Westward Expansion
1820s to 1830s
“If you have no family or friends to aid you,
turn your face to the great West and there
build up your home and fortune.” Horace
Greeley, 1851, New York newspaper editor
“It is America's right to stretch from sea to
shining sea. Not only do we have a
responsibility to our citizens to gain valuable
natural resources we also have a responsibility
to civilize this beautiful land."
May have been John Quincy Adams
Was it really America’s Right?
British Debate Rules
• Two sides of the class.
• You get 5 minutes to think about your side of
the argument –either for or against Manifest
Destiny.
• When it is your side’s turn only ONE person
can speak.
• If you like what they said, pound your fist on
your desk.
• Only 5 arguments per side.
The Oregon Tale
“Go West, Young Man!”
• Questions 1 – 3 in your packet!
• Claims on Oregon: US, Great Britain, Spain and
Russia.
• US side: We’ve been exploring this area a lot!
• Brit side: We’ve had an outpost here longer!
• Spanish: No hay muchos españoles aquí...
• Russ side: Есть не так много русских здесь ...
(Yestʹ ne tak mnogo russkih zdesʹ)
**Who do you think the land really belonged
to?
“Go West, Young Man!”
• Mountain men moved to the Far West
• In search of beavers and animals with fur--to sell to
China for high profits.
• Rugged, independent individuals, dangerous lives, lived
off the land. “I have held my hands in an anthill until
they were covered with ants, then greedily licked them
off.”
• What qualities helped the mountain men survive in the
wilderness? Do you think such qualities are still
important today?
• Rendezvous –where mountain men and fur traders met
to trade fur once a year
On the Trail
Moving West people traveled on the Oregon Trail:
• Why would timing be important?
Needed to reach Oregon before October, because of
• Life On the Trail
•
•
•
•
•
Dawn: Bugle Blast
6 am: Wagon Ho!
Noon: brief lunch
6 pm: make camp, eat dinner, sleep
Unloading along the way
Symptoms of Cholera
•
Severe, watery diarrhea
–
•
Diarrhea due to cholera is often voluminous, flecked with mucus and dead cells, and has a
pale, milky appearance that resembles water in which rice has been rinsed (rice-water stool).
Nausea and vomiting
– Occurring in both the early and later stages of cholera, vomiting may persist for hours at a
time.
•
•
Muscle cramps.
Dehydration
– Signs and symptoms of cholera dehydration include irritability, lethargy, sunken eyes, a dry
mouth, extreme thirst, dry, shriveled skin that's slow to bounce back when pinched into a fold,
little or no urine output, low blood pressure, and an irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia).
•
Shock.
–
Hypovolemic shock is one of the most serious complications of cholera dehydration. It occurs
when low blood volume causes a drop in blood pressure and a corresponding reduction in the
amount of oxygen reaching your tissues. If untreated, severe hypovolemic shock can cause
death in a matter of minutes.
• Extreme drowsiness or even coma
• Fever
It could wipe out whole wagon trains because the bacteria is in your poop.
Oregon at Last
• Despite the hardships, more than 50,000
people reached Oregon between 1840-1860.
The Lone Star Story
• Questions 4 – 6 in your packet!
• Americans in Texas
– Texas owned by Spain
– Land Grant to Moses Austin 1821
– Mexico gained freedom from Spain
– Mexico let Austin bring people in
• Settle up land and control Indian attacks
– 1830: 20,000 Americans lived in Texas
– Mexico wanted Americans to come in to fight off
Native Americans and help settle the land.
The Lone Star Story
• The Republic of Texas
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
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Texans (Americans) become Mexican citizens for land.
Over time, they lost loyalty to Mexico
Protestant vs. Catholic
1830: You can stay, but No More Americans!
Fear U.S. wanted Texas
1833 General Santa Anna--ruled like a dictator and wanted
back Texas
1835: “see Texas forever free from Mexican domination”
Took San Antonio
Declared independence on March 2, 1836
Republic of Texas, Sam Houston commander of Army
• Similar to another story? How so?
The Alamo
• Tremendous odds--150: 6,000
• Retreated to eh Alamo: a Spanish mission-Spanish teaching the Native Americans
• Supplies, food and water were low
• Davy Crockett--one of the leaders
• Siege occurs--military blockade to force them
to surrender
• Lasted for 12 days
• On March 6, the walls of the Alamo come
down, swarmed in and killed almost everyone.
Revenge and Problems: San Jacinto
• Battle San Jacinto
– Lasted for 18 minutes
– 630 dead, 700 captured
– Santa Anna captured and killed. They forced him to
sign their independence.
– Hooray! Texas is free!
– The Lone Star Republic. Flag with one star. Sam
Houston President.
– Treaty illegitimate?
– Sovereign?
– Broke!
– Would joining the US solve their problems?
How did the United States feel?
• The U.S. had mixed feelings:
– White Southerners Yes!
– White Northerners No!
– Why?
– Pres Jackson worried about war with Mexico
– No annexation--ANNEX: to add on.
Primary Sources
• Look for:
– Who wrote this?
– What bias might he have?
– What was said?
– What was the point of the document?
• How does this change the way we understand
The Lone Star Story?
California and the Southwest
New Mexico Territory
• All owned by Mexico: present-day states of Arizona,
New Mexico, Nevada, Utah and California
• Southwest: hot and dry. Thick grass in some areas,
desert and mountain in others.
