Manifest Destiny and Its Legacy
1841 - 1848
Harrison & Tyler
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Harrison contracted pneumonia & died after serving
only 4 weeks (Curse of Tecumseh)
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Shortest administration
John Tyler – “Accidental President”
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Closet Democrat
At odds with the Whig party his
whole administration
Whig’s Plan for Gov’t
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Whig’s “secret platform” – strongly nationalistic
 Financial reform - wanted to end the
independent treasury system (Tyler signed it)
& create a “Fiscal Bank” (Tyler vetoed it)
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Proposed a “Fiscal Corporation” (vetoed by Tyler)
Whig Tariff
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Tyler’s view on the tariff
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Whigs response
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Tyler agreed that money needed to be collected for the
national treasury.
However, he did not agree that the money made off the
sale of western land should be split among the states.
Remove the dollar-distribution & reduce tariff
Tyler signs tariff
Whigs Respond to Tyler
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Whigs formally expelled Tyler from the party
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Some attempts to impeach him in the House
Entire cabinet, except Sec of State Webster, resigned
Death threats were common
Problems with England
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Bitter feelings between US & Britain
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“Third War with England”
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2 wars & Jacksonian Democracy
British travelers looked down on Americans
Fought in the papers & with ink
Money
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Americans borrow lots of money from Britain and
defaulted on their loans
Problems Continue
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Canadian Insurrection (1837)
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Americans furnished military supplies & volunteered
Never had a lot of support
Caroline Incident (1837)
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American steamer carrying supplies to the insurgents across
the Niagara River
Attacked on the NY shore by British & set on fire
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McLeod claimed to have taken part/ later found to be untrue
Creole (1841)
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British officials in Bahamas offered asylum to 130 Virginia
slaves who had rebelled & captured the American ship
Land Disputes in Maine
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British want to build a road from Halifax to Quebec
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Road would go through disputed territory
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Disputed land – Aroostook River Valley
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Land claimed by both Maine & Britain
“Aroostook War”
1842 – London sent Lord Ashburton to meet with Sec.
Webster to work out a compromise
Webster-Ashburton Treaty
(1842)
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Map p. 374
British got less land but did receive land for
Halifax-Quebec route
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British actually surrendered 6,500 square miles
Caroline affair was also worked out with “an
exchange of diplomatic notes”
The Lone Star Republic
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Viewed as a province in revolt by Mexico
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Texas began negotiations with England & France
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Plans were made to reconquer Texas in the future
Hoping to become a protectorate of either
Britain was very interested
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Check expansion of America / challenge Monroe Doctrine
British abolitionists wanted to end slavery in Texas
Free-trade area
Cotton-producing area – help relieve British dependence
on South
Texas Becomes a State
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Texas became a major issue in the presidential election
of 1844
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Polk (D) & Clay (W)/ Polk wins
Lame-duck President Tyler interprets Democratic
victory as a “mandate” to acquire Texas
Joint resolution (only a simple majority of Congress
required for approval)/ approved 3 days before Tyler
leaves office
Texas becomes 28th state in 1845
Oregon Country
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Sprawled west of the Rockies to the Pacific Ocean,
and north of California to the line of 54°40’
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(present southern tip of Alaska panhandle)
Claimed at one time or another by: Spain, Russia,
Britain, and the US
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Spain dropped out – Florida Treaty of 1819
Russia retreated because of treaties with US & Britain
British Claims to Oregon
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Strong claims especially portion north of the
Columbia River
Claims based on
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Prior discovery
Exploration
Treaty rights
Actual occupation
Hudson’s Bay Company – trading profitably with the
Indians for furs
American Claims to Oregon
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Claims based on
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Exploration – Lewis & Clark / Capt. Robert Gray
Occupation
Presence of missionaries & other settlers
Scattered American & British pioneers live
peacefully side by side
America & Britain
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Treaty of 1818 – joint occupation of Oregon
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Oregon Fever – hundreds of pioneers came to Oregon
(Oregon Trail)
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US wanted to divide domain at the 49th parallel
Britain wanted the Columbia River
By 1846 – 5000 Americans had settled south of the
Columbia River
British – 700 settlers north of the Columbia River
Actually only a small segment was disputed territory
Election of 1844
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Henry Clay (W)
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Probably most popular
man in US
105 electoral votes
1,300,097 pop. votes
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James K. Polk (D)
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Speaker of the House
Gov. of Tennessee
170 electoral votes
1,338,464 pop. votes
Manifest Destiny
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Belief that Almighty God had “manifestly”
destined the American people for a hemispheric
career.
