1. Texas & the Mexican-American War

2. Immigration to Texas
Americans begin to expand and settle in Texas (Spanish Territory)
Stephen Austin leads settlers
Spanish accept settlers on three conditions
1. Convert to Catholicism
2. Become Mexican citizens
3. Outlaw Slavery

3. Expansion & Conflict in Texas
Why did Mexico want Americans to settle in Texas?
To help defend and develop the province economically
Why did Americans want to settle in Texas?
Abundant, cheap, fertile land with a small population

4. 1835 30,000 Americans settle in Texas (outnumber Mexicans 6 to 1)
DO NOT observe Mexican laws
Leads to Rebellion

5. Texas Revolution ( )

6. Texas Revolution American colonists rebel
Declare the “Republic of Texas”
Mexico declares war

7. What brought American settlers into conflict with the Mexican government?
They did not convert to Roman Catholicism (remained Protestants) & they ignored Mexico’s ban on slavery
What happened at the Alamo?
Texas rebelled against Mexican rule
Santa Anna attacks the Alamo to put down the rebellion
12 days of fighting, Mexico wins, then kills every prisoner; “Remember the Alamo!”

8. Texas as a “Nation”

9. Why was the U.S. at first reluctant to annex Texas?
Northern Democrats did not want to add another big, powerful slave state

10. James K. Polk’s Platform
Pro Annexation of Texas and Oregon
“54/40 or Fight”
Campaign Slogan
Expansionist Policies
4 nations claimed Oregon (Russia, USA, Spain, Britain)
Supported Manifest Destiny

11. What promises did Polk make to help him win the election (of 1844)?
To make Northern Democrats happy, he promises to get all of Oregon from Great Britain or go to war; *“54-40 or Fight!”*
54 Line
Why did Polk need to satisfy the interests of Northerners specifically?

12. What did Polk do that left many Northern Democrats feeling betrayed?
To avoid war with Great Britain, Polk compromised on Oregon in order to fight Mexico (British kept what became British Columbia)

13. Annexation of Texas (1845)
10 days after inauguration Polk annexes Texas
“We have always owned it”

14. The Mexican American War
WHY?
Land Hunger
Annexation
Mexico Insulted
Manifest Destiny

15. The Border Dispute
Polk moves the Texas border south to the Rio Grande (150 miles south of the original border)
Offers Mexico $30 million for New Mexico and California (Mexico insulted)
Mexico prepares for war

16. Outbreak Polk enforces the southern border with American troops
1846 – Mexican troops cross the Rio Grande
17 Americans Die
Congress Declares War

17. Heroes of the War
Many junior lieutenants of the War eventually become leaders in the next war.
Leaders include: Zachary Taylor, Winfield Scott
Upcoming leaders include: Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, Stonewall Jackson, George Meade, James Longstreet, etc.

18. What formally ended the Mexican-American War?
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
(Mexican Cession)
US adds 1.2 million square miles
Mexico was humiliated by the treaty, bitter toward US for many years

19. Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo (1848)
Mexican Cession – Mexico cedes Texas (with Rio Grande Border), California and New Mexico
USA pays $15 million for territories
½ of what Polk originally offered
US gains land covering Texas New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada and parts of Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming

20. How is this further contributing to
US added more territory with the Gadsden Purchase (1853)
Bought from Mexico, consisted of the southern parts of Arizona & New Mexico
Needed to run transcontinental RR
How is this further contributing to
Manifest Destiny?

21. What issue continued to divide the nation?
SLAVERY, and its expansion
Whig Congressman David Wilmot proposes the Wilmot Proviso:
Proposed law would ban slavery in all lands won from Mexico
Law DID NOT pass
Lands won from Mexico increased North/South tensions
Proposed in Congress for 15 more years
Why do you think the Wilmot Proviso didn’t pass?

22. Election of 1848 Gen. Zachary Taylor (Whig, LA) wins narrow election
*Last president to own slaves during his term

23. “Old Rough and Ready”
*Dies after 16 months in office
*Food Poisoning