5.2 Westward Expansion

Westward Expansion

Westward expansion significantly motivated Americans in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Expansion started from the Atlantic Coast, moved to the Ohio River Valley, and then into the Louisiana Purchase.
Westward expansion was considered integral to the American identity.

In July 1845, newspaper editor John O. Sullivan termed the westward expansion as "Manifest Destiny."
Manifest Destiny: The belief that Americans had the right to possess the entire continent, from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
- According to Sullivan, this right was given by Providence (God).
Later, this idea extended to include islands in the Pacific and Caribbean.

Access to Resources
- Discovery of gold in California in 1848 led to the California Gold Rush.
- Gold and silver discoveries in Colorado, the Dakotas, and Nevada spurred further migrations.
Economic and Homesteading Opportunities
- The Preemption Acts of the 1830s and 1840s made land available at low prices for homesteading and farming.
- The migration was primarily undertaken by the middle class.
Religious Refuge
- Mormons, fleeing persecution due to their practice of polygamy, settled in the Utah territory.
- Approximately 70,000 Mormons migrated to Utah over the next 20 years.

The election of James K. Polk in 1844 reflected the influence of Manifest Destiny.
- Polk aimed to annex Texas and Oregon.

Americans had been settling in Texas since the 1820s, while it still belonged to Mexico.
By 1830, Americans outnumbered Mexicans in Texas.
Most Americans in Texas were Southern, Protestant, and pro-slavery.
In 1829, the Mexican government required immigrants to:
- Convert to Roman Catholicism.
- Outlawed slavery.
Texans revolted under Sam Houston, declaring independence in 1836.
Mexican forces initially won a significant victory at the Alamo.
Houston's army later captured a Mexican general at the Battle of San Jacinto and forced him to sign a treaty granting Texan independence.
Mexico refused to recognize the treaty because they argued a captured general did not have the authority to sign such document.
Presidents Jackson and Van Buren declined Texas's request for annexation to avoid war with Mexico.
The Senate initially denied annexation under John Tyler.

Both the British and Americans claimed the Oregon Territory.
The British based their claim on their established fur trade and longer settlement history.
American missionaries and farmers had moved to and settled in the territory in greater numbers.

Polk's election in 1844; he ran on an annexation platform for Oregon, Texas, and California.
John Tyler initiated the annexation of Texas during his final months in office.
Polk's administration agreed with the British to divide the Oregon Territory at the 49th Parallel.
The annexation of Texas led to conflict with the Mexican government, ultimately resulting in war.