Westward Expansion 1820-1860
Monday, September 8, 2014
 Homework: page 447 # 1
 Do Now: Look at pages 442-443, read the central
question: What does it mean to be determined? How
do people demonstrate determination?
The West
 What Was ‘The West’?

The West was an ever changing idea – typically referring to the
frontier regions
 The Great Plains

Stretched from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains



Endless fields of prairie grasses
Many early settlers only passed through the region – heading further
westward
Farmers did not consider the land suitable for agriculture



The tall grasses were anchored with deep root systems
Would be hard manual labor to break the ground
Sodbusters
The West
 The Northwest

What we call the pacific northwest


BC, Washington, Oregon
This territory was claimed by the U.S., Great Britain, Russia and Spain
 The Southwest

Mexican settlements in the borderlands were another major
destination for settlers



These lands had been claimed by Spain in the 1500s
They included CA, UT, NV, AZ, NM, TX, and CO
The culture was very different from that of the eastern U.S.
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
 Homework: page 448 key terms and people
 Do Now: compare last night’s homework with a
partner (page 447)
The West
The West
 Mexican Settlements
 Life in Settlements


Mercantilism was practiced
Development of distinct culture – separate from Spain

Creoles, Mestizos – generations created a southwestern culture
 Native Americans
 Were forced into labor and Christian beliefs


Thousands died of disease and overwork
Native American culture merged with that of Spain

Clothing styles, food, building materials
 Mexico Wins Independence (1821)
 Land grants were re-distributed



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They were given to many rancheros (ranch owners)
Mission lands were taken from the church and given to settlers
Much of the lands given away belonged to Native Americans
They responded by attacking ranches – but were not successful
The West
 Manifest Destiny
 Americans had always been interested in expanding

Jefferson purchased Louisiana for this purpose



Must have room for a growing population
John L. O’Sullivan
 “The American claim is by the right of our manifest destiny
to overspread and possess the whole of the continent which
providence has given up for the development of the great
experiment of liberty and self government entrusted to us”
The phrase Manifest Destiny became popular

Described the belief that the United States was meant to extend from
sea to shining sea.
Manifest Destiny
Monday, October 28, 2013
 Homework: Oregon trail Webquest (look at website for
link)
 Do Now:
 Manifest Destiny Primary Source
 Have out signed tests
Trails to the West
 Traders lead the way
 The Santa Fe Trail

Captain William Becknell


Led a wagon train filled with goods
Trail began in Independence, MO and led to Santa Fe, NM



Spanned nearly 800 miles
Through deserts, mountains, and other harsh terrain
Other Americans followed Becknell’s route
 The Oregon Fur Trade

John Jacob Astor


Established the American Fur Company at Fort Astor, Oregon (1808)
His expedition consisted of two large groups



The first group sailed around South America and landed on the coast
The second traveled across land using information gathered from the
Lewis and Clark expedition
They found the South Pass through the Rockies, which later settlers and
missionaries followed
Trails to the West
 Mountain men

The fur trade made Astor the richest man in the country


The men who supplied him with fur also wanted wealth
They were Mountain Men


Fur trappers of the NW – would eventually become legendary
Life as a Mountain Man

Isolated and dangerous lives


Rendezvous once a year


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Meeting where they would trade furs and supplies
Usually a large celebration as well
By the 1830s the supply of beaver fur was short


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Bitter cold, intense heat, attacks from wild animals
Many mountain men went back east to farm
Others became guides for settlers and missionaries
James Beckwourth

African American mountain man – discovered a pass through the
Sierra Nevada Mountains that became a major route to California
Trails to the West
 The Oregon Trail
 Missionaries


Sent reports back east that spurred the growth of settlement in
Oregon
Marcus and Narcissa Whitman

Two missionaries in the NW – wanted to serve the Cayuse Indians



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The Cayuse mistrusted them – because they would not try to
understand cayuse ways
As more settlers arrived and took over Cayuse lands – they
became hostile
An outbreak of measles killed many of the Cayuse
They blamed the Whitmans’s and killed them along with 12
other settlers
Trails to the West
 On the Oregon Trail
 A 2,000 mile route


Stretched from Missouri to
Oregon
Settlers set out in spring
and had 5 months to reach
their destination

Must travel 14 miles
per day – sounds easy
enough? What about
mountains, rivers,
streams, no roads,
cattle, big wagons,
supplies, cooking,
finding clean water…
it all makes for a long,
hard trip
Thursday, September 11, 2014
 Homework: Complete Presidential Speech assignment
(handout)
 Do Now:
 Please put your completed webquest on the side table
Trails to the West
 Life in the West
 Pioneer life was filled with hardships

Starting a new life

Hand tools only



Build shelters
Disease, accidents, and natural disasters


Clear land, plant crops, b
Storms and floods
Read A.H. Garrison’s quote on page 452
 Women in the West
 Women worked alongside men in the west


This raised their status
Women in the East had begun to fight for greater political rights


The west was quicker to reward the hard work of women
Wyoming Territory in 1869 was the first area of the U.S. to give women a
vote
Trails to the West
 Native Americans and Settlers
 Native Americans lived an uneasy peace with white settlers



