APUSH Period 4/5 Unit F

Period 4-Unit F. Manifest Destiny

Manifest Destiny

Manifest Destiny was first defined by John L. O’Sullivan as America’s right and destiny to expand across the continent.  The term “Manifest Destiny” assigned a religious and culturally superior justification to the expansion.

The map of the Missouri Compromise was the stage on which Manifest Destiny would begin it's trek across the continent.

Manifest Destiny was promoted by Americans who envisioned the same end, even though they approached expansion for different reasons.

• Land-hungry Americans wanted large tracts of land.

• Patriots feared that if the U.S. did not occupy the Western lands, the British would.

• Eastern merchants wanted west coast ports to trade with Asia.

• People believed that the “spreading of America” was the same as the “spreading of freedom.”

Texas

The first movement of American settlers outside the boundaries of the Missouri Compromise was into Texas.  The newly independent country of Mexico invited Americans to populate its northern province of Texas.  Population and taxes would enhance Mexico’s economy.

In 1823 Stephen Austin led the first group of Americans into Texas. By 1830 the numbers had increased to 20,000, along with 1,000 slaves that had been brought into the Mexican province.

Friction soon developed between the Mexican government and the independent-thinking “Texans.”  Language, customs, taxation, and representation caused the Mexican government to curtail the Texan migration problem.  An attempt was made to 

• halt further migration into Texas.

• order slaves to be freed.

• take away local government from the Texans.

A new ruler came to power in Mexico, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.  He attempted to enforce his military brand of government over the Texans, pushing the Texans to revolt. In March 1836, the Texans declared their independence. Santa Anna approached the Texans with an army of 3,000 to put down the revolt.  He met a group of Texans at a San Antonio mission called the Alamo.  It was defended by 200 hard core Texan-Americans including Captain William Travis, Jim Bowie, and Davy Crocket. The Alamo was surrounded, bombarded, and sieged for two weeks before it fell to the overwhelming numbers of the Mexicans.  All defenders died.  Thirty noncombatants lived. But for Texas, they did not die in vain.  The defenders of the Alamo gave the independence movement its most valuable asset--time.

That small amount of time was all that the Texans needed.  Sam Houston (former military hero who served with Andrew Jackson during the Creek wars, congressman, and governor of Tennessee), commander of the small revolutionary army, rallied the independence movement under the battle cry, “Remember the Alamo!” Another devastating loss was the Battle of Goliad,  “Remember Goliad!” was added to the independence battle cries. Houston’s Texans regained strength and defeated the Mexican army rested themselves and their horses in April of 1836, at the Battle of San Jacinto River. (modern Houston)

Under the threat of sure death, Houston forced Santa Anna to sign two treaties:

• Mexico would withdraw all troops from the independent “state” of Texas.

• The Rio Grande River would be recognized as the southern boundary of Texas.

During the Texas War of Independence, Andrew Jackson was president.

Texas quickly…

• named their country the Republic of Texas (or the Lone Star Republic)

• elected Sam Houston as president

• requested entry into the United States by annexation

The annexation of Texas became a political hot potato.  Again, the Missouri Compromise balanced the slavery issue.  The North did not want Texas annexed because it would surely upset the balance of twelve slave states and twelve free states.

Texas was also large enough to be divided into several states… Southern states.  The thought of several more slave states in the union killed the Texas request for annexation under the term of Martin Van Buren.  Besides, the Depression (Panic) of 1837 was at the top of the political agenda.

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The Election of 1840

As we know, Martin Van Buren was blamed for the Panic of 1837, which was actually caused by Jackson’s Specie Circular.  The Whig candidates, Harrison and Tyler, won the day.

William Henry Harrison gave the longest inaugural speech in American history, and it resulted in the shortest presidential term in American history.  He caught pneumonia from his exposure to the Washington elements of cold and rain.  He died four weeks later, bequeathing the White House to John Tyler, commonly called “Accidental Tyler.”  (He was the first vice president to become president as a result of the death of a president.)

