Manifest
Destiny and
Westward
Expansion
Manifest Destiny: the belief that it was the destiny
of the U.S. to expand its territory over the whole of
North America and to extend and enhance its
political, social, and economic influences.
Political:
A. Expand Democracy – Americans believed it was
their mission to expand democracy and be an
example for the rest of the world
B. Security – occupying the entire middle part of the
continent, from coast to coast, would discourage
threats from other countries such as England,
Spain and Russia
Manifest Destiny: the belief that it was the destiny
of the U.S. to expand its territory over the whole of
North America and to extend and enhance its
political, social, and economic influences.
Economic:
Americans believed that future prosperity
depended on the land and wealth gained
from westward expansion. The success of
farmers in Texas and the discovery of gold in
California encouraged this belief
Manifest Destiny: the belief that it was the destiny
of the U.S. to expand its territory over the whole of
North America and to extend and enhance its
political, social, and economic influences.
Social:
A. The pioneer spirit – seen as the perfect example of
American Individualism. Americans admired the
rugged pioneers who braved the wilderness and
relied on themselves.
B. The Romanticizing of the West – Americans
idealized the west in paintings (Hudson River
School), music, literature, and later, movies
We are
destined to
control
North
America
from the
Atlantic to
the Pacific!
Who is Manifest Destiny bad for?
✓
✓
✓
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Things to do...
Buy Louisiana from
France
Convince Spain to give
us Florida
Organize our border with
Canada
Get Texas to join
Get Oregon all to
ourselves
Steal half of Mexi...
Oops, I mean defend
ourselves against
Mexico (and hopefully
get California, Arizona,
Nevada, Utah...)
Buy Gadsden Purchase
for a railroad
Manifest
Destiny
Sucks!
Louisiana Purchase, 1803
Details:
❑ U.S. had a treaty with
Spain to use New
Orleans. When Spain
gave Louisiana back to
France, the U.S. had no
treaty
❑ Jefferson offers to
buy just New Orleans;
Napoleon offers the
whole territory for $5
million more. Total cost
= $15 million
❑ U.S. Doubles in size
Effect on National
Security:
❑ U.S. Now controls
New Orleans
❑ U.S. controls entire
Mississippi River and its
tributaries
❑ U.S. now has a large
“buffer zone” between
her populated areas
(mostly east coast) and
New Spain
❑ U.S. gains Florida!
❑ Spain and U.S. formalize the
borders between New Spain and
Louisiana Purchase Territory
Adams-Onis Treaty Details:
❏ Seminole Indians were
raiding U.S. from Spanish
Florida
❏ Jackson takes Spanish
forts in his crackdown on
the Seminoles
❏ Monroe offers to buy
Florida, since Spain is
unwilling or unable to
maintain control there
❏ Spain wants to get rid of
Florida because its power
is weakening in the
Americas and it needs to
put more resources into
controlling her other
colonies
James K. Polk:
● 11th President of the
United States. Number 1
campaign promise: gain
total U.S. control over
Oregon.
● A Jacksonian Democrat,
his nickname was: “Little
Hickory”
● One campaign slogan
was: “54° 40’ or Fight!”
● Said he would serve one
term only, then retire.
(Which he did!)
President Polk
If we don’t get
Oregon all the
way North to
54⁰ 40’
parallel, we
will FIGHT!
(or we’ll settle for
the 49th, I guess)
Slave
population
Who is
Manifest
Destiny bad
Manifest
for?
Destiny
Sucks!
War with Mexico!
Causes:
❏ Manifest Destiny - U.S. felt
it was their destiny to
control N. America and
Mexico was in the way
❏ Annexation of Texas –
Mexico still claimed Texas,
Texas and the U.S.
regarded Texas as
independent
❏ Border dispute – U.S. says
Rio Grande; Mexico says
Nueces
❏ Soldiers clash in the
disputed area
Effects:
❏ U.S. invades Mexico
❏ After Mexico City falls
Mexico cedes their
northern territory to the
U.S.