Southern tribes usually got along with whites
Northern tribes did not
Discovery of Gold in the 1850s


Brought many more white and Chinese miners to the Oregon Territory
War broke out in 1855


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Native Americans fought back

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Miners killed several dozen Native American men
Months later, they killed an equal amount of women and
children
They killed white and Chinese alike
Native Americans were forced to accept peace treaties when the U.S.
Government intervened
Friday, September 12, 2014
 No Homework 
 Do Now:
 have out last night’s homework
 Page 453 1-3
Monday, September 15, 2014
 Homework: page 455 “Siege at the Alamo” and page
456 Map Skills
 Do Now: Open to your notes and be ready to begin
Conflict with Mexico
 Texas Wins Independence
 Settlers Move In



In 1820 – the Spanish Governor of Texas gave land to Moses Austin
After his death, his son Stephen Austin led 300 settlers to this land
Mexico then wins Independence

The Mexican government agrees to honor Austin’s claim IF:


The colonists become Mexican citizens
They convert to the Roman Catholic religion
 Growing Conflict
 Thousands of settlers flooded into Texas

They were Protestant – not Catholic

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Many were also slave owners
Mexico had abolished slavery
Conflict with Mexico


Mexico tolerated these violations – for a while
In 1830, Mexico banned further settlement


Still Americans kept arriving
Mexico began to enforce its laws


Ban on slavery, forced worship in Catholic churches
They also put heavy taxes on American Imports
 Declaring Independence

American settlers wanted more representation in the Mexican
Legislature

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Some Tejanos also hoped for a democratic government that gave less power to the
central government
These hopes ended in 1833

General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna became president of Mexico



He overturned the democratic constitution
Became a dictator
Austin then pushed Texans to revolt against Mexico

In 1836 they declared independence and created the Republic of Texas
Conflict with Mexico
Conflict with Mexico
 Results of the Alamo


Americans were inspired by the bravery of
the defenders
Many rushed to join in the fight for
independence
 Sam Houston

Commanded the Texan forces



He led a small army in a surprise attack on
Santa Anna’s army at San Jacinto
In only 18 minutes, the battle was over, and
Santa Anna was captured
Santa Anna signed a treaty recognizing the
independence of Texas
Conflict with Mexico
 Republic of Texas

Sam Houston was the 1st President of the Republic of Texas


He hoped that the U.S. would annex but public opinion was divided
Texas was a slave state


Northerners did not want to add another slave state which would
unbalance the country in the Senate
Both Jackson and Van Buren refused to add Texas to the Union
 Annexing Texas and Oregon
 Election of 1844

President John Tyler favored Annexation


But he was not nominated for a 2nd term
The Whigs chose Henry Clay to run


Clay wanted to avoid the annexation topic
The Democrats nominated James Polk

Polk favored annexation of both Texas and the Oregon Territory
Conflict with Mexico

As a candidate for expansion – Polk wins the election
 Annexation

Just before Polk takes office, Tyler asks congress to annex
Texas


Congress admitted Texas as a state 3 days before Polk takes office
Keeping his campaign promise


Polk negotiates a treaty with Britain dividing the Oregon Territory
The U.S. got the lands south of the 49th Parallel
 Tensions with Mexico

Annexation of Texas increased tensions

Mexico had never formally recognized the Texan Independence
Conflict with Mexico
 Tensions with Mexico
 Annexation of Texas increased tensions



Mexico had never formally recognized the
Texan Independence
The Treaty with Santa Anna had been
forced
Boundary Dispute

Treaty set the boundary at the Rio Grande
River



Mexico claimed that the boundary
was the Nueces River
Texas had never actually controlled the
territory near the Rio Grande
Polk pressures Mexico to accept the
boundary

They refuse
Conflict with Mexico
 The Mexican-American War
 Polk’s Tactics

Polk knew that Mexico needed money


He offered cash to settle the boundary
He also offers to buy California and the rest of New
Mexico
Mexico was outraged
 They did not want to give up more territory to
the U.S.
Enter Zachary Taylor




General sent by Polk into the disputed territory to
antagonize Mexico
It works
Mexico sees the American Presence as an act of
war
 An American patrol is attacked
Polk asks Congress for a Declaration of War


Conflict with Mexico
 Opposition to War
 Many Northerners argued that Polk had provoked the war



“Mr. Polk’s War”
Claimed that he was trying to extend slavery
Abraham Lincoln makes an appearance

Member of the house of representatives


Pointed out that the land under dispute was not
American Soil
Taylor’s troops had invaded Mexico – not the other way
around
 Rebellion in California
 Polk orders an attack on Santa Fe and California


Stephen Kearny was to lead the troops
Before Kearny reaches California, they declare their own
independence


Led by a young explorer – John C. Fremont
They raise a grizzly bear flag and join forces with Kearny
Conflict with Mexico



Mexico had little presence in California
Fremont quickly captures Monterey and San
Francisco
Kearney captures Santa Fe and San Diego

By 1847 – all of California was under American control
 Invasion of Mexico
 Taylor moves south


