Manifest Destiny

In the 1840s, westward expansion led Americans to acquire all lands from the Atlantic to the Pacific in a movement called Manifest Destiny

The number of the U.S. states grew from 13 to 26

The earliest pioneers were fur traders, land speculators, and poor farmers looking for cheap land

Soon, farmers, miners, ranchers, and religious groups flooded the West

The Treaty of Fort Laramie created a vast Indian Territory but was repeatedly ignored by whites expanding West

In 1821, Mexico won independence from Spain, and the new Mexican government welcomed Americans into Texas by offering cheat land

Americans refused to accept Mexican laws

They would not convert to Catholicism

They would not accept a ban on slavery

They wanted a voice in the Mexican government

By 1835, Texans were in open rebellion against the Mexican government

Texas, led by Sam Houston, captured Santa Anna and won their independence in 1836

Democrat James K. Polk won the election of 1844 and became the “Manifest Destiny” president

The Mexican-American War ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo in 1848

The US gained all of Texas to the Rio Grande River

Mexico gave up (ceded) territory in the Southwest, called the Mexican Cession

When the Mexican War broke out in 1846, Californians revolted from Mexican rule and created an independent nation

The California Republic was annexed by the USA as a part of the Mexican Cession in 1848

The discovery of gold in San Francisco led to a flood of Americans to California in 1849

“Forty-Niners” hoping to strike it rich came from the East, Latin America, Europe, and Asia

By the end of the 1840s, the USA had achieved its Manifest Destiny

America had a “continental” empire form the Atlantic to Pacific