Chapter 18: Manifest Destiny and Its Legacy
Early Presidents: 1789-1849
George Washington (Fed) 1789-1797
John Adams (Fed) 1797-1801
Thomas Jefferson (D-R) 1801-1809
James Madison (D-R) 1809-1817
James Monroe (D-R) 1817-1825
John Q. Adams (D-R) 1825-1829
Andrew Jackson (D) 1829-1837
Martin Van Buren (D) 1837-1841
William H. Harrison/ John Tyler (W) 18411845
James K. Polk 1845-1849 (D)
".... the right of our manifest destiny to over spread and to
possess the whole of the continent which Providence has
given us for the development of the great experiment of
liberty and federaltive development of self government
entrusted to us. It is right such as that of the tree to the space
of air and the earth suitable for the full expansion of its
principle and destiny of growth."
- John L. O'Sullivan (1845)
John Winthrop, “City Upon A Hill”, 1630
William Henry Harrison (1841)
•1st Whig President
•“Old Tippecanoe”
•Shortest Term in US History
John Tyler, Whig (in name only)
•Harrison’s VP, (1841-1845)
•Vetoed Bank Plan
•Vetoed Tariff
•Cabinet resigned (except Webster)
•Whigs attempt to impeach
•Aroostook War settled with
Webster-Ashburton Treaty (1842)
•Attempts to Annex Texas (finished
under Polk)
Aroostook War, 1839
Aroostook War led
•Van Buren admin
•Preceded by Caroline
Incident
•Bloodless
•Lumberjack War
•Settled by
Webster-Ashburton Treaty
Forts of the Hudson’s Bay
Company, 1845
Fort Vancouver, 1813- Hudson’s Bay Company
Robert Gray, American discovers the Columbia River in 1792
Jason Lee, early missionary
Pioneer to Willamette Valley
Established in 1831
By 1845, 5000 Americans lived in
Oregon Territory
Early Catholic Priests
Fathers Blanchet (L),
DeSmet (R), DeMers (C)
Waiilatpu Mission, founded by Marcus Whitman in 1836
Tiloukaikt and Tomahas, Cayuse chiefs
Whitman Massacre (artist depiction), 1847
State of Washington’s two Statues in the US Capitol:
Marcus Whitman and Mother Joseph
Loser
(again)
James K Polk, Democrat
•1845-1849 (one term)
•Underestimated
•Visionary of “Manifest Destiny”
•Texas annexed
•Oregon Border established
(1846) “54-40 Or Fight”
•Walker Tariff (reduced rates)
•Independent Treasury Bill
•Wilmot Proviso Introduced (not
passed)
•Mexican-American War (46-48)
•Treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo
(Cali, Nev, Ariz, NM to USA)
•California Gold Rush begins
Western
Acquisitions
During Polk’s
Presidency
John Slidell,
US Minister
to Mexico,
1845
Causes of the MexAm War
•Unpaid Debts by
Mexicans
•Rejection of Slidell’s Offer
•Attack of US Troops on
the Border (see GW Bush
WMD)
US House of Representatives, 1845
MexAm War Heroes:
Winfield Scott “Old Fuss and Feathers”/ Zachary Taylor “Old Rough ‘n Ready”
“Spotty” Lincoln
Whig Congressman from
Illinois
Lost bid for re-election
because of his opposition
to the Mex-Am War
Henry David
Thoreau
Walden
“Essay on Civil
Disobedience”
Nicholas Trist
Negotiated
the Treaty of
Guadaloupe
Hidalgo
(1848)
Guadaloupe Hidalgo
1848
Gadsden Purchase, 1853
Effects of the MexAm War
•13,000 American lives lost
(Blood for Land)
•Treaty of Guadaloupe
Hidalgo increased US by 1/3
•Manifest Destiny reinforced
•Gave experience for Civil War
soldiers
•Tarnished Latin American
Relations
•Increased Slavery Tension
(ie- Wilmot Proviso)
Bear Flag was first raised in 1846 by John C. Fremont in Sonoma, CA
In 1847, Stephen Kearney’s US troops replace it Stars & Stripes