Chapter 13
APUSH
Mrs. Price
“Success is a journey, not a
destination. The doing is often
more important than the
outcome.” Arthur Ashe
Manifest Destiny
America was
destined by God
to expand
 Name given by
John O’Sullivan

“Manifest Destiny”
 ".... the right of our manifest destiny to over spread
and to possess the whole of the continent which
Providence has given us for the development of the
great experiment of liberty and federaltive
development of self-government entrusted to us. It is
right such as that of the tree to the space of air and
the earth suitable for the full expansion of its
principle and destiny of growth."
 A myth of the West as a land of romance
and adventure emerged.
Texas
1820s: Mexican Govt encourages
American immigration
 1824: colonization law – promised cheap
land & 4 yr exemption from taxes
 Most settlers were Southerners: cotton &
slaves
 By 1830: 7000 Americans (twice # of
Mexicans)

Stephen Austin
Established 1st
American settlement
in TX (1822)
 Worked as
intermediary
 Intermediaries
created power centers
that competed with
Mexican govt

1830s: Tensions increase
1830: Mexican laws barring new American
immigration (dropped in 1833)
 By 1835: 30,000 Americans in TX
 Americans keep economic & cultural ties
to US; wanted to legalize slavery
 Some settlers want independence

General Santa Anna
Santa Anna seizes power
- Dictator
- puts Austin in jail
 conflict increases with settlers: fighting
breaks out in TX in 1835
 1836: American settlers declared
independence


Santa Anna led army
into Texas
- Americans
disorganized
- American defeats at
Alamo & Goliad
General Sam Houston
April 1836: Battle of
San Jacinto: defeat of
Mexico & capture of
Santa Anna
 Santa Anna signs
treaty giving Texas its
independence

Texas
Most Texans want annexation by US
 Americans are divided
 President Jackson, Van Buren, & Harrison
don’t support annexation
 Texas is annexed Feb 1845 after it
becomes the issue of the 1844 election

Election of 1844
James Polk (D)
 Henry Clay (Whig)
 Polk wins (170 to
105 electoral votes)

Mexican War
When Texas becomes a state, Mexico
breaks off diplomatic relations with US
 Texas boundary dispute
- Texas: Rio Grande is boundary
- Mexico: Nueces River is boundary

President Polk accepts Texas claim
 Polk sends Z. Taylor & troops to protect
Texas
 Polk sends J. Slidell to buy disputed land;
offer was rejected
 Jan 13, 1846: Polk orders Taylor’s army to
move across Nueces River to Rio Grande
 Some Mexican troops crossed Rio Grande
& attacked unit of Americans
 May 1846: Polk asks for declaration of war

Mexican War
Controversial
War
 Conflict
spreads to
California
 War ends when
US captures
Mexico City

Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo
Feb 1848
 Mexico gives up CA & NM
 Agrees that Rio Grande is boundary of TX
 US pays Mexico $15 million

Results of the Mexican War
17 month war cost $100 million & over
13,000 American lives (mostly of disease)
 New territories were brought into the
Union which increased tensions over
slavery
 Created 2 popular Whig generals who ran
for President
 Manifest Destiny partially realized

Oregon
Both US & Britain claimed sovereignty
 1818 treaty: joint occupation
 1820s & 1830s: US interest grew – more
Americans than British by 1840
 1846: British accept Polk’s proposal to
divide territory at 49th parallel
 54’40 or Fight!

Westward Migration
Between 1840-1860: 300,000 moved west
 For farming, mining, or lumbering
 Typically left from IA or MO
 Oregon Trail or Santa Fe Trail
 Most journeys lasted 5-6 months (15 miles
per day)
 Indians more helpful than dangerous

Slavery & the Territories

Wilmot Proviso (1846)
- Prohibited slavery in new territories
- Passed House but failed in Senate
Other Proposals
Polk: extend the MO Compromise line to
west coast
 Popular sovereignty (squatter sovereignty)
 Led to creation of new parties: Free Soil &
Republican

New Parties
Free Soil Party
 Discontented
Northern Democrats
 Anti-slave members
of the Liberty & Whig
parties
 Opposed to extension
of slavery in new
territories




Republican Party
Northern Whigs
Northern Democrats
Know-Nothings
Opponents of KansasNebraska Act
Election of 1848
Compromise of 1850
California asked to become a state in 1849
 Equal balance 15 free to 15 slave
 Compromise has something for free &
slave states

Free/North
 CA admitted as free
state
 Slave trade is
outlawed in
Washington, D.C.
Slave/South
 Fugitive Slave Law:
slave owners get more
power to reclaim
escaped slaves
 Slavery is protected in
D.C.
Compromise of 1850 cont.
Compromise is drafted by Clay but
Douglas gets it passed
 Many Northerners refuse to comply with
Fugitive Slave Law

Election of 1852
Franklin Pierce (D)
 Winfield Scott (W)
 John Hale (Free Soil)
 Pierce won – avoided divisive issues

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)
Objective: to survey & settle land in Great
Plains in order to build a transcontinental
railroad
 Gadsen Purchase: $10 million for land
from Mexico (part of AZ & NM)
 Douglas wanted it to go through Chicago

Parts
Divided Nebraska Territory into Kansas &
Nebraska Territories
 Repealed MO Compromise
 Slavery would be decided by territorial
legislature (popular sovereignty)

Effects
Divided Northern Democrats
 Helped to create Republican Party (1854)
 Divided & destroyed Whig Party
 Bleeding Kansas

“Bleeding Kansas”
Border
“Ruffians”
(pro-slavery
Missourians)
Bleeding Kansas
White settlers began pouring into Kansas
 Pro-slavery supporters attacked
antislavery town of Lawrence
 John Brown & followers murdered 5
slavery supporters (Pottawatomie
Massacre)

John Brown: Madman or Martyr?
Violent
abolitionist
 Wanted to lead a
slave revolt by
raising an army of
freed slaves

Harpers Ferry
Brown & followers
attacked US
Ammunition depot
to capture
weapons
 Oct 1859
 Unsuccessful &
captured by US
military led by Lee

Trial of John
Brown
•He was found guilty of
treason and sentenced to
death.
•His last words were to this
effect: “I believe that the
issue of slavery will never
be solved unless through
the shedding of blood.”
Lecompton Constitution
1857: Pro slavery supporters wrote state
constitution legalizing slavery (KS)
 President Buchanan pressured Congress to
accept
 Rejected by Congress & Kansas voters

Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857)
Slave who sued for
his freedom
 S. Court ruled
- Scott was not a
citizen & could not
sue
- MO Compromise
was
unconstitutional

http://www.montereyinstitute.org/courses/AP US History I/course
files/multimedia/lesson34/lessonp.html?showTopic=2
•Supreme Court hands
down the Dred Scott
decision
•North refused to enforce
Fugitive Slave Law
•Free states pass personal
liberty laws.
•Republicans claim the
decision is not binding
•Southerners call on the
North to accept the decision
if the South is to remain in
the Union.
Chart/Effect of Scott
•Slaves cannot sue the U.S. for
their freedom because they are
property.
•They are not citizens and have
no legal right under the
Constitution.
•Supreme Court legalized slavery
by saying that
•Congress could not stop a
slaveowner from moving his
slaves to a new territory
•Missouri Compromise and all
other compromises were
unconstitutional
Election of 1860
Democrats split
- Northern wing: Douglas
- Southern wing: John Breckinridge
 Constitutional Union Party: John Bell (exWhigs)
 Republicans: Lincoln
 Lincoln wins (39% popular vote)
