Cover Slide
The American
Pageant
Chapter 17
Manifest Destiny
and Its Legacy,
1841-1848
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
An adaption from: Susan M. Pojer
Horace Greeley H. S. Chappaqua, NY
“Manifest Destiny”
 First coined by newspaper editor, John O’Sullivan in 1845.
 ".... 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."
 A myth of the West as a land of romance and adventure
emerged.
“American Progress” by John Gast, 1872
The Pony Express
 Between April, 1860 and Nov., 1861.
 Delivered news and mail between St.
Louis, MO and San Francisco, CA.
 Took 10 days.
 Replaced by the completion of the
trans-continental telegraph line.
The Accession of “Tyler Too”
 Whig leaders Clay & Webster planned to control
newly elected President William H. Harrison
he contracted pneumonia & died—only pres for 4 weeks
 New president =John Tyler
did not agree with the Whig party
Whigs = pro-bank & pro-protective tariff, & pro-internal
improvements
He was from South
more like a Democrat
Manipulating the Maine Maps
 Maine claimed territory on its northern & eastern border
So? It was also claimed by England
– there were actually small skirmishes in the area (the “Aroostook War”
of feuding lumberjacks).
 1842: GB sent Lord Ashburton to negotiate w/
Daniel Webster
Webster-Ashburton Treaty
– GB gets Halifax-Quebec route for a road
– America got a bit more land north of Maine & readjustment of the
U.S.—Canadian border
 That land later provided the iron for steel in the boom of industry.
Maine Boundary Settlement, 1842
The Lone Star of Texas Shines Alone
 U.S. at stand-still over what to do w/ Texas
North decried the Southern "slavocracy"
– a supposed Southern conspiracy to always gain more slave land
 America couldn’t just annex Texas w/o war w/ Mexico.
 GB wanted an independent Texas to check American
expansionism.
 Texas =good boost for American cotton production &
provide tons more land. What to do?!
The Belated Texas Nuptials
 James K. Polk & his expansionist ideas won the
election of 1844.
election seen as a "mandate for manifest destiny"
the next year, Texas was formally invited to become the
28th state of the Union.
 Mexico complained that Americans stole Texas
from them
Oregon Fever Populates Oregon
 Oregon territory = large
stretching from northern tip of CA to the 54° 40’ line.
 Once claimed by Russia, Spain, England, & the U.S., now,
only the GB & US claiming
GB had good reasons for its claims north of Columbia River
– was populated by GB & by the Hudson’s Bay Company
US had strong claims south of Columbia River (named after his
ship by Robert Gray when he discovered the river)
– they populated it much more
– US occupied & explored the interior of the land, thanks to Lewis & Clark.
– Oregon Trail, an over 2000-mile trail across America, = a common route
to Oregon during the early 1840s.
The Oregon Trail – Albert Bierstadt, 1869
Trails Westward
The Doomed Donner Party
April, 1846 – April, 1847
The Doomed Donner Party
CANNIBALISM ! !
Margaret
Breen
James Reed & Wife
Patrick
Breen
John
Breen
 Of the 83 members of the
Donner Party, only 45 survived
to get to California!
The Oregon Dispute: 54’ 40º or Fight!
 By the mid-1840s,
“Oregon Fever” was
spurred on by the
promise of free land.
 The joint British-U. S.
occupation ended in
1846.
A Mandate (?) for Manifest Destiny
 Election of 1844
Henry Clay= popular Whig who had been defeated 2X
James K. Polk= picked because the Democrats couldn’t
agree on anyone else
– Was Speaker of the House for 4 years
– Was governor of Tennessee for 2 terms. He
– was called “Young Hickory” (in fact, Polk was born in
Pineville, N.C., only some 15 miles from Jackson’s birthplace)
– sponsored by former president Andrew Jackson.
A Mandate (?) for Manifest Destiny
 Polk (continued)
He & the Democrats advocated “Manifest Destiny”
– concept that stated that the U.S. was destined to expand
across the continent & get as much land as possible.
 Texas
Clay = unclear
– lost the election (170 to 105 in the Electoral; 1,338,464 to
1,300,097 in the popular) by 5000 votes in New York.
Polk the Purposeful
 laid out a 4-point mission (then achieved all 4 points
in 4 years)
Lower the tariff
Restore the independent treasury (put U.S. money into
non-government banks)
Clear up the Oregon border issue
Get California
Polk the Purposeful
 Oregon border issue was settled.
Democrats hope to acquire all of Oregon during their
campaign
– after the annexation of Texas, the Southern Democrats didn’t much
care anymore.
 GB & U.S. had been bargaining for Oregon land to
answer, "Where is the border of Oregon?"
England first says 42o latitude; then said the Columbia River
The U.S. first says 54o40' latitude; then said 49o latitude
Things were tense for a while, but England realized there
were more Americans in Oregon than Brits—their leverage
was small.
Polk the Purposeful
 GB propose treaty --separate British & American claims at
the **49th parallel (excluding Vancouver)
Polk throws to the Senate, they accepted.
 Those angry with the deal cried, “Why all of Texas but not
all of Oregon?”
Mexico was weak & England was strong.
Misunderstandings with Mexico
 Polk wanted California, but this was difficult due to
strained U.S.-Mexican relations.
After annexation of Texas:
– Mexico recalled its foreign minister, and before, it had been
forced to default on its payments of $3 million to the U.S.
Texas claims its southern boundary to be the Rio
Grande
Mexico says it’s the Nueces River
Polk felt that he had to defend Texas & does
– ordered General Zachary Taylor to occupy the disputed lands
between the Nueces River & the Rio Grande.
The War with Mexico, 1846–1848
 Polk sent John Slidell to Mexico
City:
To secure Mexican acceptance of
the Rio Grande boundary
To buy New Mexico & California.
 Mexican officials:
Refused to see Slidell
Declared that the annexation of
Texas was illegal.
The War with Mexico, 1846–1848
 Thomas O. Larkin (at Polk’s request) in October
1845:
encouraged the leading Mexican residents of Monterey,
California, to declare independence & support peaceful
annexation.
The War with Mexico, 1846–1848
 Naval commanders in the Pacific:
Told to seize California’s coastal towns in case of war
 Captain John C. Frémont’s heavily armed troops
were sent deep into Mexican territory.
The War with Mexico, 1846–1848
Polk ordered General Taylor to
build a fort near the Rio
Grande…WHY?
Hoping to incite an armed
Mexican response
 When a clash occurred, Polk
blamed the Mexicans for the
bloodshed.

The War with Mexico, 1846–1848
Whigs wanted a peaceful resolution
Democratic majority in
Congress voted for war with
Mexico.
 The president signed the Oregon
Treaty…WHY?
To avoid simultaneous war with
Britain
Divided the Oregon region at
the forty-ninth parallel.

The War with Mexico, 1846–1848
By the end of 1846:
The U.S. controlled much of northeastern Mexico
American forces secured control of California in 1847.
 Santa Anna (Mexico):
Attacked Zachary Taylor’s units at Buena Vista in 1847
Only superior artillery enabled a narrow American victory.

Street Fighting in the Calle de Iturbide, 1846 (p. 377)

The American conquest of
Monterrey, which Spain’s troops
had been unable to capture during
Mexico's war for independence in
1820-21, came after bloody houseto-house fighting. Protected by
thick walls and shuttered windows
Mexican defenders pour a
withering fire on dark-uniformed
American troops and buckskinclad frontier fighters. A spacious
Catholic cathedral looms in the
background, its foundations
obscured by the smoke from
Mexican cannon.
A Divisive Victory
 The Wilmot Proviso (1846):
Intended to prohibit slavery in new territories acquired from
Mexico
Passed 2x in the House, but the Senate killed the proviso.
Wilmot Proviso, 1846
Provided, territory from that, as an
express and fundamental condition to
the acquisition of any the Republic of
Mexico by the United States, by virtue
of any treaty which may be negotiated
between them, and to the use by the
Executive of the moneys herein
appropriated, neither slavery nor
involuntary servitude shall ever exist
in any part of said territory, except for
crime, whereof the party shall first be
duly convicted.
Congr. David Wilmot
(D-PA)
The War with Mexico, 1846–1848

General Winfield Scott’s troops seized Mexico
City in September 1847
Santa Anna was overthrown
New Mexican government agreed to make peace.
A Divisive Victory
 “Conscience Whigs”:
Viewed the Mexican War as a conspiracy to add new
slave states in the West
 Polk’s expansionist policy split the Democrats into
sectional factions.
A Divisive Victory
 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848):
U.S. agreed to pay Mexico $15 million
U.S. got: Texas north of the Rio Grande, New Mexico, &
California.
 “Free-soil” movement
Many northerners who viewed slavery as a threat to
Republicanism & the yeoman farmers joined this movement.
Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, 1848
Nicholas Trist,
American Negotiator
Map 13.5 The Mexican Cession, 1848–1853 (p. 382)

In the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
(1848), Mexico ceded to the U.S.
its vast northern territories—
present-day states of California,
Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and
half of Colorado & Texas. These
new territories, President Polk
boasted to Congress, “constitute of
themselves a country large enough
for a great empire, and the
acquisition is second in importance
only to that of Louisiana in 1803.”
Results of the Mexican War?
1. The 17-month war cost $100,000,000 and 13,000+
American lives (mostly of disease).
2. New territories were brought into the Union which forced the
explosive issue of SLAVERY to the center of national
politics.
* Brought in 1 million sq. mi. of land (incl. TX)
3. These new territories would upset the balance of power
between North and South.
4. Created two popular Whig generals who ran for President.
5. Manifest Destiny partially realized.
James K. Polk by George Peter Alexander Healy, 1846
James K. Polk by George Peter
Alexander Healy, 1846
Lacking charm, Polk bored even his
friends, but few presidents could match
his record of acquiring land for the
United States. (James K. Polk Memorial
Association, Columbia, Tennessee)
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The Mexican Cession
Expansionist Young America in the 1850s
America’s Attempted Raids into Latin America