Texas & the Mexican-American War

Immigration to Texas

• Americans begin to expand and settle in Texas (Spanish Territory)– Stephen Austin leads settlers

• Spanish accept settlers on three conditions

1. Convert to Catholicism

2. Become Mexican citizens

3. Outlaw Slavery

Why did Mexico want Americans to settle in Texas?• To help defend and develop the

province economically

Why did Americans want to settle in Texas?• Abundant, cheap, fertile land

with a small population

Expansion & Conflict in Texas

1835

• 30,000 Americans settle in Texas (outnumber Mexicans 6 to 1)

• DO NOT observe Mexican laws• Leads to Rebellion

Texas Revolution (1835-1836)

Texas Revolution

• American colonists rebel– Declare the “Republic of Texas”

• Mexico declares war

What brought American settlers into conflict with the Mexican government?• They did not convert to Roman Catholicism (remained

Protestants) & they ignored Mexico’s ban on slavery

What happened at the Alamo?• Texas rebelled against

Mexican rule• Santa Anna attacks the

Alamo to put down the rebellion

• 12 days of fighting, Mexico wins, then kills every prisoner; “Remember the Alamo!”

Texas as a “Nation”

• Why was the U.S. at first reluctant to annex Texas?

• Northern Democrats did not want to add another big, powerful slave state

James K. Polk’s Platform

• Pro Annexation of Texas and Oregon– “54/40 or Fight”

• Campaign Slogan• Expansionist Policies• 4 nations claimed

Oregon (Russia, USA, Spain, Britain)

• Supported Manifest Destiny

• What promises did Polk make to help him win the election (of 1844)?

• To make Northern Democrats happy, he promises to get all of Oregon from Great Britain or go to war; *“54-40 or Fight!”*

54 Line

Why did Polk need to satisfy the interests of Northerners specifically?

• What did Polk do that left many Northern Democrats feeling betrayed?

• To avoid war with Great Britain, Polk compromised on Oregon in order to fight Mexico (British kept what became British Columbia)

Annexation of Texas (1845)

• 10 days after inauguration Polk annexes Texas– “We have always owned it”

The Mexican American War

• 1846-1848– WHY?

• Land Hunger• Annexation• Mexico Insulted• Manifest Destiny

The Border Dispute

• Polk moves the Texas border south to the Rio Grande (150 miles south of the original border)

• Offers Mexico $30 million for New Mexico and California (Mexico insulted)

• Mexico prepares for war

Outbreak

• Polk enforces the southern border with American troops

• 1846 – Mexican troops cross the Rio Grande

• 17 Americans Die• Congress Declares War

Heroes of the War• Many junior lieutenants of the War

eventually become leaders in the next war.

• Leaders include: Zachary Taylor, Winfield Scott

• Upcoming leaders include: Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, Stonewall Jackson, George Meade, James Longstreet, etc.

• What formally ended the Mexican-American War?• Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo• (Mexican Cession)• US adds 1.2 million square miles• Mexico was humiliated by the treaty, bitter toward US

for many years

Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo (1848)

• Mexican Cession – Mexico cedes Texas (with Rio Grande Border), California and New Mexico

• USA pays $15 million for territories – ½ of what Polk originally offered

• US gains land covering Texas New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada and parts of Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming

• US added more territory with theGadsden Purchase (1853)

• Bought from Mexico, consisted of the southern parts of Arizona & New Mexico

• Needed to runtranscontinental RR

How is this further contributing to

Manifest Destiny?

• What issue continued to divide the nation?– SLAVERY, and its expansion

• Whig Congressman David Wilmot proposes the Wilmot Proviso:

• Proposed law would ban slavery in all lands won from Mexico

• Law DID NOT pass• Lands won from

Mexico increased North/South tensions

• Proposed in Congress for 15 more yearsWhy do you think the Wilmot Proviso didn’t pass?

Election of 1848

Gen. Zachary Taylor (Whig, LA) wins narrow election

*Last president to own slaves during his term

“Old Rough and Ready”

*Dies after 16 months in office

*Food Poisoning