The Mexican War: Manifest Destiny or a Slaveholder Conspiracy?

I. Texas Fights for Independence from Mexico (1836)

Context: -- Mexican Independence from Spain (1821)

• Stephen Austin & a Growing “Gringo” Population in Texas

Increasing Tension in Texas: Religion, Slavery & Santa Anna’s Dictatorship

The Fighting: Texas’ Defeat at The Alamo -- then Victory

C. A Slaveholder Conspiracy? Sectionalism and US Neutrality

II. The US Annexes Texas

A. The Dangers of an Independent Texas

B. The 1844 Election: Polk Promises Manifest Destiny

C. Nueces or Rio Grande? US Annexation of Texas & the Border Dispute (1845)

D. Spotty Lincoln: American Blood on American Soil?

III. The Mexican-American War and Its Impact

A. Surprising Victories: California, Buena Vista, Mexico

B. The Impact• The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848), The Gold

Rush & American Expansion

The Wilmot Proviso & the Beginning of the Sectional Crisis

Expansion + Slavery Debate Civil War