Manifest Destiny
Early Exploration: The Lewis and
Clark Expedition, 1804-1806
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In 1803, President Jefferson secretly
asked Congress to commission an
exploratory expedition across the
western United States.
The Corps of Discovery, led by
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark,
was the first overland expedition to the
Pacific coast and back.
Jefferson's vision was of expanding the
"empire of liberty" and populating it
with self-sufficient families and
farmers.
After Lewis and Clark, a number of
other government-sponsored
expeditions were initiated to ascertain
the wild territories of the West.
Lewis and Clark’s Route
Manifest Destiny: The Ideology of
Expansionism
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Americans grappled with the question
of what to do with the Mexican and
Native American people to be displaced
by migration.
The US risked conflict with nations that
had claim to land in North America.
Some desired the capacity for expanded
trade with Asia, others were compelled
to spread "civilization" and Christianity.
Southern Democrats supported the
addition of agrarian territories, while
Northern Whigs feared the expansion of
slavery.
The belief that it was the nation’s Godgiven right to expand according to its
needs was encompassed in the slogan,
"Manifest Destiny.”
President Polk and Westward
Expansion
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During the presidential campaign of
1844, Democratic nominee James K.
Polk called for American expansion
westward.
He interpreted his election, though he
only won by a narrow margin, as an
endorsement of his expansionist
position.
In his inaugural address (1845), he
spent considerable time defending U.S.
expansion as a means of creating and
preserving a more powerful Union.
The Overland Trails
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Wagon ruts from the Oregon Trail,
visible today in Idaho
The seven month, 2,000 mile
journey from Missouri to the coast
was expensive and hazardous.
Though many travelers were
anxious about the possibility of
conflict with Native Americans, the
most deadly hazards to travelers
were accidents and disease.
Life on the trail was tedious, with
each wagon moving at a pace of
about 15 miles per day.
Oregon was the major destination
of migrants until 1848, when the
discovery of gold in California
diverted the stream of settlers
southward.
The Overland Trails
The U.S. expanded rapidly in the nineteenth
century
Oregon Country
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Beginning in 1818, Britain and the United States jointly occupied Oregon Country.
Oregon's population of British, French, Native American, and Hawaiian trappers and
entrepreneurs frequently formed mixed-race families until the 1840's.
When "Oregon fever" swept thousand of white Americans into the Willamette Valley,
the new settlers adopted polices that excluded non-white emigrants.
The Oregon Treaty of 1846 established the border between Canada and the U.S. at the
forty-ninth parallel, despite President Polk's 1844 campaign slogan, "Fifty-four Forty,
or Fight!"
Oregon became a state in 1859.
California: The Golden State
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The U.S. acquired California from
Mexico in 1848 with the Treaty of
Guadalupe Hidalgo.
California attracted people from all
over the U.S. and the world with the
discovery of gold later that year.
Merchants who came to outfit, house,
feed and entertain the exploding
population had a better chance of
profiting than those who came to pan
the streams and rivers.
Most miners were young men. The
transitory mining camps were often rife
with crime.
California became a state in 1850.
Chinese Immigration During the
Gold Rush
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Thousands of Chinese workers immigrated to California during the gold rush.
Though it was one of the most ethnically diverse regions of the country, the Chinese
were subject to discrimination.
They were relegated to doing the most menial labor.
In 1852, they became subject to a tax on foreign miners.
In 1882, Chinese immigration was outlawed with the Chinese Exclusion Act.
Territorial Expansion, 1830-1860
1830
Territorial Expansion, 1830-1860
1850
Territorial Expansion, 1830-1860
1860
Citations
Slide 2: http://www.voyageofrediscovery.com/part3/historical/index.shtml
Slide 3: http://www.lib.ndsu.nodak.edu/collections/exhibits/images/maps/New-Map-of-Route-ofLewisCl.jpg
Slide 4: http://www.vw.vccs.edu/vwhansd/HIS121/images/Manifest%20Destiny.jpg
Slide 5: http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/lincoln-resolutions/images/polk-portrait.gif
Slide 6: http://education.boisestate.edu/compass/Kidscompass/Imagesbown/Oregon_Trail_Now.jpg
Slide 7: http://www.neiu.edu/~ejhowens/377/examples/westward.jpg
Slide 8: http://oregonstate.edu/~wilsomar/Assets/ArtistsCap.jpg
Slide9: http://www.empire.k12.ca.us/capistrano/Mike/capmusic/the_wild_west/gold_rush/jb_18291859_subj_e.jpg
Slide 10: http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/three/63_02.htm
Slide11:
http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/faculty/hodgson/Courses/City/Turner/maps2/US_Terr_1830.jpg
Slide 12: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/united_states/us_terr_1850.jpg
Slide13:
http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/faculty/hodgson/Courses/City/Turner/maps2/US_Terr_1860.jpg
Slide 14: