Manifest DestinyTexas and the Mexican War (1803-1853)

James K Polk Inaugural Address March 4, 1845

1. How does Polk address the issue of sectionalism?2. How does Polk justify U.S. expansion into Texas? 3. How does Polk justify U.S. expansion into Oregon?4. If you had listened to Polk deliver the address would

you have agreed with his expansionist views? Explain.

Texas

• Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821• In 1821 there were only 4000 Tejanos in Texas to defend the

province• Mexico decided to encourage American expansion into Texas

in hopes that Americans would provide an economic boost to the region and help Tejanos defend against Native Americans.

• In return for cheap land grants, Americans had to agree to three things:• Americans had to agree to become Mexican citizens• Americans had to worship as Roman Catholics• Americans had to accept the Mexican constitution, which banned

slavery

Texas

• Led by empressarios (land grant agents) like Stephen F. Austin, Americans began to settle as far east as San Antonio

• By 1835, 30,000 Americans (Anglo-Texans) lived in Texas. Outnumbered Tejanos 6-1.

• Tensions quickly rose between Americans and the Mexican government

• In 1834, general Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna and his followers took control of Mexico; favored strict, authoritative government rule over Mexico (&Texas)

• In 1835, Texans rebelled against this rule and a year later declared independence from Mexico as the Lone Star Republic

Texas

• To crush the rebellion, Santa Anna led Mexican army north into Texas• March 1836 attacked small Texas military garrison in San Antonio,

known as the Alamo• After 12 days of cannon fire, Mexican troops overran the Alamo and

Santa Anna ordered all of the defenders of the Alamo killed. Victims included Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett

• “Remember the Alamo”• Sam Houston led Texas resistance after the Alamo• April 1836, Mexican Army defeated by Texans at Battle of San Jacinto;

630 killed to only 32 Texans; 730 Mexicans captured, including Santa Anna

Texas

• Santa Anna forced to sign treaty that granted Texas independence

• Border between Texas and Mexico became huge debate for the next ten years.

• Texas claimed the Rio Grande River as southern/western border; Mexico insisted the Nueces River

• Texas would become a state in 1845

James K. Polk

• First "dark horse" President• Born in Mecklenburg County, North

Carolina, in 1795. • graduated with honors in 1818 from the

University of North Carolina.• Served in the Tennessee legislature, and

became a friend of Andrew Jackson. • In the House of Representatives, Polk

was a chief lieutenant of Jackson in his Bank war.

• Served as Speaker between 1835 and 1839, leaving to become Governor of Tennessee.

Presidential Election of 1844

• In 1844 both Martin Van Buren, who was expected to win the Democratic nomination for President, and Henry Clay, who was to be the Whig nominee, disagreed with the idea of expansion

• Polk said that Texas should be "re-annexed" and all of Oregon "re-occupied."

• James K. Polk, campaigned on the idea of "Fifty-four forty or fight"

• The Democrats chose Polk and "Manifest Destiny” when he was nominated on the ninth ballot

• Polk defeated Clay by a thin margin in the general election

James K Polk Inaugural Address March 4, 1845

1. How does Polk address the issue of sectionalism?2. How does Polk justify U.S. expansion into Texas? 3. How does Polk justify U.S. expansion into Oregon?4. If you had listened to Polk deliver the address would

you have agreed with his expansionist views? Explain.

Mexican War

• Texas had been independent for a decade and Mexico had made no attempt to reconquer it.

• Mexico broke off diplomatic relations with U.S. when the United States annexed Texas and it became a state in 1845.

• Polk ordered General Zachary Taylor into Texas to defend the border. But the location of the border was in dispute.

• Texas claimed the Rio Grande; Mexico insisted that the boundary was the Nueces River, which emptied into the Gulf about 150 miles to the north.

• Taylor reached the Neuces in July 1845 with about 1500 troops and crossed into the disputed territory.

Mexican War

• In November 1845, Polk sent an envoy, John Slidell, on a secret mission to Mexico to try to obtain the disputed territory by negotiation.

• Polk authorized Slidell to forgive Mexican debt in return for recognition of the annexation of Texas and acceptance of the Rio Grande boundary.

• The president also authorized Slidell to offer $30 million if Mexico would sell the U.S. all or part of New Mexico and California.

• Mexico refused to see Slidell

Mexican War

• By late March 1846, American forces had grown to 4,000 and had taken up position near the Mexican town of Matamoros.

• The Mexicans crossed the river on April 25 and attacked an American mounted patrol. When news of the fighting reached Washington, Polk asked for a declaration of war.

• Many northerners feared that the war would lead to the expansion of slavery. Others, including Abraham Lincoln, felt Polk had mislead the public and Congress in the cause of this war. As more northerners saw the United States as the aggressor, the war became “Mr. Polk’s War”.

Manifest Destiny Cartoon

• Create a political cartoon that demonstrates a point of view that is either pro-war with Mexico or anti-war with Mexico

• Create symbols and captions that demonstrate this point of view. Your creation should use at least two facts to justify your position in the cartoon.

Mexican War

• “The government itself, which is only the mode which the people have chosen to execute their will, is equally liable to be abused and perverted before the people can act through it. Witness the present Mexican war, the work of comparatively a few individuals using the standing government as their tool; for, in the outset, the people would not have consented to this measure.”

Henry David Thoreau, “Civil Disobedience”

Mexican War

• From the first battle, the outcome of the war was never in doubt.

• At Palo Alto, north of the Rio Grande, 2,300 Americans scattered a Mexican force twice that number.

• 1,700 Americans routed 7,500 Mexicans at Resaca de la Palma. Fewer than 50 American soldiers lost their lives; while Mexican losses were over 1000.

• Within a week, Mexican forces had retreated across the Rio Grande, and General Zachary Taylor’s forces had firmly established ground on the southern bank of the river.

Mexican War

• The Mexican army was poorly equipped and poorly led.

• The well supplied American forces had a hard core of youthful West Pointers eager to make their reputations ( P. G. T. Beauregard, William Tecumseh Sherman, Ulysses S. Grant, George McClellan, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, Robert Anderson, Robert E. Lee) and regulars trained in Indian warfare

• But, Mexico was a large, rugged country with few decent roads.

Mexican War

• Polk’s war plan had three major parts:• First, he would clear the Mexicans from Texas and occupy the northern provinces of Mexico. • Second, he would take possession of California and New Mexico.• Finally, he would march on Mexico City.

• Campaign against Mexico City was most difficult. General Winfield Scott put in charge of the invasion.

• Scott landed his army south of Veracruz, Mexico on March 9, 1847, laid siege to the city, and obtained its surrender in less than three weeks with the loss of only a handful of his 10,000 men.

• September 14, 1847 Scott took Mexico City. • In every engagement, his troops had been outnumbered, yet they always exacted

a far heavier toll from the defenders.

Mexican War

• The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the war: Mexico accepted the Rio Grande as the boundary of Texas and ceded New Mexico and Upper California to the United States. In return the U.S. agreed to pay Mexico $15 million

• The relatively easy military victory made some people ashamed that their country was crushing a weaker neighbor. Abolitionists, led by William Lloyd Garrison, called it “an invasion…waged solely for the detestable and horrible purpose of extending and perpetuating American slavery.”