• First white settlers to the area: merchants and
adventurers--sold their cloth and other goods to the
Mexicans.
• Spanish soldiers and
priests also set up
missions.
– Eventually 21 missions
were set up along the
California coast
Mission Life
• California Indians lived in small groups and
weren’t able to resist the soldiers who made
them work for the missions.
• Herded sheep and cattle, and raised crops for
the missions. In return, they got to live at the
mission and learn about the Roman Catholic
religion.
• Thousands died from overwork and diseases.
• After Mexico won its independence, it got
worse. The Mexican government sold mission
land to ranchers, who treated the Native
Americans even worse. “Even more
degrading, and more oppressive than that of
our slaves in the South.”
• IMPACT: From 1770-1850, population went
from 310,000 to 100,000.
Expansion: A Right and a Duty
• Manifest Destiny:
– Manifest: clear or obvious
– Destiny: something that is sure to
happen
****Believed that the United States
was clearly meant to expand to the
Pacific--from sea to shining sea.
****Believed they were superior to
Native Americans and Mexicans-Racism justified their actions.
• James K. Polk runs for President
and people elect him because he
believes in expansion.
Gaining Oregon
• Polk fulfilled his promise and when he took
office, he moved to gain control of Oregon.
• He threatened Britain with war and was
offered a compromise: Britain would take
everything above 49 degrees North. U.S. got
the land south of the line.
• Known as the Oregon Territory--Oregon,
Washington and Idaho later.
Annexing Texas (1845)
• Sam Houston--President of Texas, really
wanted to be annexed
•
(added to) the U.S.
• Only after pretending to
•
become allies with Britain,
•
did America agreed to take
•
Texas on.
• Why would the U.S. not want Texas to join
Britain?
• How does Mexico feel about this?
• They never accepted the independence of
Texas to begin with. Also, didn’t want
Americans in California and New Mexico to
The Mexican War Begins
• A border dispute in Texas begins. Both sides are
claiming more land. America claims that they own
land to the Rio Grande. Mexico claims to own the
land to the Nueces River. Both places are on the
other’s land.
• Who does Polk urge to declare war?
• U.S. troops go on to take over San Diego as well.
Americans in California excited! By 1847, the U.S.
controlled all of New Mexico and California.
Meanwhile, General Scott (U.S.) had reached Mexico
City (Capital of Mexico) and the Mexicans were
forced to surrender and make peace.
Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo
• In 1848, Mexico signed the
treaty that ceded--gave-- all of
California and New Mexico
(current day California, Nevada,
Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico)
to the United States.
• CEDE: to give
• U.S. paid $15 million to Mexico
• This lands were called the
Mexican Cession
Completion
of Manifest
Destiny
• A few years after the War (1853), the U.S.
agreed to pay Mexico $10 million for a strip of
land in present-day Arizona and New Mexico.
• This land was needed to complete the
building of a railroad.
• Known as the Gadsden Purchase.
• The dream of Manifest Destiny was complete!
Manifest Destiny- A right? A duty?
• Who was affected by America’s belief of
Manifest Destiny?
• Was it a positive or negative thing?
A Rush to the West
Mormons and Sutter’s Mill
The Mormons
• The largest group of settlers to move into the
Mexican Cession.
• Mormons= Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints. A new religion started by Joseph
Smith in 1830.
• Why move?
– They were persecuted and forced to move from many
different states.
– New York --> Ohio --> Missouri --> Illinois --> Utah
– Their new leader, Brigham Young realized they needed to
find a home where they could be safe. He had read about
the Great Salt Lake in Utah and thought it would make a
good home.
Prospering in Utah
• Because Utah was a harsh desert climate, they
had to work hard.
• They had an irrigation system to bring water
to farms.
• Drew up plans for a large city to be built.
• In 1850 it was declared a territory and in
1896, it gained statehood.
California Gold Rush
“It was a clear, cold morning; I shall never forget that
morning. As I was taking my usual walk,…my eye was
caught with the glimpse of something shining in the
bottom of the ditch. There was a bout a foot of
water running then. I reached my hand down and
picked it up; it made my heart hump, for I was
certain it was gold.”
- James Marshall
Sutter’s Mill
• In 1848, John Sutter was building a saw mill on the
American River, north of California.
• Gold was discovered and in a few
days, the word spread to San
Francisco, and then on to the
rest of the United States.
• People from Europe, China, Australia, and South
America also joined the rush.
• More than 80,000 people came--Known as the FortyNiners.
– Only a few actually struck it rich, but everyone stayed in
California.
• California became a state in 1850.
California’s Unique Culture
• People from Hawaii, China, Peru, Chile, France,
Germany, Italy, Ireland, and Australia
• Many white Americans too.
• Mexican Americans: Many of them lost land they
owned for generations. Still, they fought to preserve
their customs.
• Native Americans: Driven off their lands and later
died of starvation or diseases. Others murdered. In
1850, 100,000 Indians and by 1870, only 17,000.
California’s Unique Culture
• Chinese Americans: At
first welcomed, but
then pushed aside
when found to be
successful. Despite
discrimination, they
stayed.
• African Americans:
Some got wealthy fast,
but still denied certain
rights. Not allowed to
testify against whites in
court.