Manifest Destiny The US moves west...

Trails West ❖ Started by fur trappers and hunters looking for the best routes through the Rocky Mountains ❖ The mountain men’s explorations provided Americans with some of the earliest firsthand knowledge of the Far West. ➢ This knowledge, and the trails the mountain men blazed, made it possible for later pioneers to move west.

The Lure of the West ★ The west had vast stretches of land that offered people a golden chance to make money ★ Manufacturers and merchants soon followed the settlers west. ○They hoped to earn money by making and selling items that farmers needed. ★ Other people made the trip to find jobs or to escape people to whom they owed money

The Different Trails ➢ Santa Fe Trail ○Leads from Missouri to Santa Fe, New Mexico. ○News spreads that New Mexico is where you went to get rich ○People follow and come in in large numbers ➢ Oregon Trail ○Runs from Independence, Missouri to the Oregon Territory ○First people to make the trip were missionaries ○“The sun always shone there. Wheat grew as tall as a man. Pigs were running about, round and fat, already cooked, with knives and forks sticking in them so you can cut off a slice whenever you were hungry” ○2,000 mile journey in which thousands made in the years to come ➢ Mormon Trail ○Mormons in upstate New York had many enemies ○ Brigham Young - new leader - moved his people to Utah ○Worked together to build a life out of the nothing that they found when they got there.

Everything is bigger in Texas Texas begins to revolt against Mexico Battle for the Alamo - In 1836, Texans defended a church called the Alamo against the Mexican Army; all but 5 Texans were killed. Showed the Mexicans we really meant business Lone Star Republic - Nickname of the republic of Texas in 1836 Texas raised a flag with a single star and claimed it was it’s own nation Texans considered themselves to be Americans but still many didn’t want to be part of the U.S. Many fear that annexing Texas would create a war with Mexico - so everything stayed as it was for 10 years...

What is Manifest Destiny? The belief that the United States was destined to stretch across the continent from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.

Troubles with Mexico ➔ It all starts with President James K. Polk ◆ Why is he so special? ➔ 1845 Congress admits Texas as a slave state in spite of Northern objections and the fact that Mexico still claimed Texas their own. ◆ Mexico sees this as an act of war ◆ Could not agree on an official border between them ➔ Mexico says it’s willing to fight to defend its claim ◆ Stations troops around the Rio Grande ➔ “Mexico has invaded our territory and shed American blood on American Soil” ◆ Declaration of War was made 2 days later

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo Mexico recognizes that Texas is part of the United States, and the Rio Grande was the border between the nations. Mexico also ceded a vast regions known as the Mexican Cession (present day states of California, Nevada, Utah, most of Arizona, and parts of New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming)

California Gold Rush ★ Now that we stretch from sea to shining sea people are coming from all over the world to explore. ★ Gold is found in California ★ All of a sudden people wanted to explore the west even more and get rich, rich, rich…