Lesson 8 - Manifest Destiny

Manifest Destiny

The 19th-century belief that the United States had a divine right and duty to expand across the North American continent; used to justify territorial expansion through treaties, settlement, and war.

Territory

A region of land; specifically, a region designated by Congress and organized under a governor before becoming a state.

Diplomacy

The art of conducting negotiations between countries, often to avoid war or secure land and trade rights.

Annex / Annexation

To formally add a territory to a country; the act of such an addition.

Port of New Orleans

The critical Mississippi River port American farmers west of the Appalachians depended on to ship crops to Europe and East Coast markets.

Louisiana Territory

Region stretching from Canada to Texas and from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains; originally French, transferred to Spain after the French and Indian War, then back to France.

Napoleon Bonaparte

French leader who seized power after the French Revolution and briefly sought to rebuild a French empire in North America before selling Louisiana.

Toussaint L'Ouverture

Former slave who led a successful revolt in Haiti, defeating French troops and helping persuade Napoleon to abandon his New World ambitions.

Why Napoleon sold Louisiana

Loss of Haiti to L'Ouverture's revolt, looming war with Great Britain, and fear of losing the territory to the British without compensation.

James Monroe and Robert Livingston

American diplomats sent by Jefferson to France in 1803 to negotiate the purchase of New Orleans; ended up buying all of Louisiana.

Louisiana Purchase (1803)

Treaty signed April 30, 1803 transferring Louisiana from France to the U.S. for $15 million; doubled the size of the country.

Constitutional debate over Louisiana Purchase

Some argued the Constitution did not explicitly authorize the president to purchase foreign territory; the Senate ratified it anyway.

Seminole Indians

Native American group in Florida whose raids into Georgia, along with harboring of runaway slaves, gave the U.S. a pretext to intervene.

Andrew Jackson in Florida (1818)

Sent by Monroe to stop raids; exceeded his orders by invading Spanish Florida, seizing military posts, and deposing the Spanish governor.

Adams-Onis Treaty (1819)

Spain ceded Florida to the U.S.; the U.S. assumed $5 million in settlers' claims against Spain and recognized Spain's claim to Texas.

Moses Austin

Received a Spanish land grant to start a U.S. colony in Texas but died the same year, passing the project to his son.

Stephen F. Austin

Led American colonization of Texas under Mexican rule; later jailed for promoting rebellion after asking Santa Anna for separate statehood.

Mexico's three conditions for American settlers in Texas

Settlers had to be moral and hardworking, become Mexican citizens, and join the Catholic Church.

Tejanos

Texans of Mexican descent; many grew unhappy with illegal American immigration and disregard for Mexican law and culture.

Sources of tension in Mexican Texas

American settlers resented Spanish-language documents, Mexican authority, and the ban on slavery; Tejanos resented illegal immigration and cultural disrespect.

Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna

Mexican general and ruler who jailed Austin, led the assault on the Alamo, lost at San Jacinto, and was forced to order Mexican troops out of Texas.

The Alamo

Former mission in San Antonio held for 12 days by Texan defenders (including Crockett, Travis, and Bowie) and 8 Tejanos before Santa Anna's troops overran and killed them all.

Significance of the Alamo

Though a military defeat, it became a rallying cry ('Remember the Alamo!') that galvanized Texan resistance.

Battle of San Jacinto

Sam Houston's surprise afternoon attack on Santa Anna's resting troops; decisive Texan victory that secured independence.

Sam Houston

Texan commander at San Jacinto; captured Santa Anna and forced Mexican withdrawal from Texas.

Republic of Texas

Independent nation formed after the Texas War for Independence; most citizens were American settlers who wanted U.S. annexation.

Debate over Texas annexation

Southerners favored adding a new slave state; Northern opponents of slavery resisted; others feared war with Mexico.

James K. Polk

Expansionist president whose election led Congress to annex Texas; firm believer in manifest destiny who also sought California, New Mexico, and Oregon.

Annexation of Texas

Congress voted to annex Texas after Polk's election, making it the 28th state and infuriating Mexico.

Oregon Country

Region from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific, bordered by Russian Alaska to the north and Spanish/Mexican California to the south; claimed by four nations in 1819.

Four claimants to Oregon Country

Russia, Spain, Great Britain, and the United States.

How Spain and Russia left Oregon

Spain gave up its claim in the Adams-Onis Treaty; Russia agreed to stay north of the 54th parallel.

Lewis and Clark (1804)

Explored and claimed Oregon Country for the United States, though their route was too rugged for settlers.

Jedediah Smith

Discovered the South Pass through the Rockies in 1824, a low flat route wagons could cross, opening Oregon to mass settlement.

South Pass

Low, flat passage through the Rocky Mountains that made the Oregon Trail practical for wagon travel.

Oregon Treaty / 49th parallel compromise

Polk's 1846 compromise with Britain dividing Oregon Country roughly in half at the 49th parallel, which remains the U.S.-Canada border.

Causes of the Mexican-American War

Texas annexation (seen by Mexico as an act of war), a disputed southern border, and a clash between U.S. and Mexican troops on contested land.

Mexican-American War (1846-1848)

War triggered by border clash on the Rio Grande; ended with Mexico ceding vast territory to the United States.

Bear Flag Republic

Short-lived 1846 rebellion by American settlers in California against Mexican rule; joined forces with the U.S. Army to take control of California.

Zachary Taylor

U.S. general who invaded northern Mexico and defeated Santa Anna at the Battle of Buena Vista.

Winfield Scott

U.S. general who captured Mexico City, effectively ending Mexican military resistance.

Battle of Buena Vista

Taylor's victory in northern Mexico where Santa Anna's army was forced to retreat.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848)

Ended the Mexican-American War; Mexico ceded Texas and the Mexican Cession for $15 million and U.S. protection of Mexicans living there.

Mexican Cession

Land given to the U.S. by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo: present-day California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming.

Gadsden Purchase (1853)

U.S. purchase of a strip of land south of the Mexican Cession for $10 million; desired by railroad builders for flat terrain and established the modern southwestern border.