Manifest Destiny

• In the early 1800’s, the country as a whole began to grow.

• More states and territories were added to the union. – Remember the country began with the original

thirteen colonies.

• New states added since the thirteen colonies… – Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky,

Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee

• After the victory in the Mexican-American War the United States also gained…– California, Texas, New Mexico

• In 1800, there were only 387,000 white settlers living in west of the Appalachian Mountains.

• By 1820, that number grew to more than 2.4 million.– Only a twenty year difference!

• In the year 1845, a newspaper editor named John Louis O’Sullivan declared that it was the “manifest destiny” of Americans “to overspread the continent alloted by Providence…”.– Many Americans bought into this concept of

Manifest Destiny

• Manifest Destiny: The idea that God had given the continent to Americans and wanted them to settle western land.

• Some Americans headed west for religious purposes, while others were lured west by the chance to own their own farms and make a living.

• Early settlers marked out thei farms on the open lands in the west.

• These pioneers became known as “squatters”.– Squatters: Farmers who settled on land that they

did not own.

• The government intended on surveying the land and selling large portions to real estate companies.

– But the squatters wanted to purchase the land that they occupied directly from the government

• In 1830, the federal government gave into the pressure and passed the Pre-emption Act.

– The Preemption Act protected the squatters by guaranteeing them the right to claim land before it was surveyed

– The squatters were allowed to buy up 160 acres of land for $1.25 an acre.

Traveling out West

• By the late 1840’s, pioneers and ex-mountain men had carved a large number of trails and routes from the eastern states all the way to the Pacific Ocean. – Oregon Trail, California Trail, and Santa Fe Trail

• The majority of pioneers traveling to the west, made their journeys in covered wagons.– Pioneers would leave their careers, houses, and

sometimes family members behind in the east in order to travel to the west.

• These western-travelers became known as “overlanders”.

• The overlander trek to the west took five to six months.– The wagons were pulled by oxen and could drive

about fifteen miles a day.

• The first wagon trains hired experienced mountain men to guide them to their destinations in the west. – Usually retired fur-traders

• But as the trails became well worn, most of the travelers found their own way.

• Overlanders who successfully made it to the west, would often sell or give their guidebooks to new pioneers

• Sometimes the guide books were wrong– An example of this was the Donner Party

• In 1846, a group of 87 overlanders decided to take a “shortcut” through the Sierra Nevada.– A heavy snow fell during the night and they were

trapped by high piles of snow

• After 41 of them died of starvation, the survivors were forced to make a decision…starve or resort to cannibalism– Many ate the dead bodies of those who froze

• Early travelers also feared attacks from Native American warriors.– Stories and rumors circulated through the

overlanders

• These encounters were actually rare though.– By one estimate, 362 overlanders died due to Native

American attacks between 1840-1860

• The same estimate shows that overlanders actually killed more Native Americans (426).

• In fact, Native Americans would usually offer services to overlanders for supplies and pay

– Manual labor

– Trail Information

– Hunting

• As more and more overlanders traveled over the Great Plains, the Native Americans became somewhat alarmed. – Feared that the increasing flow of American settlers

would effect their hunting grounds • The Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and other tribes relied

on the buffalo for life.

• The Native Americans made use of every part of their buffalo.– Meat food– Fur Clothing– Hide Shelter (teepees)– Bones tools

• In an attempt to make peace and prevent violence, the federal government negotiated the Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1851.

– Eight Native American tribes agreed to specific geographical boundaries with the U.S. government.

– The U.S. government promised that these territories would belong to the Native Americans forever.

The Mormon Migration

• Unlike those who traveled for the West Coast in search for land, the Mormons followed a deeply rooted American tradition. – the quest for religious freedom.

• Remember the Pilgrims and the Quakers?

• The Mormon Church later known as the Church of Latter Day Saints, was founded by Joseph Smith in western New York.

– The Mormons were persecuted and migrated from New York, Ohio, Missouri, and then to Illinois.

• In 1844, Joseph Smith, the leader of the Mormon Church was assassinated while waiting for trial in Illinois.

• The Church’s new leader Brigham Young, took his people to the west to escape further persecution.

• Several thousand Mormons forged their way along a path that became known as the Mormon Trail.

– In 1847, the Mormons stopped at the Great Salt Lake

– The Mormons built a new settlement near the Great Salt Lake.

• Salt Lake City, Utah

The Gold Rush

• In 1848, several miners discovered a large amount of gold in the territory of California.

• By the next year, 1849, more than 80,000 people had moved to California in order to pan, dig, mine for gold.– Forty-Niners 1849

• The massive migration to California was followed by a lot of problems – No government meant there no law officials present in

the territory.– There wasn’t as much gold in the territory as

expected.• Lots of crime

• In order to have law and order, some sort of government needed to be organized

• Californians began to organize and apply for statehood.– But would they be a slave or free state? – Under the Compromise of 1850, California was

admitted as a free state

Splits within the Whigs and Free-Soilers

• Several months before the Presidential election of 1848, the Whig Party nominated Zachary Taylor

– American military leader• War of 1812, Seminole Wars,

and Mexican-American War

– Born in Virginia

– Slave-owner

• Because Taylor owned slaves, many Whigs believed that Taylor was going to attempt to legalize slavery in the new states in the west.

– The Whigs in the North who didn’t approve of Taylor split from the Party

– Became known as the Conscience Whigs

• Some Northern Whigs approved of Taylor though.• The majority of the political figures had financial ties to

cloth manufacturers which relied on cotton from the South– They became known as the Cotton Whigs– Supported Zachary Taylor

• As the Whig Party suffered an internal split, so did the Democrats in the North.

• And just like the Whigs, it was over a presidential candidate.– The majority of Northern Democrats wanted to

re-nominate the eighth president of the United States Martin Van Buren

– Instead, they nominated Lewis Cass

• Because both the Conscience Whigs and the Democrats in the North both opposed slavery, the two groups decided to merge and form a brand new political party.– The Free-Soil Party

• The Free-Soil Party opposed slavery in the western territories.– Referred to farmland which was not manned by

slaves as “free” soil

• Although they condemned slavery, the Free-Soil Party wanted to preserve the western territories for farmers.

• The Free-Soil party felt that expanding slavery would make it incredibly difficult for free men to find work.– Nominated Martin Van Buren as their presidential

candidate

Zachary Taylor

• Whig Party Representative Zachary Taylor defeated both Democrat Lewis Cass and Free-Soiler Martin Van Buren

• The 12th President• November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850 • Nicknamed, “Old, Rough and Ready”

– Long military career 40 years • Last Whig candidate to win an election • Owned slaves • Second President to die in office

– Died 16 months after assuming office– Succeeded by Vice President Millard Fillmore

Millard Fillmore• The 13th President of the United States• January 7, 1800 – March 8, 1874 • Second Vice President to succeed a President

due to death• Last Whig President in office• Signer and “Approver” of the Compromise of

1850 and the Fugitive Slave Act• Appointed Brigham Young as the first governor

of the Utah territory

• The Compromise of 1850 (popular sovereignty) angered the slave owning states California was declared a free state.

• The slave states knew that if California and Kansas came into the union as free states, then Congress would no longer be even.– It would be in favor of the free states–Remember Bleeding Kansas

• They also knew that if it ever came down to a vote, then the whole practice of slavery would be deemed illegal. –The roars for southern secession

were getting louder and louder