1. p.2 WHY MOVE WEST? Population growth in the eastern states
Cheap, fertile land
Economic opportunity (gold rush, logging, farming, freedom (for runaway slaves)
Cheaper, faster transportation (rivers and canals {Erie Canal}, steamboats, etc.)
Knowledge of overland trails (Oregon & Santa Fe)
Belief in Manifest Destiny (idea that expansion was good and right for the country)

2. Analyze the “Manifest Destiny” picture and write down five observations.

3. MANIFEST DESTINY
In the 1840s Americans became preoccupied with expansion
Manifest Destiny was the belief that the U.S. would expand “from sea to shining sea” Americans began to speak of manifest destiny—the belief that the United States was meant to expand from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. Many believed that their movement westward was predestined by God
People moved west in search of economic opportunity.
Meanwhile the U.S. government made treaties with Native Americans that it did not honor.

4. UNITED STATES EXPANSION BY 1853 - MANIFEST DESTINY

5. FAMOUS TRAILS WEST
No highways existed, thus wagon trails served as the roads to the West
Santa Fe Trail ran from Independence, Missouri to Santa Fe, New Mexico
Oregon Trail stretched from Independence to Oregon City, Oregon
Mormons especially utilized the Oregon Trail on their way to Salt Lake City

6. THE UNITED STATES GAINS TEXAS
The Mexican government invited Americans to settle in Texas, which was then a part of Mexico.
Tension grew between the settlers and the Mexican government. In 1836, Texas won its independence.
After nine years as an independent republic, Texas entered the Union in

7. MEXICAN PRESIDENT SANTA ANNA
MEXICAN-AMERICAN WAR
1844 presidential election winner, James Polk, eagerly wanted to annex Texas as part of the U.S.
Negotiations failed and U.S. troops moved into Mexican territory in 1845
America victories soon followed, and in Mexican leader Santa Anna conceded defeat
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed – U.S. gets (larger) Texas, New Mexico & California
MEXICAN PRESIDENT SANTA ANNA