Chapter 13
Manifest Destiny: An Empire for Liberty or
Slavery?
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Territorial Expansion after 1840
 Growth became watchword of America
 Land acquired through annexation, negotiation, and war
 “Young America” movement and “Manifest Destiny”
 Relentless pressure on limits of Indian settlements
 Appeal of west as source of expansion
 Oregon and California were especially attractive
 Migration was mostly a male enterprise
 Mormon migration to Utah, 1847
Overland Trails
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Struggle over Texas Annexation
 At first, Mexican leaders encouraged U.S. settlement
in Texas
 Restrictions eventually imposed
 Texans declared and won their independence in 1836

Then petitioned for annexation to the United States
 Jackson, then Van Buren, refused to act on
annexation
 After assuming office upon Harrison’s death, Tyler
was ready to move
Struggle over Texas Annexation
(cont.)
 Annexation treaty negotiated

Defeated by northerners in Congress who opposed expanding
slavery
 Became an issue in election of 1844

Democrat James K. Polk ran on explicitly pro-annexationist
platform


Both Texas and Oregon
Polk won close election
 Tyler interpreted election as mandate for annexation and
submitted joint resolution to accomplish it

Texas became fifteenth slave state in March 1845
 Polk peacefully reached compromise with Britain over Oregon in
1846
The Mexican War
 Polk provoked to acquire California and New Mexico
 First sought to purchase territories from Mexico
 Buttress with show of force on Texas-Mexico border
 Questionable claims of territorial possession and
troop movements
 Declaration of war passed in May

Almost all Whigs supported, even though they had doubts
 War was stunning and complete American victory
The Mexican War (cont.)
 War generated significant opposition at home
 Whigs and northeasterners opposed
 Wilmot Proviso tried to prevent expansion of slavery into any
territory gained from Mexico


Defeated along party line vote in Congress
Framed national debate over slavery for next fifteen years
 Question of slavery made peace treaty with Mexico
difficult


U. S. Gained California, New Mexico, and favorable Texas
boundary
Paid Mexico $15 million in exchange
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Principal
Campaigns of
the Mexican
War, 18461847
Free and Slave States and Territories, 1848
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Election of 1848
 Many believed election would settle question of slavery in land
gained from Mexico
 Field of potential candidates was crowded

Livery Party opposed expansion of slavery and endorsed John P.
Hale
 John C. Calhoun articulated extreme states’ rights position
 James Buchanan was middle ground Democrat
 Lewis Cass championed “Popular sovereignty” concept
 Democrats nominated Cass
 Whigs went with Zachary Taylor

Antislavery Whigs bolted and joined Liberty Party
 Free-Soil Party created to oppose slavery, nominating Van
Buren
 Taylor won with solid southern support and some backing from
North
California Gold Rush and Statehood
 Discovery of gold accelerated timetable for territorial
organization

Complicated by questions of slavery


Southerners wanted unqualified access for slavery
Northerners opposed expansion of slavery into California
 Issue heated up even further when Taylor proposed
immediate statehood

Would have allowed for free state status, as slavery not then
present
Compromise of 1850
 Henry Clay sought to settle several outstanding
questions

Paired proposals to unite North and South




California as free state; rest of Mexican cession without
restrictions on slavery
Texas boundary settlement to favor New Mexico; assumption of
Texas debt
Abolish slave trade in DC; protect slavery there unless
Maryland and Virginia consented to abolition
Congress affirmed it had no jurisdiction over interstate slave
trade, strong fugitive slave law
Compromise of 1850 (cont.)
 Generated numerous speeches in Congress

Most notable from John c. Calhoun, Daniel Webster, William H.
Seward
 At first, various proposals were lumped together in one bill

Senators and representatives voted against it in order to kill parts
they disliked
 Stephen Douglas changed tactics and separated the various
components

Won support gradually, piece by piece
 Helped by death of Taylor and replacement by Millard Fillmore
 Not the final settlement its supporters had hoped for
Fugitive Slave Law
 Constitution provided for return of escaped slaves,
but controversy had always existed over how that
was to be accomplished


Antislavery movement hampered state compliance after the
1830s
Prigg v. Pennsylvania (1842) ruled that enforcement was
entirely a federal responsibility
 Some Northern states passed personal liberty laws to
prevent recapture of fugitive slaves
Fugitive Slave Law (cont.)


Northerners who did not necessarily oppose slavery opposed return
of fugitives
Southerners saw return as matter of honor and rights
 Law created extensive system for capturing and returning
runaways

Abolitionists vowed to resist
 Even non-abolitionists were shocked at reality of enforcing the law
 Led to writing of Uncle Tom’s Cabin in 1851; published in 1852

Runaway best-seller
 Wide but hostile readership in South
 Helped shape an entire generation’s view of slavery
Filibustering and the Quest for
Cuba
 Target of southern interest as target for expanding slavery
 Purchase offer in 1848 rejected by Spain
 Southerners sought to foster rebellion on the island

Several efforts in the 1850s failed
 Interest rekindled when Franklin Pierce entered White House in
21853

Another failed purchase effort
 Plan to wrest Cuba from Spain instead

Ostend Manifesto, 1854
– Generated international uproar and domestic furor
 Issue part of presidential campaign in 1860 and secessionist
crisis that followed
 South also interested in central America

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Exploits of William Walker in Nicaragua