Manifest Destiny
• The term "manifest destiny" was first used by
journalist John O'Sullivan in the New
York Democratic Review in 1845. O'Sullivan
wrote in favor of the U.S. annexing Texas.
• Opponents to annexation, he argued, were
trying to stop "the fulfillment of our manifest
destiny to overspread the continent allotted by
Providence for the free development of our
yearly multiplying millions"
1
“American Progress”
John Gast, 1873
2
Transportation: Canals
The Erie Canal
• The Erie Canal:
• Hudson
River to
Buffalo, NY
• Connected
the Great
Lakes to the
Atlantic
Ocean
• Locks
Transportation: Railroads
• Made canals less important
• Major wave of construction
from 1830s through 1860s
• Transcontinental railroad
completed in 1869
• Government support was
important for success of the
canals and railroads
An early railroad engine from the 1830s
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“WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT”
Morse sends first telegraph on May 24, 1844
from Washington D.C. to Baltimore
Morse's early system produced a paper copy
with raised dots and dashes, which were
translated later by an operator
23,000 miles of telegraph wire by 1854 (p: 277)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8f9A4xIl
Wk
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Midwest farming production growth
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Cyrus McCormick and the horse drawn grain
reaper
John Deere and the steel plow; farmers now had a
surplus of goods to sell
Connection to Eastern markets
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Canals, turnpikes, rail
As agricultural output grows, manufacturing
grows, infrastructure expands and the population
increases
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Linked Cumberland, MD to Vandalia, Ill
Under construction from 1811-1837
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1793 Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin
1797 Whitney invents interchangeable parts for
firearms
1807 Robert Fulton invents the steamboat
1823 Lowell Mills opens in Massachusetts
1825 Erie Canal is completed
1828 First U.S. railroad appears
1834 Cyrus McCormick invents the mechanical
mower-reaper
1835* Samuel F. B. Morse invents the telegraph
1837 Cumberland road (National Road) is completed
1838 John Deere invents the steel plow
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Political consequences: reinforced east-west
ties at the expense of north-south
relationships
The canal systems (ex: Erie) and railroads
encouraged Midwesterners to do business
with the northeast as opposed to the south
Exacerbates sectional tensions building to the
Civil War; the sectional gap grows
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Gained independence from Spain in 1821
Encouraged Americans to settle the
under-populated territory of Texas
 Low Tejano population
 Tejano (Mexican and Spanish ancestry)
 Native American threat: Comanche and
Apache
 Land offered at 10 cents/acre ($1.25 in U.S.)
Watch the first 6:30 minutes of the crash
course on YouTube.
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Moses Austin and other empresarios
organized the settlement
 1822-1830
 “G.T.T.” – Gone to Texas
Moses’ son, Stephen Austin helped lead
roughly 300 families to Texas
 Land grants
Mexican government’s guidelines:
 1) Adopt Roman Catholicism
 2) Obey Mexican law (no slaves)
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Mexico begins to feel threatened by the surge
of American settlement in Texas and their
blatant refusal to follow the guidelines
In 1830 new laws are instituted:
 1) No more Americans can immigrate to
Mexico
 2) Re-emphasize constitutional ban on
slavery
 3) Stephen Austin is arrested and jailed*
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Santa Anna becomes president
 Assumes dictatorial powers
 Americans in Texas rebel
 Texas Revolution begins (1833)
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Geography
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Battle
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San Antonio, TX
First the Texans take control of the mission, then Santa
Anna’s 4,000 man army marches into Texas
Key Figures
Santa Anna
 Davey Crocket
 James Bowie
 Colonel William B. Travis
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Outcome
All 187 Texans are killed (women & children spared)
 “Remember the Alamo” will serve as the Texas battle
cry
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General Sam Houston will lead Texas to
victory at the Battle of San Jacinto
Santa Anna is captured and forced to sign the
Treaty of Velasco, formally recognizing
Texas’ independence from Mexico
Sept. 1836 – Sam Houston became the first,
last and only President of Texas – The Lone
Star Republic
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1838 – Houston requests annexation
Presidents Van Buren, Harrison and Tyler
were reluctant to incite a sectional conflict
over slavery
President Polk campaigns as an expansionist
and welcomes Texas as the 28th state in 1845
Mexico responds to annexation by recalling
its ambassador from Washington D.C.
•Origins
•War
•Mexican
Cession
•California
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John Slidell is dispatched to Mexico to
peacefully acquire CA and NM
 He is denied access to Mexican officials
Disputed Zone: Rio Grande v. Nueces
River
Polk dispatches U.S. troops led by General
Zachary Taylor to the Disputed Zone
Polk: “American blood has been shed on
American soil”
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Kearney’s March (1846)
 800 miles, KA-NM
 Takes New Mexico without a shot
Mexico defeated at Veracruz (3/1847)
 Amphibious landing
General Scott marches to Mexico City (9/1847)
Wilmot Proviso
 PA Congressman proposes banning slavery
in territories acquired from Mexico
 Passes the House but Calhoun kills it in the
Senate
 “Property rights”
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Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848)
 Settled the boundary between Mexico and
Texas at the Rio Grande
 Gave the U.S. territory known as Mexican
Cession in exchange for $15 million
 Modern day: CA, NV, NM, UT, AZ*, CO*,
WY*
U.S. guarantees it will respect the property
rights of Mexican inhabitants (it won’t)
The Gadsden Purchase (1853)
 $10 million
 South of the Gila River (AZ, NM)
 Transcontinental railroad
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Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848)
 Settled the boundary between Mexico and
Texas at the Rio Grande
 Gave the U.S. territory known as Mexican
Cession in exchange for $15 million
 Modern day: CA, NV, NM, UT, AZ*, CO*,
WY*
U.S. guarantees it will respect the property
rights of Mexican inhabitants (it won’t)
The Gadsden Purchase (1853)
 $10 million
 South of the Gila River (AZ, NM)
 Transcontinental railroad