Level 2
Manifest Destiny and the
Acquisition of Land
Vocabulary
• Sectionalism: a loyalty to a section of the country
instead of the nation itself
• Diplomats: a person appointed by a government to
conduct negotiations and continue friendly relations
• Military Dictator: government in which the military is
in charge of the country
• Oregon Trail: a route used to migrate west to Oregon
• Annex: add to
• Transcontinental Railroad: a train route that crossed
America
Essential Question
• How did the acquisition of land help to
increase sectionalism?
“(It is)… our manifest destiny to overspread and to
possess the whole of the continent which
Providence has given us for the development of
the great experiment of liberty.” John L. O’Sullivan,
newspaper columnist, 1845
The Acquisition of Louisiana
• 1803 US wanted access to the
Mississippi and wanted to
purchase New Orleans from
Napoleon Bonaparte (France)
• President Jefferson
authorized the diplomats to
spend $10 million
• Diplomats paid $15 million for
all of the French lands in the
west about 4 cents an acre
• Doubled the US; 820,000
square miles
• Eventually 13 states were
created from the land
Lewis and Clark
• Lewis and Clark were
commissioned by
President Jefferson to
explore the Northwest
to find a waterway
linking the Mississippi
to the Pacific Ocean.
• Sacajawea, a
Shoshone, guided
them through the
terrain.
• Interactive map
Acquisition of Land in the North
• Convention of 1818
signed between US
and Britain
– Secured the land
known as the Red
River Basin as part of
the US
– Oregon Territory
would be jointly
occupied by both
countries
The Acquisition of Florida
•
•
•
Problems:
– Native tribes like the Creek and
Seminole conducted raids on
settlements in GA
– Runaway slaves found refuge in Florida
Actions:
– 1818 Jackson went to Florida with
about 3,000 soldiers and took Fort
Pensacola and Fort Marks
– Spain was fighting rebels in Latin
America and couldn’t risk the war with
the US
Result:
– Secretary of State John Quincy Adams
worked out a treaty with Spain called
the Adams-Onis Treaty went into effect
in 1821 which allowed the US to buy
Florida for $5 million; also gave up
claim to the Pacific Northwest
The Acquisition of Texas
•
•
•
•
•
American settlers poured into the North Mexican
province
Mexico had freed their slaves in 1821
Texans wanted to keep their slaves because of cotton
Mexico achieved Independence from Spain but fell under
a military dictatorship under General Lopez de Santa
Anna who abolished Mexico’s Constitution which had
guaranteed states’ rights to provinces like Texas (1836)
Texas declared independence from Mexico in 1836
–
–
–
–
–
•
•
•
Santa Anna invaded the Republic of Texas to win back the
territory
Attacked the Texans at the Alamo (small Catholic mission
with cotton groves around it called alamos in Spanish)
Heroes like Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie were there
187 frontiersmen barricaded themselves there and defended
it for 13 days from 5,000 Mexican troops
Mexican troops beat the Texans and then killed every
soldier, soaked their bodies in gasoline and then burned
them
7 weeks later rallying under the battle cry “Remember
the Alamo” Houston defeated Santa Anna during the
Battle of San Jacinto and took Santa Anna prisoner;
chased the Mexican army back into Mexico
Sam Houston became the President of the “Lone Star
Republic”
Texas requested admittance to the US but was rejected
until 1845 because it was a slave state
The Acquisition of the Northwest
•
•
•
•
•
•
Polk won the election of 1844 with a
campaign of “Re-annexation of Texas
and Re-occupation of Oregon”; claiming
Texas was part of the Louisiana
Purchase and Oregon asserted US
claims in the Northwest
Anti-slavery advocates were worried
that Texas would join the union and
feared it would be carved up into 5
states which would tilt the balance in
the Senate to pro-slavery
Desired to extend Oregon’s border to
54,40’.
Americans flooded the Oregon territory
in 1842 by using the Oregon Trail
Rally cry “54,40’ or Fight!”
US and Britain made a compromise
creating the border at the 49th north
latitude
The Acquisition of the Southwest
•
President Polk offered Mexico
–
–
–
•
•
•
•
•
•
$4.5 million to settle claims for damages
from the Mexican civil wars if Mexico
would accept that the Rio Grande was
Texas’s southern border.
$5 million for New Mexico
$25 million for California
Mexico was insulted
New military coup again ousted a
moderate government and replaced it
with a military dictatorship with General
Mariano Paredes as leader
Polk ordered General Zachary Taylor
into disputed territory between the
Nueces and Rio Grande Rivers.
Mexican force ambushed an American
patrol and killed 11 led to the battle of
Buena Vista
Congress declared war
Interactive timeline
The Acquisition of the Southwest
• The Mexican War:
– Polk ordered General
Winfield Scott to take
Mexico City.
– Captain Robert E. Lee
moved in and won the
battle. Two officers
serving under Lee were
McClellan and Grant.
– 1,733 killed in combat
total
– 11,550 died from lack of
medical care
– 16% of soldiers died
The Acquisition of the Southwest
•
•
•
Americans swept into New
Mexico with the help of the
Mormon Brigade.
CA had little to no resistance
leaving Mexico and became the
“Bear Flag Republic” awaiting
annexation into the US.
Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo
1848 : Mexico gave up New
Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Colorado,
Nevada and CA (called the
Mexican Cession) and recognized
the Rio Grande as the southern
border of the US; US paid $15
million
The Acquisition of the Southwest
• Gadsden Purchase
• US wanted to create a
southern transcontinental
railroad joining the west and
the south.
• 1853 Gadsden went to
negotiate with Mexico for the
land.
• Mexico needed money and
accepted $10 million for the
land.
• After the Civil War a southern
transcontinental railroad was
built through this territory to
CA.
Essential Question
• How did the acquisition of land help to
increase sectionalism?