Manifest Destiny Notes

^^Tyler: The President without a Party^^

  • Tyler is at war with his own party
    • Clay wants to lead the Whigs
  • Clay wants a new National Bank - Tyler vetoed
    • The whole cabinet resigns
    • Aggressive veto - 10 in four year2s
  • Isolated and hated by both parties
    • 1st presidential veto override by Congress
    • 1st president that Congress tried to Impeach
  • Slaveholder states rights advocate.
    • The only reason he was VP was to win votes in the South.

^^Webster-Ashburton Treaty: Roots of Expansion^^

  • Dispute over the size of Maine
  • Webster “finds” (fakes) the Franklin Map to settle the dispute
  • British and U.S. strike a compromise negotiating the current border
  • Same as in Oregon with joint occupation
  • U.S. priorities are turning away from Canada and to the West.

^^Growth of the West^^

  • \   
    1. Population of the West grows fast!
  • 1800 about 387,000 people live west of the Appalachian Mountains.
  • 1820- 2.4 million
  • By the Civil War, more people live on the Western side than on the East
  • \   
    1. Government makes it easy
  • Manifest Destiny - It was America’s God-given right and obligation to expand over the whole continent
  • Preemption Act of 1830 - 160 acres at $1.25 an acre (RI land is $16,000 an acre now)
    • Tyler’s presidency sucked because everyone hated him, so he tries to save it with Westward Expansion

^^Motivations for Expansion^^

  • Escape religious persecution
  • New markets for trade
    • Mexican Independence
  • Land, land, land
    • Ranching farming, mining
  • Trade and the Pacific
  • Economic opportunities
    • Depression and Panic from 1837
    • Urbanization and pressure

^^Native Americans and Expansion^^

  • The expansion created conflict with Native Americans
  • Communities divided
    • Some assimilate, others resist
  • Black Hawk War
    • Settlers in Illinois and Iowa push Native Americans west of the Mississippi
    • Resistance led by Sauk leader Black Hawk
    • The forcible removal of Native Americans
  • Treaty of Fort Laramie - 1851
    • The US government promised to respect the land and make payments
    • Migration ruins landscape, US breaks the promise

^^Routes West^^

  • Major Destinations
    • Santa Fe, California, Utah, Oregon, Texas
  • Santa Fe Trait
    • 780 miles from Missouri to Santa Fe
    • Trade was the major motivation
  • Oregon Trail
    • Missionaries first settlers
    • Willamette Valley
    • Joint occupation with Britain and US
    • 5,000 settlers by 1844

Mormon Migration

  • Persecution drives Mormons west
  • New York - Illinois- Utah
    • The most popular route is the Oregon Trail

^^Oregon and California^^

  • California was sparsely settled
    • 7,000 Mexican ranchers and few American settlers
    • Harbors and access to the Pacific and Asia were the major draws
  • Oregon
    • Joint Occupation with Great Britain (1818)
    • Willamette Valley was a major draw
    • “Oregon Fever” - 1,000 settlers in 1843.
    • By the 1840s the US outnumber the British

^^Missions in Mexico^^

  • Mexican political leaders pushed for secularization following independence
  • Reduce the power of the Catholic Church in Mexico
  • Mission system collapsed throughout the frontier
  • Missions had given structure to the settlement of the frontier
    • They will have a hard time governing lands, hard to govern with no people

^^Texan Independence^^

  • Americans settling in Texas since 1821
  • Cotton production is high - by 1830 20,000 Americans settle
    • 10% are enslaved people
  • Other presidents (including Jackson) have offered to buy Texas
    • Never works
  • Americans view Texas as theirs from the Louisiana Purchase
  • Congress divided over the issue
    • slavery

^^Americans in Texas^^

  • Most Americans don’t adopt Mexican culture.
  • Don’t learn Spanish or convert to Catholicism
    • Even though laws says they have to
  • Mexico outlaws slavery 1829
    • Texas ignores this and brings more enslaved people
  • 1830 Mexican bans American immigration - Can’t enforce it
  • Rebellion breaks out in 1835

^^The Alamo and Goliad^^

  • Mexican President Santa Anna goes North to put down the rebellion
  • The most famous battle is the Alamo
  • All 187 defenders are killed.
  • The battles make peaceful settlement impossible and increases American support
  • By 1836, Texans drive back Santa Anna and declare independence

^^Independent Texas^^

  • Texas wants to join the Union
  • Jackson won’t support it- doesn’t want war with Mexico or bring up the slavery issue
  • Texas develops a strong trade relationship with Great Britain - competes with Southern states for the cotton market
  • Tyler and Calhoun push for annexation - can’t because North and West oppose
  • Becomes a major issue in the election of 1844
    • 2 Major Problems from the Texas Annexation :
    • \     
    1. Texas pissed
    • \     
    1. Slaver

