They finally take Mexico City in September, 1847.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo – Early 1848

• Mexico agrees to give up – Texas – Mexican Cession

• California• Nevada• Utah• Arizona• New Mexico• Parts of Colorado and Wyoming

Gadsden Purchase

• 1853• US acquires more land from Mexico• James Gadsden arranges purchase of

land south of Mexican Cession for $10 million.

• Creates present day border• Flat land that serves as good railroad

route

Oregon Country

• 1819, Oregon is claimed by four different nations:– Russia– Spain– Great Britain– US

• By 1825, only Great Britain and the US claimed Oregon and agree to a peaceful “joint occupation”.

Oregon Country

• The US believed that they had a right to Oregon because of Lewis and Clark’s expedition.

• The route they took was far too rugged and dangerous for the average traveler.

• In 1824, Jedediah Smith found the South Pass. A low flat and much safer way to get through the Rockies.

Oregon Country

• Oregon Fever hits!• “Pioneer Paradise”• In 1843, 1000 pioneers headed for Oregon.• A year later, twice that many headed to

Oregon.

Oregon Country

• Oregon Fever also plays a role in the 1844 Presidential election.

• Polk promised to annex all of Oregon Country.• “Fifty-four forty or Fight”

• He’s elected, but in the end, no one wants to go to war over the territory.

• The US negotiates a treaty with Great Britain splitting the territory in half.

Mormon Territory

• Religious persecution forced Mormons to move many times– They were expelled from the state of Missouri by an "extermination

order" from the governor in 1838. – Mormons relocated in a swampy area of Illinois that they revamped

and named Nauvoo.• People in Illinois distrusted the Mormons and their peculiar way of life, and

mounting tensions led to the destruction of an anti-Mormon printing press and the mob-incited murder of Joseph Smith.

– Mormon Pioneers Leave for Utah– After Smith's murder in 1844 and the revoking of the Nauvoo city's charter allowing

citizens to maintain a militia for self-defense in 1845, it became clear to Mormons that they would have to relocate again for their own safety.

• Between February and September of 1846, virtually all of the Mormons in Nauvoo left for the West.

Mormon Territory

Settling in Salt Lake CityThe Mormon Trail, which overlaps portions of the Oregon Trail and the Reed-Donner Trail, leads from Illinois across the Mississippi River, then through Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, and finally to Utah.

1846-1847

Mexican America

n War

1845Texas

becomes state

1848Treaty of

Guadalupe Hidalgo

1803Louisiana Territory

1853Gadsden Purchase

1819Florida

Closing

On the back of your notes, Annotate the drawing by adding a speech or thought bubble for four elements in the painting– people, animals, or objects. How might they respond to the question, How justifiable was U.S. expansion in the 1800s?