U.S. Western Expansion

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U.S. Western Expansion

• The Methods and Reasons for the spread of the
  U.S. across the continent

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• During the early to mid 1800s many Americans came
  to believe that the expansion of American
  territory was its destiny. While European nations
  were building empires around the world, the US
  was building an American empire.

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LAND

• Land is a key unifying theme in American history
  - desire for land is behind Native American
  removal, War with Texas, the Civil War, etc.

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Louisiana Purchase

• Jefferson had opportunity to purchase French
  claim to Louisiana from the French for 15
  million dollars
• Doubled the size of the US territory.

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Oregon Fever

• Particularly in the wake of the depression of the
  early 1840s, many became excited about land
  opportunities in Oregon.
• At the time both England and US had claimed the
  territory.
• Expansionists in the US opposed Englands claim
  and demanded the entire territory - 54,40 or
  Fight!
• A treaty with England in 1848 established the
  current boundary

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Expansion West

• Moving West was essentially an issue of
  opportunity.
• There were multiple trails to the West (Oregon,
  California, Santa Fe) - most were based on
  settling in new land.
• Approximately 2,000 mile trips along land took
  about 6 months.

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Tejas?

• After Mexicos independence it had encouraged
  development in Texas by inviting Americans to
  settle. The Americans in turn became Mexican
  citizens.
• By 1835 35,000 former Americans lived in Texas,
  and outnumbered the Mexican population.
• Those residents demanded a right to slavery, and
  rejected some of the authority of the Mexican
  govt.
• Mexicos leader (Santa Anna) began to crack down
  on Texas.

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Texas Independence

• Americans in Texas, and other Texans rebelled
  against Mexico in 1835.
• They lost a major battle at the Alamo, but were
  able to divide and conquer the larger Mexican
  army to win independence.
• Mexico did not recognize their independence, but
  Texas governed as a separate country.

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Annex Texas?
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Manifest Destiny

• Concept first introduced in 1845 in response to a
  belief that foreign governments conspired to
  block the annexation of Texas
• It was the destiny of America to spread across
  the continent

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Beliefs of Manifest Destiny

• 3 Main Ideas (From sea to shining sea)
• God was on the side of American expansion
  (Americans were in a sense a chosen people)
• Spread of American rule also meant the spread of
  freedom (Democracy) - i.e. the moral good
• Population growth also required expansion

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Annex Texas

• Annexation became a politically charged issue
  because of slavery. Southern states wanted
  annexation, Northern free soilers did not.
• Jackson and Van Buren refused to annex Texas, but
  Tyler pushed the issue - however the first Senate
  vote was defeated.
• A major issue in the election of 1844 was
  expansion, the Democratic candidate James Polk
  won on a platform of annexation.
• Democrats then snuck annexation through Congress
  with only a simple majority vote.
• As a result Mexico broke relations with the US.

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Manifest Destiny Complete

• By the middle of the 1800s the U.S. had spread
  across the continent - the next step was to
  settle all the new territory.