Hist 110 American Civilization I Instructor: Dr. Donald R. Shaffer Upper Iowa University

Lecture 13a Manifest Destiny and its Costs By the early 19 th century, Americans were expanding with a sense of mission Manifest Destiny: the belief that U.S. expansion westward was inevitable, just, and divinely foreordained Term coined by John L. O’Sullivan in 1845, but the idea already existed American expansion came at a price, paid by Native Americans and whoever else was in the way of settlement It became the policy of the Jackson administration to remove all Native Americans east of the Mississippi River The Indian Removal Act affected all the eastern tribes, but most famously led to the forced removal of the so-called Five Civilized tribes from the Southeast along what became known as the Trail of Tears Basic policy of Indian removal continued under successor administrations Completion of the Trans- Continental Railroad 1869 Trail of Tears 1830s John L. O’Sullivan

Lecture 13a From Tejas to Texas U.S. citizens entered Mexican province of Tejas in the 1820s under the Austin family, with Mexican permission Mexico hoped they would help solidify their control over the area They were followed by numerous uninvited American settlers who the Mexican government unsuccessfully sought to ban in 1830 In the 1836, Americans in Tejas joined with some Tejanos in rebelling against the central Mexican government Mexican President Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana led troops to crush the rebellion He initially defeated the Americans at the Alamo and Goliad, before losing the war at the Battle of San Jacinto The Americans in Texas requested annexation to the U.S., but were rejected by the Van Buren administration In response, they founded the Republic of Texas

Lecture 13a The Oregon Country Americans also were interested in the Oregon Country, a region encompassing present day Oregon, Washington State, Idaho, and British Columbia This area was claimed by both the U.S, and Great Britain—dividing it was obvious U.S. wanted the 49 th parallel as the boundary British sought a Columbia River boundary Both nations agreed to joint occupation The were few Europeans in this area except some fur traders until the “Oregon Fever” of the early 1840s brought several thousand American settlers there This gave the U.S. a stronger claim Oregon became an issue in the 1844 campaign, as Democrats demanded the entire Oregon Country and threatened war with the slogan “54 o 40’ or fight” The Democrats won in 1844, but their candidate, James K. Polk, really did not want to go to war with Britain over Oregon In the end he accepted a British offer to split the territory at the 49 th parallel

Territorial expansion was the paramount issue in 1844 election The controversy of the Oregon Country was overshadowed by Texas, and American designs on the Mexican provinces of New Mexico and Alta California Both candidates favored the annexation of Texas, but many northern Whigs opposed it fearing Texas would increase the national power of slaveholders Polk won the electoral college, Lame Duck president John Tyler saw his victory as a referendum in favor Texas annexation and pushed a joint resolution through Congress which accomplished it Polk as president settled with the British over Oregon to concentrate American strength to obtain further territory from Mexico He hoped to obtain New Mexico and Alta California peacefully, but was prepared to use force, which in the end he did leading to the outbreak of the Mexican War in April 1846 Lecture 13a The Election of 1844 James K. Polk Democrat Henry Clay Whig

Lecture 13a Mexican War Polk provoked war with Mexico by sending U.S. troops into a disputed region between the Nueces and Rio Grande rivers From the Mexican perspective the U.S. Army had invaded their country, so they attacked Zachary Taylor defeated this attack and then marched south with his army into Mexico, defeating the Mexicans at Monterey and Buena Vista In the mean time, U.S. forces seized New Mexico and California Winfield Scott ended the war with an amphibious invasion at Vera Cruz, marching inland to capture Mexico City Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo (1848) Mexico ceded 525,000 sq. miles for $15 million, plus U.S. assuming claims of American citizens against Mexico

While the Mexican War was a tremendous military victory for the U.S. it upset a carefully maintained domestic political truce over slavery Wilmot Proviso: even as the war was just getting under way, David Wilmot of Pennsylvania proposed in Congress an amendment to prohibit slavery from any territory gained from Mexico While the amendment failed, it revived the issue of slavery in the West Election of 1848 Slavery in the territories the overriding issue Lewis Cass (Democrat): Popular Sovereignty Zachary Taylor (Whig) Martin Van Buren (Free Soil) Van Buren drew away enough votes from Cass to elect Zachary Taylor Lecture 13a Aftermath of the Mexican War David Wilmot Lewis Cass Zachary TaylorMartin Van Buren