Chapter 13:
Westward Expansion
How did westward expansion change the
geography of the nation and demonstrate the
determination of its people?
Pictures From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sager_orphans and
http://www-tc.pbs.org/americanprophet/images/joseph-smith.jpg?Log=0
Westward Ho!
Section 1: The West
What cultures and ideas influenced the
development of the West?
Pictures From: http://www.cyberlearning-world.com/lessons/ushistory/19thcentury/manifestdestiny4.htm and
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:John_O'Sullivan.jpg
What Was “The West”?
• Before the early 1800’s the west was the area
between the Appalachian Mts. and the
Mississippi River.
• After the By the 1820’s the frontier “The West
was the land west of the Mississippi River.
• It was the area in the Louisiana Purchase
Territory and Oregon Country
• Frontier- the land that forms the farthest extent of
a nations settled regions
“North America in 1830”
• Which nations had claims on Oregon?
• Great Britain/England and the US
• What countries would the United States have to
deal with to gain more land on the Pacific Coast?
What methods might the United States use to gain
this land?
• Mexico and Great Britain; War, diplomacy
The Great Plains
• Between the Mississippi River and The Rocky
Mts.
• Farmers did not like the area at first because it
was hard to break the sod ground
• Many considered the area a way to get to the
northwest or Southwest
Pictures From: http://www.eco-pros.com/images/Ecosystems/ADY60018plains.JPG and
http://tornado.sfsu.edu/Geosciences/StormChasing/cases/ChaseLogs/2006/May21/Images/GreatPlainsB.jpg
The Northwest
• Settlers were attracted to fertile land
• Great Britain and the US controlled this territory
that is now Washington State and Oregon
The Southwest
• Known as Spanish Borderlands
• Present day CA, NV, NM, TX, AR, CO, UT
• Vast Cultural influences- Spanish, N-A’s shared
their cultures
Pictures From: http://library.shu.edu/gallery/hill-Southwest_landscape_white_house_ruin_AZ.jpg and
http://pinker.wjh.harvard.edu/photos/american_west/images/Grand%20Canyon.jpg
Spanish Controlled Mexico
• Before 1800’s Spanish controlled Mexico and its
borderlands
• They set up mercantilism and they had a strict
Social Class System- Peninisulares, Creoles,
Mestizos, Native Americans, African Americans,
Slaves
• Junipero Serro set up a missionary to convert NA’s to Catholicism
Mexico Wins Independence
• 1821 Mexico declares Independence
• Rancheros were given individual grants
from the Mexican govt.
• Mexican govt. removed missionaries and
gave that land to the rancheros
MANIFEST DESTINY!
• By the 1840’s many Americans felt it was
their RIGHT, their DUTY, to expand all the
way from the Atlantic to the Pacific
• “From sea to shining sea”
• John O’Sullivan made the idea of manifest
Destiny publicly known and encouraged by
printing a column in his newspaper
“Westward Ho!” became the theme
Section 2: Trails To The West
Why did people go west and what challenges
did they face?
Pictures From: http://www.kshs.org/places/kawmission/eurosantafetrail.htm and
The Santa Fe Trail
• The first Americans to move west were traders
• They wanted new markets to sell their goods
Santa Fe
Trail
• 1821 Captain William Becknell brought a
wagon full of supplies from Independence,
Missouri to Santa Fe, New Mexico
• Becknell had to cross raging rivers, deal
with wild animals, mountains, desert, and
much more
Pictures From: http://steamboattimes.com/artwork_1.html
John Jacob Astor
Oregon Fur Trade
• John Jacob Astor was a German immigrant who
sent the first American fur trading expedition to
Oregon Country
• American Fur Trading Co in 1808 was established
• Astor became a millionaire
Pictures From: http://www.legendsofamerica.com/photos-oldwest/John%20Jacob%20Astor.jpg and
http://www.legendsofamerica.com/photos-oldwest/ReturningToCamp1880-500.jpg AND
Mountain Men
• Mountain men were fur trappers from the west
• Mountain men led dangerous, lonely lives
• Jebediah Smith was a famous mountain man
who supposedly had wild adventures
• Rendezvous – a meeting where trappers would
trade furs for supplies
Oregon Trail
• The FIRST easterners to build permanent homes in
Oregon were MISSIONARIES
• 1830’s missionaries began traveling west to convert
Native Americans to Christianity
• Marcus and Narcissa Whitman were the first to set
up a mission in Oregon
Stephen Austin
General Antonio
Lopez de Santa Anna
Battle of the Alamo
Section 3: Conflict With Mexico
What were the causes and effects of the Texas
War for Independence and the Mexican-American
War?
Pictures From: http://www.sonofthesouth.net/mexican-war/pictures/santa-ana.jpg and http://www.legendsofamerica.com/photostexas/AlamoBattle.jpg , http://www.legendsofamerica.com/photos-texas/AlamoBattle.jpg
Texas Wins Independence!
• 1820 Spanish governor gives Moses Austin land
in what is now present-day Texas
• Moses dies before he gets there and his son
Stephen Austin takes a small group to colonize
the territory
• Soon after Mexico wins independence from
Spain
Stephen Austin
“Father of Texas”
• Mexican government agrees to continue to honor
Austin’s claim to the land
• Austin agrees that he and his colonists will
become Mexican citizens
• In doing so he agrees to worship in the Roman
Catholic church
Growing Conflict
• 1,000’s of Americans flock to Texas
• New settlers are protestant and do not want
to become Catholics
• Many of the new settlers are slave holders
and slavery was not allowed in Mexico
• For a while Mexico tolerates the violations
of its laws but tensions grow fast
Declaring Independence
• Tensions grow and Texans want more
representation in the Mexican legislature
• Tejanos – Texans of Mexican decent
• Tejanos had been hoping for a more democratic
government in Mexico
• Instead they get General Antonio Lopez de Santa
Anna
Texans at
War
• Stephen Austin urges Texans to revolt against the
dictator Santa Anna
• In 1836 Texans declare independence from
Mexico
• Republic of Texas is created (They are their own
country) “Lone Star Republic”
Texans At War
• Santa Anna laid siege at The Alamo
• Siege is an attack in which one force surrounds a
city or fort
• Defenders at the Alamo- Davy Crocket, Jim
Bowie, William B Travis, with several others
defended the Alamo for 12 days
• They were ill equipped and ended up
surrendering
Texans At War
• After the massacre at the Alamo Sam
Houston led a small army in a surprise
attack on Santa Anna at San Jacinto
• Texans shouted “Remember the
Alamo!”
• After only 18 minutes Santa Anna was
captured and Sam Houston and the
Texans were victorious at the Battle of
San Jacinto
Pictures From: http://texashistory.info/Sam-Houston.html
Republic of Texas
• Sam Houston became President of Texas
• Houston wanted the US to annex (add on) Texas
to the US
• Problem- Texas was a slave state so the issue of
slavery is dividing the nation further
• Southerners were for annexation- northerners
against
• President Andrew Jackson and Marten Van
Buren refused to support Annexation
Annexing Texas and Oregon
• During the Presidential election of 1844 the
annexation of Texas became a hot topic
• President John Tyler favored annexation
• But Tyler was not nominated for a 2nd term
• Whigs nominate Henry Clay- he hoped to
avoid the issue
• James K Polk for the Democrats wanted
both Texas and Oregon annexed
James K Polk’s
Campaign
Pictures From: https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/ourfirst-line-of-defense-presidential-reflections-on-us-intelligence/955pres6.gif
California Gold Rush
Levi Strauss