❏ U.S. now possesses what
is now California, Nevada,
Utah, Arizona, New
Mexico and parts of other
states
❏ The border between the
two countries is set at the
Rio Grande
There were conflicts with Britain, as
well!! (But not war)
Mexican Cession
Trans-continental Railroad
❏ More people and more goods
are able to travel faster (6
months in a covered wagon
from Missouri to west coast vs.
1-2 weeks by train)
❏ Towns spring up along rail lines
❏ Western farms expand
because trains provide a
market back east for their
crops and livestock
GOLD!!!!
❏ Discovered near San
Francisco, California in 1848
❏ In 1849 thousands rush to
California hoping to strike it
rich. They are known as
“49ers”
❏ California’s population
triples in about 10 years
❏ While most do not find
gold, California’s temperate
climate and fertile soil
allow many to become
successful as farmers and
ranchers
❏ Cities develop as a result of
the large migration
Territory
Original United
States
Date Acquired Previous Owner
1783
Great Britain
How was
territory
Acquired?
Revolution/
Treaty of Paris
Territory
Date Acquired
Previous Owner
How was territory
Acquired?
Original United States
1783
Great Britain
Revolution/Treaty of
Paris
Louisiana
Territory
1803
France
Purchase
Territory
Date Acquired
Previous Owner
How was territory
Acquired?
Original United States
1783
Great Britain
Revolution/Treaty of
Paris
Louisiana Territory
1803
France
Purchase
British Cession
1818
Great Britain
Treaty
Territory
Date
Acquired
Previous
Owner
How was
territory
Acquired?
British
Cession
1818
Great Britain
Treaty
Spain
AdamsOnis
Treaty
Florida
Cession
1819
Territory
Date
Acquired
Previous
Owner
How was
territory
Acquired?
British
Cession
1818
Great Britain
Treaty
Florida
Cession
1819
Spain
Adams-Onis
Treaty
Texas
1845
Texas
Annexed
Territory
Date
Acquired
Previous
Owner
How was
territory
Acquired?
Florida
Cession
1819
Spain
Adams-Onis
Treaty
Texas
1845
Texas
Annexed
1846
Great
Britain
Treaty
Oregon
Country
Territory
Date Acquired
Previous Owner
How was territory
Acquired?
Florida Cession
1819
Spain
Adams-Onis Treaty
Texas
1845
Texas
Annexed
Oregon Country
1846
Great Britain
Treaty
Mexican Cession
1848
Mexico
Treaty of
Guadalupe
Hidalgo after
war of conquest
Territory
Date Acquired
Previous Owner
How was territory
Acquired?
Oregon Country
1846
Great Britain
Treaty
Mexican Cession
1848
Mexico
Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo
Gadsden
Purchase
1853
Mexico
Purchased
Territory
Date
Acquired
Previous
Owner
How was
territory
Acquired?
Alaska
1867
Russia
Purchase
($7.2
million)
Territory
Date Acquired
Previous Owner
How was territory
Acquired?
Hawaii
1898
Hawaii
Annexation
Acquisitions in chronological order:
British Cession
1818
Oregon
Territory 1846
Mexican
Cession 1848
Gadsden
Purchase 1853
Louisiana
Purchase 1803
Texas
Annexation
1845
Treaty of Paris
1783
13 original
colonies
Florida
Cession 1819
Urbanization in the North:
Poor soil + long, cold winters = little agriculture
Long, cold winters + fast moving streams + a willing
workforce = power and labor for factories
Factories = need for large labor force near by
Large numbers of people living near each other =
cities
Foreign Policy: (noun) a policy pursued by a nation in its dealings with
other nations, designed to achieve national objectives.
National Objective of the U.S. in 1840s: Manifest Destiny
Result?
❑ Treaty with Britain over Oregon Territory
▪ After a threat of war (remember, “54⁰ 40’ or FIGHT!”)
