Www.erhsnyc.org



Territorial Expansion: From 1803 to 1850, the U.S. expanded to its present continental boundaries. This expansion took place in several stages.

Manifest Destiny: the conviction that the U.S. had a divine mission to expand in order to spread the ideals of freedom and democracy

• What stood in the way of MD? GB claims to Oregon and Mexican claims to California. Also the people actually in possession of those western lands, Native Americans and Mexicans, viewed things differently

o In the early1830s: A Native American rebellion against settlers in Ill and Wisc territories was defeated by Ill militia and Native Americans were forced to move west of Mississippi River

o 1851: Treaty of Fort Laramie gave Native Americans control of much of the Great Plains. Where are the Great Plains? In return, Native Americans agreed not to attack settlers as they moved West & allowed gov’t to build forts and roads. U.S. didn’t honor treaty.

• Expansion increased national pride but by raising serious questions about slavery, also contributed to growing sectional tensions

• Who moved west first? Explorers, naturalists, trappers, traders and missionaries. Next, trailblazers and settlers who traveled westward along routes such as the Santa Fe and the Oregon Trails.

o Reasons for Santa Fe Trail: Trade route between Independence, MO and Santa Fe, NM. Cloth, guns and knives traded for silver, gold and furs

o Reasons for Oregon Trail: Independence, MO to Portland, OR. Mormons, led by Brigham Young, used this trail and settled at the remote Great Salt Lake in 1846, in order to escape religious persecution.

• Most settlers chose more prosperous lands in the far West, leaving the Great Plains to be settled only after the 1860s.

Lands Acquired between 1783-1853:

1. Louisiana Purchase (1803): This huge territory was acquired by France for $15million. President Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore this land in 1803. The information and maps they brought back contributed to expansion into this territory.

2. Florida (1819): This territory was acquired by treaty from Spain. In the Adams-Onis treaty, Spain also gave up its claims to the Pacific Northwest in return for the U.S. giving up its claims to Texas

3. Texas (1845): The U.S. acquired Texas and what is now parts of New Mexico, Oklahoma, Colorado, Wyoming and Kansas from Mexico by annexation.

Background: The Spanish had long established missions and settlements in Texas. After Mexico declared its independence from Spain in 1821, Mexico loosened trade restrictions with the U.S. and encouraged settlement in Texas. Therefore southern slaveholders and other American settlers moved into Texas under land grants where they promised to obey Mexican laws and practice Roman Catholicism. American settlers soon outnumbered Spanish-speaking Texans & Americans established a colony in Texas. Stephen Austin was the leader. During this time Presidents John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson both offered to buy Texas but Mexico refused to sell.

Things change in 1830, when Mexico banned U.S. settlers. Why would Mexico have a problem with U.S. settlers in their country? (They spoke English, remained Protestant, brought slaves with them breaking Mexican ban on slavery). In 1834 Stephen Austin convinced Mexican leaders to lift the ban. Once again, huge numbers of U.S. settlers come streaming in.

When Austin went to Mexico City to see the Mexican president Santa Anna, Santa Anna threw Austin in jail. Once freed, he went to TX to call for Texans to arm themselves. After that, Santa Anna led an army to San Antonio to force Texans to obey Mexican law. War broke out in 1835 (the Texan Revolution).

Alamo: Mission in San Antonio was defended by a small group of U.S. forces. For 12 days, Santa Anna and his troops attacked rebels there. Mexicans finally captured the Alamo, killing all 187 Americans. During the battle for the Alamo, Texans met and declared independence. “Remember the Alamo!” became their battle cry. Sam Houston was the commander of Texas forces.

In 1836, the settlers declared independence from Mexico and created the republic of Texas. Sam Houston became president of Texas. Texas was not recognized by Mexico but France and Great Britain recognized Texas’ new status. Texas had an army, navy, falg.

Soon, Texas requested admission to the Union and joined as a slave state in 1845 when Polk was president. This further angered Mexico.

4. Oregon Country (1846): What is now Oregon, Washington, Idaho and parts of Montana and Wyoming, was gained from Great Britain in a compromise that continued the northern border set at the 49th parallel all the way to the coast.

Background: In 1844, James K. Polk, Democratic presidential candidate, called for the entire Oregon Territory to become part of the U.S. – his campaign slogan was 54-50 or fight! This referred to the northern limit of the territory. Britain was interested in the territory mainly b/c of beaver furs. Eventually, beaver hats went out of style and as a result, GB lost interest in this land and the U.S. claimed the land as theirs. Established current border with Canada.

5. Mexican Cession (1848): What is now California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona and parts of New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming became part of the U.S. by the Treaty of Guadelupe Hidalgo, which ended the Mexican War (1846-1848). The Mexican War erupted in part because of Mexican objections to the Texas annexation and a dispute over the border between Texas and Mexico. President James Polk’s outspoken desires to acquire California and the Southwest made it difficult to ease tensions with Mexico. After war broke out, national opinion was divided. Expansionists welcomed an opportunity to acquire more land. Northerners feared the future addition of more slave states. Some, such as Abraham Lincoln, saw it as a “war of conquest, others saw it as fulfilling “Manifest Destiny.”

6. Gadsden Purchase (1853): This piece of land in southern Arizona and New Mexico was purchased from Mexico as a possible RR route.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download