Given the choice, would you prefer to work
in a factory in the North, at a farm in the
South, or as a fur trapper in the West?
A. Factory in the North
B. Farm in the South
C. Trapper in the West
A. A
B. B
C. C
Chapter 12 Manifest Destiny
Section 1 The Oregon Country
Chapter Time Line
Chapter Time Line
How did the belief in Manifest Destiny
influence western settlement?
The Oregon Country
• A huge area between the
Rocky Mountains and the
Pacific Ocean
• North of CaliforniaIncluded Oregon,
Washington, and Idaho
• Plus parts of Montana
and Wyoming
• Also half of the Canadian
Province of British
Columbia
• The US, Britain, Spain,
and Russia all claimed this
area
The Oregon Country consisted of
what part of the present-day United
States?
A. the Northeast
0%
D
0%
A
D. the Midwest
A
B
C
0%
D
C
C. the Southeast
A.
B.
C.
0%
D.
B
B. the Northwest
Adams–Onís Treaty
• Many wanted to control
Oregon to access the
Pacific Ocean
• 1819- Secretary of State
John Quincy Adams
negotiated the Adams–Onís
Treaty with Spain
• Spain gave up their part of
Oregon
• 1824- Russia gave up their
claim to area south of Alaska
• 1818- Adams worked out a
joint occupation agreement
with Britain
• 1000s of Americans
steamed into the Oregon
Country
Why come to Oregon?
• The first Americans to
Oregon were fur traders
• Beaver skin was in high
demand in the East and in
Europe
• The British and Americans
set up trading posts
• 1808- John Jacob Astor
organized the American
Fur Company
• Astor traded on the East
Coast, the Pacific
Northwest, and China
Getting the fur
• At first, merchants traded
for furs Native Americans
supplied
• Later, merchants got fur
from Americans known as
mountain men
• Mountain men made a living
by trapping beaver
• Many had Native American
wives and adopted Native
American ways
• Lived in buffalo-skin lodges
and dressed in fringed
buckskin pants, moccasins,
and beads
Mountain Men
• Mountain men set traps
in the spring and
collected pelts
• In late summer they
gathered for a
rendezvous
• Here they traded their
pelts for traps, guns,
coffee, and other goods
• They met with old friends
• Also competed in races
and swapped stories
about their adventures
More Mountain Men
• Mountain men had to be
resourceful
• They needed courage and
intelligence to live in the
wilderness
• Trapper Joe Meek was faced with
starvation so he held his hands
“in an anthill until they were
covered with ants, then greedily
licked them off”
• After a while mountain men could
no longer make a living trapping
because…
• Most of the beaver had been
killed
• Some moved to Oregon and
settled on farms
• Others, such as Jim Bridger and
Kit Carson, worked as guides
• These guides helped travelers
along the Oregon Trail, California
Trail, and Santa Fe Trail
The Whitman Mission
• Among the first settlers to Oregon
were missionaries who wanted to
bring Christianity to Native
Americans
• Dr. Marcus Whitman and his wife,
Narcissa, went to Oregon in 1836
to build a mission among the
Cayuse people near present day
Walla Walla, Washington
• Unknowingly, the settlers brought
with them measles
• Many of the children of the
Cayuse were killed by an
epidemic
• The Cayuse blamed the
Whitmans for the sickness
• November 1847- The Cayuse
attacked and killed the Whitmans
and 11 others
• Despite this, more settlers came
to Oregon
The Oregon Trail
•
•
•
•
•
•
The Panic of 1837 caused people to move
Tens of thousands of people made the trip to Oregon
The emigrants left the United States to go to Oregon
2,000 mile journey
Pioneers stuffed their prairie schooners with supplies
They met in Independence, Missouri and began the trip on the
Oregon Trail
• Across the Great Plains, along the Platte River, and across the
South Pass of the Rocky Mountains
• Then traveled north and west along the Snake and Columbia Rivers
into the Oregon Country
Manifest Destiny
• Since colonial times, many Americans believed our nation should
serve as a model of freedom and democracy
• This changed in the 1800s- Many believed that the US should
spread freedom by occupying the entire continent
• 1819- John Quincy Adams said expansion to the Pacific was
inevitable “as that the Mississippi should flow into the sea.”
• John O’Sullivan declared it was America’s “Manifest Destiny to
overspread and possess the whole of the continent which
Providence has given us.”
• Meaning the US was clearly destined by God to extend its
boundaries all the way to the Pacific Ocean
Who coined the term “Manifest Destiny”?
A. the mountain man
B. James Polk
0%
D
A
0%
A
B
C
0%
D
C
D. John O’Sullivan
A.
B.
C.
0%
D.
B
C. Henry Clay
Fifty-Four Forty or Fight
• Most Americans wanted
the US to own all of
Oregon
• 1844 election James Polk
and the Democrats used
the slogan- “Fifty-Four
Forty or Fight”
• Line of latitude they
believed should be the
nation’s northern border in
Oregon
• A firm believer in Manifest
Destiny, Polk focused on
making Oregon part of the
US
• Britain did not agree with
the border at “Fifty-Four
Forty”
• 1846- Britain and the US
compromised and set the
border between the US
and British Oregon at
latitude 49oN
How did the belief in Manifest Destiny
influence western settlement?
-The idea that Americans had a right to
this land helped them feel justified in
taking it away from others who were
already living on the land or held claim
to it.
Which was the last country to challenge
the United States' control of Oregon?
25%
M
ex
ic
o
25%
ai
n
rit
a
in
25%
B
us
si
a
25%
Sp
Russia
Britain
Spain
Mexico
R
A.
B.
C.
D.
n
oc
c
u.
..
at
io
up
co
un
try
oc
c
O
re
g
on
jo
in
t
st
an
ife
M
re
nd
e
zv
De
s
ou
s
tin
y
What allowed people from both Britain and
the United States to settle in Oregon
country?
A. rendezvous
25% 25% 25% 25%
B. Manifest Destiny
C. joint occupation
D. Oregon country
occupation
Mountain men made their living
as
merchants.
teachers.
politicians.
fur trappers.
ra
pp
e
ns
.
rt
fu
po
lit
i
ci
a
rs
.
te
ac
he
ts
.
er
ch
an
rs
.
25% 25% 25% 25%
m
A.
B.
C.
D.
Among the first settlers of the Oregon
country, after trappers, were the
missionaries.
merchants.
schoolteachers.
farmers.
sc
rm
er
s.
fa
.
ho
ol
te
ac
he
rs
ts
.
er
ch
an
m
is
s
io
n
ar
ie
s
.
25% 25% 25% 25%
m
A.
B.
C.
D.
Oregon country was which
direction from California?
es
t
25%
w
25%
st
ut
h
25%
so
rt
h
25%
ea
north
south
east
west
no
A.
B.
C.
D.
What was the high point of the
year for mountain men?
A. trading
merchandise
B. Native American
parties
C. rendezvous
D. meeting settlers
e
at
iv
N
tr
ad
rs
ttl
e
ou
s
se
g
ee
tin
re
nd
e
zv
m
in
g
Am
er
ic
a
n
m
er
ch
an
pa
di
s
rti
e
e
s
25% 25% 25% 25%
tin
y
n
t
an
ife
M
oc
c
in
t
st
up
De
s
at
io
ig
ra
n
em
jo
re
nd
e
zv
ou
s
What philosophy meant that the United
States was set apart to extend its
boundaries all the way to the Pacific?
A. rendezvous
25% 25% 25% 25%
B. emigrant
C. joint occupation
D. Manifest Destiny
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