▪ Border set at the 49th parallel
❑ War with Mexico
▪ After trying to buy California and New Mexico, Polk picks a fight
▪ Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends the war
▪ U.S. gains huge tract of land from Mexico
Physical Geography
and Manifest Destiny:
Natural borders: Rivers, mountains, oceans,
deserts
Control Mississippi = control of inland
waterways
Ocean borders protect against foreign
invasion
Isolation from Europe by Atlantic keeps U.S.
out of European wars (until WWI, anyway)
Acquisitions in chronological order:
British Cession
1818
Oregon
Territory 1846
Mexican
Cession 1848
Gadsden
Purchase 1853
Louisiana
Purchase 1803
Texas
Annexation
1845
Treaty of Paris
1783
13 original
colonies
Florida
Cession 1819
Acquisitions: How obtained
Treaty
negotiations
Treaty
negotiations
War of
conquest
Purchased for
$15 million
Revolution
13 original
colonies
Annexation
Purchased
$10 million
Adams-Onis
Treaty+
$5 million
Rocky
Mountains
Border between U.S. and
Louisiana Territory =
Mississippi River
Great
Plains
Mormons
found Salt
Lake City,
Utah
Gold
Discovered
near San
Francisco,
CA
Proclamation
Line of 1763
drawn along
the
Appalachian
Mountains
TEKS 8.21A: identify different points of view of political parties and interest
groups on important historical and contemporary issues
Nativism: a policy or belief that
protects or favors the interest of
the native population of a country
over the interests of immigrants.
Know-Nothings (The American Party):
a political party that arose in the mid
1800s in reaction to the large number
of mostly Irish, Catholic immigrants.
They proposed denying suffrage and
citizenship to Catholics.
Anti-Catholic (feared that if Catholics
were elected they would be controlled by the
Pope – too much like a king)
Anti-Irish (Most Irish immigrants were
Catholic)
Anti-immigrant (Though they made it
sound like they only wanted to protect democracy,
it seems more that they feared the changes
immigrants brought with them to the society.)
Also Anti-alcohol (Not all
temperance reformers were Know Nothings.)
Definition: Melting pot is a
concept referring to a society
becoming more unified with the
different elements “melting
together” into a harmonious whole
with a common culture. It is most
commonly used to describe the
assimilation [blending in] of
immigrants to the United States.
TEKS 8.23A: identify selected racial, ethnic, and religious groups that settled
in the United States and explain their reasons for immigration
Country of
Origin
Push Factors
Pull Factors
Britain
Push: not enough land, jobs,
religious freedom
Pull: Land, jobs, freedom,
adventure
Ireland
Push: Famine, oppression
Pull: Jobs, food, religious
freedom
political turmoil in China
Pull: Jobs, food, religious
freedom
European
Jews
Religious persecution in
Russia, Poland, Germany,
Romania and other countries
Jobs, religious freedom
Germany
Push:, High rent/land prices
Pull: Good, inexpensive
political unrest, some religious farmland
persecution
Chinese
Economic opportunity, the
Gold Rush
Country of
Origin
Contributions to economic and
demographic growth:
Where did they settle? What did
they do?
Britain
Established colonies, then the
U.S., contributed to politics,
religion, education, agriculture
Established English colonies
along East coast, settled
throughout North America
Ireland
Catholic numbers grow, Nativism
increases, by second and third
generation the Irish are involved in
government, police, and fire
departments
Settled in eastern cities where
they arrived; Boston, New York,
and Philadelphia, worked in
factories, railroads, military, as
maids, nannies
Chinese
Miners, construction, railroads
California, west coast, inland with
the railroad
European
Jews
Factory workers, education,
banking, law, arts
Various towns in mostly eastern
U.S., Charleston, New York,
Baltimore
Germany
Various Protestant denominations,
cultural aspects, farmers, factory
workers, often brought coimmigrants from home towns and
villages
West: Wisconsin, Michigan,
Missouri, Texas