Captures the Mexican city of Monterrey
Meets Santa Anna at the Battle of Buena Vista
Taylor is outnumbered – but better armed
 Santa Anna retreats
General Winfield Scott




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Captures Veracruz – important port city
Marches on Mexico City
Battle of Chapultepec

Like the Alamo – a holdout for Mexicans
Conflict with Mexico


After the defeat at Chapultepec – Santa Anna left Mexico City
The capital was in American Hands

The war was over
 Achieving Manifest Destiny
 Polk sends Nicholas Trist



His job was to help General Scott negotiate a treaty
The result – Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848)
Under this treaty




Gadsden Purchase (1853)


Mexico recognized the annexation of Texas
Ceded a vast amount of territory
Accepted payment of $18 million for the lands
U.S. paid Mexico $10 million for a narrow strip of land along Arizona and
New Mexico
Manifest Destiny had been achieved
Conflict with Mexico
Monday, September 22, 2014
 Homework: Read section 4 (pages 462-467)
 Chapter 13 test next Tuesday!!
 Do Now: Read pages 462-463, what issues with
government were the center of conflict?
A Rush to the West
 Mormons Settle Utah
 Founded in 1830 by Joseph Smith

Said that visions had revealed to him the text of a
holy book called the Book of Mormon
 Seeking Refuge
 Church grew quickly but there was conflict



Mormons believed that property should be held in
common
Also believed in polygamy
Forced to move

Over time the Mormons were steadily forced westward



NY to OH to MO to IL
In IL Joseph Smith was murdered by a mob
Brigham Young takes over leadership


Leads the Mormons westward to Utah
There, they are able to thrive
A Rush to the West
 Conflict with the Government


Utah became part of the U.S. in 1848 (Mexican Cession)
Three issues were at the center of the conflict




The church controlled elections in Utah
The church only supported Mormon businesses
The church supported polygamy
For over 40 years these issues caused problems


Eventually, the church changed its ways
Utah became a state in 1896
A Rush to the West
 The California Gold Rush
 Gold is Discovered

January 1848


James Marshall is building a sawmill on John Sutter’s land near Sacramento
He finds a small gold nugget in a ditch


Tries to keep the find a secret but is unsuccessful
Gold fever begins as word spreads across the country

Forty-Niners begin to arrive

In two years the population of California jumped from 14,000 to
100,000
 Water Rights

Many disputes over water were common

California had laws about using water

Landowners had the right to use water that flowed through their land
but could not cut off water to their neighbors
A Rush to the West


Often, these laws were ignored
The first people to reach a stream used as much water as they
wanted


Sometimes even the whole stream
Disputes over water often lead to violence
 Life in Mining Towns

Not permanent places for the most part


Miners drifted over the land following gold strikes
Mixed residents

Mining towns consisted of miners, and people who supplied
them


Dry goods, hardware, saloons were common businesses
Justice


Since California was not a state, federal law did not apply
Many miners formed vigilante groups to maintain order

Justice was swift and harsh
Monday, November 11, 2013
 Homework: Strike it Rich game (link on class website)
 Choose one of the people and write what life would be
like, why would they want to come and experience the
Gold Rush? Are they traveling alone? With family? Etc.
 Do Now: Please take out your work from last week
(page 467)
A Rush to the West
 Roles of Women
 Gold Rushes were not like other migrations


Most migrations included men and women, both young and old
Most of the forty-niners were young men
1850 – ratio of men to women in California was 12 to 1
The Gold Rush offered opportunity though




The women who did arrive could be very profitable
Some mined but others ran businesses

Boardinghouses, restaurants, hotels, laundries and stores
 Drifting and Settling
 Few 49ers struck it rich


They found enough gold to survive, and drifted from place to place
looking for more precious metals
The ones who really benefited from the gold rush?

Merchants
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
 Chapter 13 test Tuesday!
 Do Now: Please have out your homework from last
night (worksheet)
A Rush to the West
 California's Changing Population
 An Unusual mix of people

The gold rush created a vast mixture of people


Asians, Europeans, Australians, South Americans
In some ways, mining towns were more democratic

The miners had to rely on each other
 Chinese Immigrants
 China’s economy forced many of its people to
look elsewhere
 @45,000 Chinese came to America in search of
gold
 They faced much prejudice


Hired to do menial labor, cook, clean, laundry,
digging
Chinese were instrumental in building what
California was to become
A Rush to the West
 African Americans
 Several Thousand free African Americans joined the gold rush



Some slave owners tried to bring their slaves in to mine



Many ran their own businesses
They could not vote or serve on juries
The other miners objected
If you are going to profit – you should do the work
Slavery did not take root in California
 Native Americans
 About what you may expect


They lost land
Nearly 2/3 of their population was killed
A Rush to the West
 Impact on Californios (Mexican born residents)


By 1850 they were a small proportion of the population
They were discriminated against



Not much say in new laws
Had to pay high taxes for their ranches
Had to provide ownership proof for their land


This was hard because the land had been given to them by
Spain or Mexico
Many lost their land or had to sell it to pay for legal bills