1. Chapter 13 Pages
The painting is titled, American Progress. John Gast’s painting is the embodiment of Manifest Destiny

2. Manifest Destiny: South and North
God-given right to expand from coast to coast
Started with City on a Hill from the 1600s
The term was used by John O’Sullivan
Oregon:
Joint Occupation with Britain
“54°40’ or Fight!” was the slogan used to illustrate the U.S. position about the border with Canada – in effect the U.S. wanted all of the area
Eventually, the US and Britain settled on the 49th parallel as the border
California:
Part of Mexico – series of missions
Indians on the Great Plains:
European weapons transformed life on the Plains/hunted bison
The dispute for this land will escalate in the 1870s and 1880s
The Election of 1844
Polk fully supports annexation of Oregon and Texas
TX is annexed via a joint resolution in February 1845
Henry Clay and some Whigs resisted expansion – feared tensions over slavery

3. WAR WITH MEXICO Mexican-American War: ***Wilmot Proviso***
Slidell Mission – Polk sent John Slidell to buy CA and NM for $30 million, Mexico refused to meet with him
Boundary issue:
Texas claimed the southern border was the Rio Grande, Mexico claimed the southern border was the Nueces River
Conscience Whigs – those that opposed the war on moral grounds – expansion of slavery
***Wilmot Proviso***
David Wilmot (D – NY)
Introduced an amendment to a bill stating slavery would NOT exist in any land gained from Mexico
The Proviso passed the House, but NOT the Senate
Free-Soil Party:
Opposed the extension of slavery into territories – took away jobs from whites. Did not care about morality of slavery
“Free labor, free soil, free men”

4. War, Expansion, and Slavery, 1846 – 1850
Election of 1848:
General Zachary Taylor wins (Whig)
Another war hero in the tradition of Washington, Jackson and Harrison
Gold Rush:
John Sutter’s mills
49ers
Mostly men – population increases from 14,000 to 220,000 in 4 years
Many Mexicans and Californios were forced off their lands