^^Texas Question^^

  • Tyler sees Texas as the key to saving his Presidency
  • Appoints John C. Calhoun 3rd Secretary of State after Upshur dies in an explosion of the USS Princeton - bad idea.
  • Pakenham letter
  • Henry Clay and Martin Van Buren both oppose the idea - defeated 35-16 in the Senate

^^Election of 1844^^

  • Whigs nominate Clay - shocking.
  • Democratic convention Van Buren is favorite
    • John C. Calhoun blows it up. Rallies the South - forces deadlock
    • James K. Polk wins the convention
  • Polk is Jacksonian - “Young Hickory”
    • No bank, no tariffs. Annexation and Expansion
    • Runs with George M. Dallas
    • “Reannexing Texas and Reoccupying Oregon”
  • Polk beats the Whigs 170 to 105 electoral votes.
    • Only by 38,000 votes
    • Liberty Party - anti-slavery party cost Clay the election
    • Won 16,000 votes in New York
    • Clay lost the state by 5,000 votes and with it 36 electoral votes.
  • Polk’s victory seen as a mandate for expansion
  • Tyler signs annexation bill - last move as President

^^Polk as President^^

  • Uncommonly successful as President
    • Lowers tariffs and restore the Independent Treasury
    • Opposes Federal improvements
    • Committed to gaining Texas, Oregon, and California
  • May 1846: Polk terminates Joint Occupation.
    • There are over 6 times as many Americans there.
    • Divide the territory over the 49th parallel.
    • Willing to compromise because of war with Mexico
  • The campaign slogan was “54, 40 or fight” but as president, he ends joint occupation by dividing the territory with England in half.
    • He ends joint occupation so he can go to war with Mexico, doesn’t want to fight 2 countries at the same time.

^^Mexican-American War^^

  • Polk was unwilling to back down from Mexico
  • Want the whole disputed land claim from Texas and California
  • The annexation of Texas cut ties between the nations
  • Sends John Slidell to Mexico City to buy more land for $30 million
  • Mexican government refuses to meet with Slidell
  • Slidell comes back to the US empty-handed, leaving Polk with a problem - How to get California?
  • Doesn't want to declare war on Mexico - a bad look

^^Fighting Begins^^

  • Polk tries to provoke a war
  • March 1846 sends “Old Rough and Ready” Zachary Taylor and 4,00 troops into disputed territory with orders to not attack in hopes of Mexico attacking them (kind of there to provoke war) and works
  • Fighting breaks out, Pols asks Congress to declare war declaring Mexicans had “shed American blood on American soil”
  • Americans win early battles with ease, Mexican Army is poorly equipped and poorly led.

^^To the Halls of Montezuma^^

  • Polk wants to keep the war small.
    • \     
    1. Wars are expensive - make war unpopular
    • \     
    1. Doesn’t want any other nation to get involved - (England)
    • \     
    1. Wants to finish before his term ends
    • \     
    1. Doesn’t want anyone else to get credit
  • Polk’s War Plan had 3 Parts

  

  1. Clear Texas and occupy Northern Mexico
  2. Occupy California and New Mexico
  3. March South on Mexico City
  • By February 1847, the U.S. controlled all of Northern Mexico

^^Old Fuss and Feathers^^

  • Polk puts Winfield Scott in charge of the campaign to take Mexico City
    • Wasn’t his first choice - he’s a Whig
    • Wanted Lt. General Thomas Benton
    • Congress forced the appointment
    • Democrats saw Scott as a political threat despite his unfortunate nickname
  • Scott attacked Veracruz in April 1847 and marched on Mexico City by September

^^Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo^^

  • Polk sends Nicholas Trist to negotiate
  • Mexico City was in chaos - can’t find anyone to negotiate with until January 1848
    • Polk saw this as a weakness - Tries to recall Trist
    • Scott refused to send him - fears Mexico will collapse
  • February 1847 Treaty is completed
    • Rio Grande becomes the border
    • The U.S. pays $15 million and takes on an additional $3 million of Mexico’s debt

^^Ratification^^

  • Polk is furious with the treaty
  • Fires Trist but has no choice but to submit the Treaty to the Senate
  • Pressure against the war was growing
    • Seen as a national embarrassment
    • Abolitionists called it “a war waged solely for the detestable and horrible purpose of extending and perpetuating American slavery”
  • Congress ratified the treaty 38-14’
  • 3 Major Consequences:
    • \     
    1. Signals completion of Manifest Destiny
    • \     
    1. Makes it impossible for politicians to ignore slavery
    • \     
    1. Prooving ground of American Civil War

^^Wilmot Proviso^^

  • Ban slavery in the territory gained from Mexico
    • “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of the said territory”
    • Preserve the land for “the sons of toil, of my own race and own color”
  • Made Practical sense
  • Divided over regional lines - North supported South opposed.
  • House passed over 50 versions from 1846-50 - Senate rejected all of them.

