Chapter 14

Manifest Destiny

1820 - 1860

Section 1: The Oregon Country

• Oregon Country – OR, WA, ID, parts of WY, MT, and Canada; climates/vegetation varied

• Russia, Spain, Britain, US had claims to OR territory

• 1818 – Britain and US agreed to share OR for 10 years; Spain and Russia give up claims in 1825

• Mountain men – fur traders; lived hard lives• Rendezvous – meeting place• Beckwourth – discovered pass through

Sierra Nevada Mts. • Bridger – first to cross Great Divide

(Rockies)• Jedediah Smith – observed Yellowstone

National Park

• Marcus/Narcissa Whitman and Henry/Eliza Spalding – 1st women to cross Rockies; set up missions, Indians killed Whitmans

• Oregon Trail – from Independence, MO to Columbia River, OR

• Emigrate – to move to another location

• 1840 – 1860 – 60,000 traveled OR Trail

• Prairie Schooners – lightweight covered wagons hitched to oxen; wagon trains

• Typical trip – started in MO in May; 5 months to cross Rockies before winter; rode dawn to dusk; wagons into circle; ate dinner (fuel was buffalo chips); dumped supplies when crossing deep rivers; messages left by roadside; many died of disease, drowned, or accidents

• Little violence between settlers and Indians on trail

• US wanted to annex (add) OR• James Polk – pres. candidate in 1844; wanted US

to expand territory to parallel to 54o 40’ (“Fifty-four forty or fight”)

• Polk elected; began negotiations with Britain; agreed to 49th parallel

• OR territory in 1848; state in 1859

Section 2: Texas Independence

• 1820’s – first settlers in Spanish-owned colony TX

• Colony TX – mostly Native Americans• Empresarios – people who were given large tracts

of land for luring settlers• Moses Austin – to bring 300 families for land near

Brazos River• Stephen Austin – took over after dad died;

established settlement

• Settlers agreed to be citizens of MX, obey MX laws, become Roman Catholics

• Austin gave land to 300 “good” families • Some settlers set up land without permission;

didn’t follow rules, used slaves (against MX laws)• 1830 – Americans to Mexicans 5:1; MX forbade

further Anglo immigration; built 5 military posts to enforce laws

• 1833 – Austin presents petition to include more immigration and create TX as state

• Santa Anna – TX to remain part of MX; became dictator

• