Westward Expansion James K Westward Expansion James K. Polk The War with Mexico California Gold Rush

Americans Head West Trappers first head west looking for fur Land Speculators- bought large areas of land and then divided it up and sold it to settlers Santa Fe Trail- from Independence, Missouri to Santa Fe, New Mexico. They found silver and gold. Very profitable

Americans Head West Oregon Trail- from Independence, Missouri to the Oregon Territory. Riches and resources of the land attracted many settlers

Americans Head West The Mormon Trail- led by Brigham Young. Mormons fled religious persecution and established Salt Lake City, Utah.

James K. Polk 11th president Democrat “dark horse” candidate Committed to national expansion

James K. Polk Manifest Destiny- the belief that the U.S. was destined to stretch across the continent from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. Polk agrees to split the Oregon Territory in half with Great Britain. This is still the border today between U.S. and Canada.

The War with Mexico 1845- Congress admits Texas as a slave state Mexico still claims TX and there is dispute over the border. U.S. thinks the border is the Rio Grande River and Mexico believes it is the Nueces River.

The War with Mexico Polk orders General Zachary Taylor to station troops at the Rio Grande River Mexico sends troops to attack Americans Congress declares war Mixed reaction from U.S.- slave states support war, free states do not

The War with Mexico U.S. easily captures New Mexico and California Fighting in Mexico was very bloody Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo- TX was part of U.S. with Rio Grande as border, Mexico gave U.S. half its land including CA, NM, CO, WY, AZ, UT, NV, and U.S. paid Mexico $15 million

California Gold Rush Gold was discovered in CA Thousands of 49ers- someone who went to CA to find gold Few miners grew rich because it was difficult to find gold and supplies were expensive. Many immigrants, especially Chinese, came to CA

California Gold Rush Impact of the Gold Rush 1. San Francisco became center of banking, manufacturing, shipping, trade 2. Sacramento- productive farming 3. Population exploded 4. Thousands of Native Americans died from diseases 5. California became a state