^^Election of 1848^^

  • Democrats Cass - Popular Sovereignty
  • Whigs run Zach Taylor - a member of no party and has never voted in his life
    • Owned a slave plantation.
    • Daughter married to the future president of the Confederacy Jefferson Davis'
    • Turned Northern Whigs against him - Free Soil Party
    • “Free Soil, Free Speech, Free Men”
    • Free-Soil party held much support in the North
    • United with some Democrats - Van Buren
  • Taylor wins over Cass

^^California and the Gold Rush^^

  • 1848 and ‘49 more than 100,000 people travel to California
  • Apply for statehood as a free-state
  • We should have a solution with Missouri Compromise
  • New Mexico will likely follow as a free state.
  • No one knows where Taylor stands on it.
    • He supports popular sovereignty

^^Compromise of 1850^^

  • Stephen Douglas (D) and Henry Clay (W)
    • Only possible because Zachary Taylor died.
    • VP Millard Fillmore signs the bill.
  • Texas gave up New Mexico and all land north of 36 degrees 30 lines and the Federal Government took on its debt
  • California admitted as a Free State
  • Wilmot Proviso rejected: Utah and New Mexico territories would be open to slavery by popular sovereignty
  • The slave trade (but not slavery) was outlawed in D.C.
  • New fugitive slave law was enacted
    • \     
    1. We made TX smaller
    • \     
    1. National government took on Texas’ debt
    • \     
    1. California is now a free state
    • \     
    1. Wilmot Proviso - rejected creates 2 New Territories
    • \     
    1. Slave trade (but not slavery, banned in DC)
    • \     
    1. New Fugitive (on road for a crime) slave law passed
    • Repeals the Missouri Compromise, by allowing states to expand Northern slavery

Manifest Destiny

Manifest Destiny was a 19th-century belief that the United States was destined to expand across the North American continent. It was a driving force behind American territorial expansion and westward migration.

Background

  • The term "Manifest Destiny" was first used in 1845 by journalist John O'Sullivan.
  • The idea was rooted in the belief in American exceptionalism and the superiority of American institutions and culture.
  • It was also fueled by economic interests, such as the desire for new land and resources.

Westward Expansion

  • The Louisiana Purchase in 1803 doubled the size of the United States and opened up new territories for settlement.
  • The Oregon Trail and other routes allowed settlers to move westward, often displacing Native American populations.
  • The Mexican-American War in 1846-1848 resulted in the acquisition of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, and Oklahoma.

Impact

  • Manifest Destiny contributed to the growth of American nationalism and the idea of American exceptionalism.
  • It also led to the displacement and mistreatment of Native American populations and the annexation of Mexican territory.
  • The idea of Manifest Destiny continued to influence American foreign policy in the 20th century, particularly in the acquisition of overseas territories.

Criticisms

  • Manifest Destiny has been criticized for its role in justifying American imperialism and expansionism.
  • It has also been criticized for its disregard for the rights and sovereignty of Native American and Mexican populations.
  • Some argue that Manifest Destiny was a form of cultural genocide that sought to impose American values and institutions on other cultures.

Manifest Destiny

  • Central Idea: The belief that it was the destiny of the United States to expand its territory from coast to coast.

Annexation of Texas

  • Main Branch: The annexation of Texas contributed to the idea of Manifest Destiny.
    • Sub-branch: Texas declared independence from Mexico in 1836.
    • Sub-branch: Texas was annexed by the United States in 1845.

Polk

  • Main Branch: President James K. Polk was a strong supporter of Manifest Destiny.
    • Sub-branch: Polk was elected in 1844 on a platform of westward expansion.
    • Sub-branch: Polk's administration oversaw the annexation of Texas and the Mexican-American War.

Election of 1844

  • Main Branch: The election of 1844 was a turning point in the idea of Manifest Destiny.
    • Sub-branch: James K. Polk defeated Henry Clay in the election.
    • Sub-branch: Polk's victory was seen as a mandate for westward expansion.

Compromise of 1850

  • Main Branch: The Compromise of 1850 was a key event in the lead-up to the Civil War.
    • Sub-branch: The Compromise was a series of laws passed by Congress to resolve disputes over slavery and territory.
    • Sub-branch: The Compromise included the admission of California as a free state and the Fugitive Slave Act.