Unit 2: Westward Expansion 9.30.15

Color & label your map with the names & dates of land acquisitions You’ll need 8 different colors You have 10 minutes!

What is this a map of?

Unit 2: Westward Expansion Essential Question: How did Americans justify Westward Expansion?

Major Expansion Events US Expansion of Territory: 1846-1848 Mexican- American War We win, Mexico loses. Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo: US gets 500,000 miles (sq.) of Mexican Territory 1846- England and US divide Orgen Territory, Draw current US/Canada Border 1845- US annexation of Texas from Mexico 1803-France sold Louisiana territory. US gains Mississippi River, doubles in size States Gained: CA, NV, UT, AZ, NM (parts of CO & WY)

Definition manifest: clear or obvious destiny: fate Manifest Destiny: the 19th-century doctrine or belief that the expansion of the US throughout the American continents was both justified and inevitable

“American Progress” Painted in 1873 by John Gast.

Evidence #2: John Melish Map

Evidence #2: Melish Map To present the country this way was desirable . . . The map shows at a glance the whole extent of the United States territory from sea to sea. In tracing the probable expansion of the human race from east to west, the mind finds an agreeable resting place on its western limits. The view is complete, and leaves nothing to be wished for. It also adds to the beauty and symmetry of the map. Source: John Melish. Map of the United States with the contiguous British and Spanish Possessions. Philadelphia, 1816.

Evidence #4 John O’Sullivan, "The Great Nation of Futurity," 1839. What does John O’Sullivan think America stands for? What, according to John O’Sullivan, is America’s mission?

Evidence #4 John O’Sullivan, “Annexation,” July 1845. What do you think John O’Sullivan means by “our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions”? Based on these two documents, how did Americans feel about expanding westward?