Growth: Westward Expansion Outline
John O’Sullivan: “The nation of many nations is destined to manifest to mankind the exvellence of divine principles…Who then can doubt that our country is destined to be the great nation of futurity?”
**So how would the U.S. manifest (show or fulfill) their destiny?**
(Through treaties, settlement and war!)
Manifest Destiny: The belief that the United States would spread from the Atlantic coast the Pacific
Ocean
Proclamation of 1763: issued by King George III after the French & Indian War stating that settlers could not settle past the line drawn at the Appalachian Mountains
Treaty of Paris 1783: ended the French and Indian War between Great Britain and France; France gave up all of its mainland territories in North America ending any foreign military threat to the British colonies there
Louisiana Purchase 1803: 530 million acres purchased from France in 1803 for $15 million. Doubled the size of the U.S. Jefferson sent James Monroe to France in 1803 with an offer to buy New Orleans for
$7.5 million but instead Napolean signed a treaty giving Louisiana to the U.S. for $15 million. This was the first opportunity for expansion in the early 1800s—we went after this land because we wanted to control the Port of New Orleans in order to ship crops/goods to market.
The Corps of Discovery: Expedition of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark and 40 men. They were sent to find the source of the Red and Missouri Rivers. Went to Oregon between 1804 and 1806. The main point of the expedition was to make friendly contact with the Indian groups who might be willing to trade. They also wanted to find the Northwest Passage (waterway across North America) and to see what we had bought in the Louisiana Purchase.
Zebulon Pike: Pike and a group of men were sent to find the source of the Red and Missouri Rivers.
Authorized by the U.S. government because they wanted to explore the south and west of the recent
Louisiana Purchase. Pike’s Peak in Colorado was named after him.
**Setting Borders**
Northern Border:
-Rush-Bagot Agreement (1817): Set rules to sizes of navies in the Great Lakes
-Treaty of 1818: set northern border at 49 degrees latitude

-Adams-Onis Treaty: ceded Florida to the U.S.
The Missouri Compromise:
-Is slavery legal in the western territories? (refer to maps in the power point)
-It was a federal statute in the U.S. that regulated slavery in the western territories. It prohibited slavery in the Louisiana territory north of the parallel 36 degrees 30’ north, except within the boundaries of the proposed state of Missouri.
Mountain Men: trapped animals for fur in the Rockies. Lived hard and died young. Lots of dangers in their jobs. Pioneered the Oregon and California trails.
Pioneer Women: cooked, cleaned, and raised children on the way West. They started schools, churches, libraries and charities where they settled. The freedom and sense of equality that women had in the west helped it spread nationwide (like voting).
The Mormons: 1 st Americans to settle the Great Basin. Biggest legacy is their faith, from it’s center in
Salt Lake City, it now has more than 11 million members
Forty Niner’s: people who went to California in the goldrush, because of this by 1850 California had enough people to become the first state in the far West
Oregon Trail: 2,200 mile wagon route that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon; laid by fur trappers and traders
-James K. Polk’s campaign slogan: “54’40” or Fight!”
-The U.S. signed a treaty in 1846 setting the Oregon border at 49 degrees latitude after his election
-Polk promised that he would not rest until the U.S. had annexed all of Oregon Territory
-Russia agreed to limit its claim to the territory that lay north of the 54 degrees 40’ parallel of latitude—southern border of Alaska
Texas Independence:
-Texas wins independence from Mexico on April 21, 1836 at the Battle of San Jacinto. It became the Republic of Texas from 1836-1849. James K. Polk promised to annex Texas if elected in 1844.
-There were concerns over annexing Texas: it was below the Missouri Compromise line making it a slave state AND the U.S. did not want war with Mexico.

Troubles with Mexico:
-Zachary Taylor: “Old Rough and Ready”, sent by President Polk to guard the border at the Rio
Grande; on April 25, 1847 a group of Mexican soldiers ambushed Taylor’s troops wounding 16 American soldiers.
The Mexican-American War:
-CAUSES: Polk sent representatives to Mexico to try and buy the territories of California and
New Mexico but Mexican officials refused to even see them; Congress voted to annex Texas and Mexico saw this as an act of war—Mexico and Texas could also not agree on a border; then on April 25, 1846
Mexican soldiers ambushed Taylor’s troops and 2 days later Polk declared war
-EFFECTS: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
-“Mexico has passed the boundary of the United States, has invaded our territory, and shed
American blood upon American soil.” –President Polk
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo:
-ends the Mexican War
-Mexican Cession: the US gains land that is in the modern-day states of New Mexico, California,
Nevada, Utah, Arizona and parts of Colorado and Wyoming.
-Mexico is paid $15 million
-The US agrees to protect Mexicans who are already living in those territories
The Gadsden Purchase 1853:
-Strip of land south of the Mexican Cession
-The U.S. paid $10 million to Mexico
-set borders of the contiguous U.S. at its current borders
-wanted this land because it was flat and could serve as a good railroad route