Tyler, a Virginia states-rightist, was placed on the Whig ticket to give it balance.  One of his first acts was to veto a Whig attempt to establish a new Bank of the United States.  For looking like a Jacksonian and vetoing his Whig party policy, he assured himself of only one term in office; he became a man without a party. Even though President Tyler was not able to make any headway on bringing Texas into the union, and although his party would not support him, he did have some successes that supported expansionist philosophies.

Western Land

The Pre-Emptioned Act of 1841 guaranteed the rights of settlers to purchase public lands that they “squatted” on and improved.  After all, they “preempted” the land as Manifest Destiny was encouraged to move west, so they should get first choice to purchase it.  The Pre-Emptioned Act would become the root of the Homestead Act of 1862.

The Webster-Ashburton Treaty (1842) was signed to ease tensions between the U.S. and Britain.  They treaty settled two conflicts:

1. Disputed land in Maine caused open conflict in the Aroostook River Region.  The U.S. and Britain split the disputed land.

2. The slave trade was banned in 1808 causing a jump in the demand for slaves on the “black market.”  The U.S. agreed to assist the British navy in patrolling the Atlantic to squash the illegal slave trade.

The Oregon Boundary Dispute

Originally Spain, Russia, Britain, France, and the U.S. all had claims to the Oregon Country.  As the other countries dropped their claims, the United States and Britain signed the Joint Occupation Treaty of 1816. Because of fertile land and pleasant climates, a great migration toward Oregon began in 1843.  From Independence, Missouri, to Oregon, the “Oregon Trail” hosted the greatest westward migration in American history.  The trail, the passage to the west, would be abandoned in the 1870s with the coming the railroads. 5000 Americans migrated to Oregon during the mid 1840s to add population to the U.S. claim to the land.  “Oregon Fever” became fuel for Manifest Destiny.   (Most immigrants were not poor; the cost of a wagon and other expense took at least $200 to $300.)

The Manifest Destiny Election of 1844

It was assured that John Tyler would not receive the Whig nomination.  The Whigs were organized as opponents to Andrew Jackson, and they selected Jackson’s old enemy, Henry Clay (age 67). The Democrats nominated a dark horse, James K. Polk, a Tennessee supporter of Jacksonian democracy. The election became centered around the Oregon Territory and the annexation of Texas.

James K. Polk favored the re-annexation of Texas.  As we know, Congress did not want Texas because:

1. It would upset the balance between slave and free states.

2. It would also surely create a war with Mexico, as Mexico hoped to retake Texas.

On the Oregon issue, the Democrats shouted, “54°40’ or fight!”  a vocal claim to fight Britain over the rights to Oregon.

Henry Clay and the Whigs failed to read the public on Manifest Destiny.  They straddled the fence not wanting to lose the anti-slavery faction of the Whig party.  The election result was 170 (Polk) to 105 (Clay).  Polk and the Democrats also won both houses of Congress.  The Democrats read the election results as a mandate to push forward Manifest Destiny.

John Tyler also read the mandate as the will of the people.  During his lame duck session, he persuaded Congress to pass a resolution to annex Texas. (A resolution requires a simple majority.)

John Tyler received the historic credit of annexing Texas.  James K. Polk was left to deal with Mexico.

Polk did deal with Britain on the issue of Oregon.  A deal was agreed on, the 54°40’ rhetoric was dropped, and the Treaty of 1818 line was extended across the territory on the 49^th Parallel.

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The Mexican-American War (1846-1848)

With the mindset of the president and Congress focused on the Manifest Destiny philosophy that carried the election and the hostilities that were generated with the annexation of Texas, Mexico became a diplomatic nightmare.

President Polk added fuel to the fire.  He sent John Slidell to negotiate a U.S. expansionist policy to the southern neighbor.  Slidell’s mission was

1. to persuade Mexico to sell California to the U.S.

2. to settle the border dispute between the U.S./ Mexican border.

The Mexican government did not accept the Rio Grande as the southern boundary of the Texas province.  They said it was the Nueces River, 150 miles to the north.

While Slidell was negotiating with the Mexicans, President Polk sent General Zachary Taylor (Old Rough and Ready) into the disputed territory between the two rivers.  A border dispute erupted, and eleven soldiers were killed.

President Polk used the incident to deliver a war message to Congress:  “Mexico has invaded our territory and shed American blood on American soil.”

Congress gave Polk his declaration of war in May 1846.  The war was immediately condemned by the Northeast and welcomed by the West and South.

The Course of the War (1846-1848)

1. American (French) explorer John C. Fremont overthrew Mexican rule in California, and it was declared an independent republic, the Bear Flag Republic.

2. General Stephen Kearney took southwest continental North America, the New Mexico Territory.

3. Zachary Taylor drove the Mexicans out of Texas and into northern Mexico, which he secured by taking Buena Vista.

4. Winfield Scott invaded Mexico from Vera Cruz and took Mexico City.

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848):  With the fall of Mexico City, Mexico conceded defeat.  The United States went Nicholas Trist to negotiate the “peace treaty.”

Treaty Conditions:

1. Mexico would recognize the Rio Grande River as the southern boundary of the U.S.-owned Texas.

2. Mexico would cede California and New Mexico, the Mexican Cession, to the U.S., and the U.S. would pay Mexico $15 million to cover any claims Mexico had against American citizens.

The acquisition of Texas and the Mexican Cession completely changed the balance of the 1820 Missouri Compromise.

What would be the impact of all of the new territory on the issue of slavery and sectionalism?

To clarify the issue of slavery in the new territories, Representative David Wilmot of Pennsylvania introduced a bill in Congress called the Wilmot Proviso.  The Wilmot Proviso called for the rejection of slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico as a result of war. Even though the Wilmot Proviso failed to become law, its “suggestion” became the pivot point of the slavery debate.

Even though Manifest Destiny and expansionism dominated national politics in the 1840s, the Wilmot Proviso became the road to the 1850s and its dominating issue—slavery.

The Election of 1848

James K. Polk, the Democratic Manifest Destiny president, exhausted himself in office and decided not to run for a second term in 1848.  (He died three months after leaving office.)

The Democrats nominated Michigan Senator Louis Cass as their candidate.  Cass was in the middle of the debated on the Wilmot Proviso He gave birth to a new view of the slavery issue in the territory acquired from Mexico—popular sovereignty. 

Popular sovereignty is defined as the principle that a territory’s settlers should have the right to decide whether it be slave or free.  Cass adopted the concept of popular sovereignty as the Democratic platform, and he became known as the father of the concept.

The Whigs nominated the Mexican-American war hero Zachary Taylor.  Since Taylor owned slaves in Louisiana, he avoided the slavery issue in the territories.

One party, the Democrats, supported popular sovereignty.  Is that position pro- or anti-slavery?

The other party, the Whigs, took no position on slavery.  Is that position pro- or anti-slavery?

Several Whigs and Democrats did not support either position.  They did support the Wilmot Proviso in a unique way.  They founded the Free Soil Party, a new third party that wanted the Mexican territory to exclude all blacks, slave or free!

The Free Soil motto was, “Free soil, free labor, and free men.”  The motto meant free homesteads for small farmers in the territories and no blacks, slave or free.

The Free Soil Party nominated former Democratic president, Martin Van Buren, as their candidate.  The Free Soil Party took enough votes away from Cass and the Democrats to give the Whigs and Zachary Taylor the win.

During the administration of President Zachary Taylor, gold was discovered in the California Territory.  

The first finding was at Sutter’s Mill, near San Francisco, by James W. Marshall.  In 1848 at the end of the Mexican-American War, 10,000 lived in California.  By the end of 1849, due to the influx of the 49ers, the population had increased to 100,000.

