Manifest Destiny
1800-1850
Manifest Destiny

Manifest Destiny – the belief that America
was destined to stretch across continent.



Southern expansionists & Northern abolitionists
saw opportunities to expand their power in
Congress
Manifest Destiny became gov’t policy under
James K. Polk (11th president)
Expansion came at the expense of Indians
and Mexicans
“American Progress” by John Gast, 1872
“Star of
Empire”
Carries a
schoolbook…
Buffalo & Indians are
driven into obscurity…
Lady Liberty
…and
telegraph wire
“The tools of
progress”
…as settlers move
westward
Americans Look Westward


1821 – Revolution overturned Spanish rule in
Mexico, U.S. recognized Mexico as a republic
American expansionists – those who favored U.S.
territorial growth – looked at Texas, New Mexico,
California as targets for American expansion
 Few people living there
 Rich in resources
 Mexican government and economy weak after
revolution
US Territorial Expansion
When?
•1776
A - 13 Original Colonies
From Where?
•Great Britain
Why?
•US declared
independence from
Great Britain
A
When?
•1783
US Territorial Expansion
B - Western Lands
From Where?
•Great Britain
Why?
•Part of results of
Treaty of Paris
(ended
Revolutionary War)
A
B
US Territorial Expansion
When?
•1803
From Where?
•France
C - Louisiana Purchase
Why?
•Napoleon needed $
•Jefferson wanted to
buy New Orleans
•He got all of this
instead!
C
A
B
When?
•1819
US Territorial Expansion
D - Florida
From Where?
•Spain
Why?
•Andrew Jackson
invaded
•Spain then sold it to
us for $5 million
C
A
B
D
When?
•1845
US Territorial Expansion
E - Texas
From Where?
•Republic of Texas (Independent
Country)
Why?
•Texas independent from Mexico in
1836
•Northerners feared it would become
a slave state
•Fears finally overcome in 1844
Presidential election
A
C
E
B
D
When?
US Territorial Expansion
•1846
From Where?
•Great Britain
Why?
F - Oregon Territory
F
C
•Claimed by four countries (G.
Britain, Russia, Spain, & US)
•Americans demanded “54° 40’
or fight!”
•Britain compromised 49° &
US accepted
E
A
B
D
When?
•1848
US Territorial Expansion
From Where?
•Mexico
G - Mexican Cession
F
Why?
•Polk offers to buy G from
Mexico & they refuse
•War!
•US wins
•In Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo, US offers $15
million for G
C
G
E
A
B
D
Obstacles




Technology
Indian Tribes
Law and Order
Forests had to be cleared to make way for
new cities- ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT?
Technology




Interchangeable Parts (1801)
Cotton Gin (1793) & McCormick Reaper
(1831) – accelerated farming
Steamboats (1807) & railroads (1850’s) –
provide faster movement of goods &
services
Telegraph (1837) – speeds up the pace of
business
Migration!


Different kinds of people move
westward than had done during the
1600’s/1700’s
Land Speculators overran the tribes
looking for quick profits & ignoring treaties
(which the gov’t also ignored)
• “The Law” (Gov’t, Police) follow the
criminals
• Religious Zealots - People who are
extremely religious
1. Sharing of Knowledge

Trappers like Jedediah Smith and Jim Bridger
explored the west taking beaver pelts
 Explored the Rockies
finding routes through
the mountains to the
west coast
 Shared knowledge of
routes with pioneers
Explorations of Jedediah Smith
Southern Route Protected Pioneers!
2. Trade with Other Countries


Mexican independence (1821) encouraged trade
Merchants from Missouri opened trade across Great
Plains with Santa Fe, capital of New Mexico
 Welcomed by
Mexico
 Trade moved along
what become known
as the Santa Fe Trail
3. Opportunities to Own Land

In 1836 missionaries Marcus and Narcissa
Whitman followed what would be the Oregon Trail
to the Willamette Valley in Oregon territory
 Founded Indian mission
at Walla Walla
 Later led wagon trains
to Oregon establishing
the trail as the way to
get to Oregon
 Killed by Cayuse Indians
in 1847
Oregon Trail
4. Religious Reasons

Mormons move west with the help of
Brigham Young



1847 Young led Mormon Exodus
to east shore of Great Salt Lake
Successful settlement
in desert
By 1860 over 40,000
Mormons in the West
5. Land Speculation

Some Americans wanted to take away rich
lands from Natives


Louisiana Purchase (1803) legitimized
expansion
Speculators saw Natives as savages and not
worthy of the land
The Results??

Wagons West – trains of 10 to 100 wagons
moved settlers the 2000 miles from Missouri to
Oregon or California
 260,000 Americans
made the trip
 Trip took 5 months
 Donner Party (cannibalism)
showed the danger
 Those that made it
got better farms
A Massive Migration

Census reports record
the new movement
westward (1800-1840)




Ohio: 50,000-1.5 million
Illinois: 12,000-500,000
Alabama: 22,000-127,000
By 1837, the number of
states doubled to 26

Michigan, Ohio, Illinois,
Kentucky, Alabama,
Tennessee, Mississippi,
Indiana
Effects on Nation

Events directly affected by “Manifest
Destiny”
1. Indian Wars and Removal (1830’s)
2. The Alamo (1835)
3. Mexican War (1846)
4. Gold Rush (1849)
5. Reliance on slavery spins nation into Civil War
(1861)