They would irresistibly spread their uplifting &
ennobling democratic institutions over at least the
entire continent, and possibly over South America
as well.
Polk as President
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Methodical & hardworking
Unwilling to delegate authority
Four-Point Program
1.
2.
3.
4.
Lower tariff
Restoration of the independent treasury
Acquisition of California
Settlement of Oregon
Success for Polk?
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Lower tariff
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Sec of Treasury – Robert J. Walker proposed to reduce the
Tariff of 1842 (32% to 25%)
Supported by southerners/ Complaints from New England
& Middle States
Walker Tariff of 1846 – passed and raised a lot of revenue
Polk’s Points 2-3
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Restoration of the independent treasury
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Restored in 1846 ( dropped by the Whigs in 1841)
Oregon
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Proposed compromise of 49° instead of 54° 40’
1846 – Britain proposed same compromise
Polk gave issue to Senate & Senate approved the
compromise
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“Fifty-four forty or fight” did not happen
Mexico & California
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Why California?
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Population – Mixed
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Bay & harbor/ Manifest Destiny
Indians, Spanish-Mexicans, & foreigners- mostly American
Polk wanted to buy CA
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Diplomatic relations had been severed
Issue over boundary – Nueces River or Rio Grande
Texas in general
Let’s Make a Deal
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Polk sends John Slidell to Mexico City in 1845
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Instructed to offer $25 million for CA & territory to the
east
Mexicans would not permit Slidell to present his offer
American Blood on
American(?) Soil
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Jan. 13, 1846 – Polk ordered 4000 men, under General
Zachary Taylor, to march from the Nueces River to the
Rio Grande
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Polk expected Mexicans to attack
May 9, 1846 –Polk asked Congress for war
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Reasons:
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Unpaid claims ($3 million)
Slidell’s rejection
Polk really wanted Mexican troops to fire first
“Jimmy Polk’s War”
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April 25, 1846 – Mexican troops crossed the Rio
Grande & attacked General Taylor’s command
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Polk goes before Congress “American blood on the
American soil”
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16 Americans killed or wounded
Congress voted for war
Congressman – Lincoln// “spot” where American blood had
been shed
Mexicans wanted to humiliate the “Bullies
of the North”
War with Mexico
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Polk’s goal – capture California
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Fight on a limited scale & then pull out
when we captured California
Santa Anna – made deal with US
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Let him slip back into Mexico, he would sell his country
Polk agreed & Santa Anna betrayed him
Mexican – American War
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1846 – General Stephen W. Kearny
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Led his troops to Santa Fe
Easily captured & then headed for California
Captain John C. Frèmont – explorer
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Collaborated with naval officers & with local Americans to
take California
California Bear Flag Republic
General Zachary Taylor
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Taylor - fought his way across the Rio Grande into
Mexico
 Feb. 22-23, 1847 -- Victorious over the Mexican forces
at Buena Vista
 Became a war hero immediately
General Winfield Scott
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Scott – suffered several disadvantages
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Inadequate # of troops, expiring enlistments, more
numerous enemy, mountainous terrain, disease, &
political backing at home
Sept. 1847 – Mexico City
Most distinguished general in the country
Talks of Peace
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Polk – anxious to end war with territorial gains
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sent chief clerk of the State Dept. Nicholas P. Trist with
Scott’s invading army
Scott & Trist arranged an armistice with Santa Anna at a
cost of $10,000
Santa Anna pocketed money & continued with plans
Polk recalls Trist
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Trist refuses to return
Works out treaty
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Feb. 2, 1848
 Terms of Treaty
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American title to Texas
 Yielded the area stretching westward to Oregon
& the ocean & embracing all of California
 US paid $15 million & assume debt of $3.25
million
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Treaty was approved by Senate
Results of the War
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13,000 American lives lost/ mostly from disease
US increased by 1/3
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Stimulus to Manifest Destiny
Provided field experience for the Civil War
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Even greater than Louisiana Purchase
Robert E. Lee & Ulysses S. Grant
Justified existence of West Point
US viewed by Mexico as the “Colossus of the North
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Check out page 388 and the great metaphor
Slavery Issue
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David Wilmot (PA) feared southern “slavocracy”
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Proposed the Wilmot Proviso
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slavery should not exist in any territory that was captured from
Mexico
Wilmot Proviso
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Passed twice in the House, but not
the Senate
Symbolized the burning issue of slavery
in the territories
John C. Calhoun
“Mexico is to us the
forbidden fruit . . . the
penalty of eating it would
be to subject our institutions
to political death.”