Immediately, California requested statehood—as a free state.  Again, a challenge to the balance of slave states and free states necessitated a revisit to the Missouri Compromise.

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The Compromise of 1850

The debate over California becoming a state was one of the greatest in American history.  The conditions of the Compromise included:

• admit California as a free state

• divide the remainder of the Mexican Cession into two states, New Mexico and Utah.  Let those states choose to be slave or free—popular sovereignty.

Is this balanced?  Wait, there’s more.

• The slave trade was banned in Washington, D.C.

• A strong Fugitive Slave Law was created to return run-away slaves to their owners.

Is it balanced now?  Maybe, maybe not… But it was at the point of debate.

The great triumvirate participated in their last great debate: Clay from Kentucky, Calhoun from South Carolina, and Webster from Massachusetts.

• Clay proposed the Compromise of 1850.

• Webster argued for it but alienated the Northern abolitionists.  (Webster was looking at the much larger picture in his quest to save the union.)

• Calhoun argued against the Compromise, demanding “equality” on the slavery balance.

Newcomers to the American political scene also contributed to the debate.

• Senator William H. Seward of New York introduced the concept of a “higher law than the constitution” to justify his opposition to slavery.

• President Taylor was opposed to the Compromise.  He wanted California to come in as a free state with no other compromise considered.

• Taylor died in 1850 (cholera; 66 years old).  He was succeeded by Vice President Millard Fillmore.  Fillmore supported the Compromise.

• A young senator from Illinois, Stephen A. Douglas, piecemealed the Compromise and managed to get its parts pushed through Congress separately.

The Compromise of 1850 gave the nation time… but time was running out.

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The Election of 1852

The Whigs did not offer the nomination to the “fill-in” President Fillmore.  Instead they thought their best chance was to run another war hero, Winfield Scott.

The Democrats nominated a dark horse, Franklin Pierce.

The issue of the 1852 election was slavery.  Though the campaign was relatively uneventful, the stoic Whigs Clay and Webster died during the months leading up to the election, taking some of the vigor from the political atmosphere.

The Democrat from New Hampshire carried the election.  Pierce became president, signifying the beginning of the end of the Whig party.

During the 1850s, Europe was looking east at the Crimean War.  With the acquisition of Oregon and California, the United States had its window on the West, looking towards the East… the Far East.  For trade, the U.S. had its sights on a very closed society, Japan. 

Franklin Pierce was an expansionist.  In 1854, he sent Commodore Matthew Perry to open the bamboo door of Japanese trade.  The uncelebrated event became the foothold of the Western world in the Land of the Rising Sun.

Pierce also attempted to purchase Cuba.  He sent diplomats to Ostend, Belgium to negotiate the purchase from Spain.  A document was produced called the Ostend Manifesto (1854). 

The secret manifesto was leaked to the press before the purchase could be completed.  The anger over the attempt to purchase Cuba foiled the scheme.  The North opposed the purchase because Cuba would surely become a slave state.

President Pierce’s expansionist policies had to contend with tainted versions of Manifest Destiny known as filibusters.  A filibuster was a freelance adventurer who conducted armed expeditions into Latin America for conquest.  The most famous was William Walker, who tried to take Baja California but failed.  He was successful in beginning and winning a revolution in Nicaragua in 1855.  He was made president and recognized by the U.S.

President Pierce continued to participate in expansionism.  In 1853 he sent James Gadsden to Mexico to purchase a strip of land along the southern border of the Mexican Cession.  The Gadsden Purchase was bought for a southern railroad line from New Orleans to California.

The Civil War brought an abrupt stop to Manifest Destiny, but not an end.

In 1867 Secretary of State William Seward purchased Alaska from Russia.  He was jeered by his fellow countrymen for spending $7.2 million on such a worthless, cold, forbidden land.  The purchase became known as Seward’s Folly.

The purchase of Alaska was the bridge between Manifest Destiny and the modern version of expansion called imperialism, expansion based on capitalistic needs for raw materials, products, and markets.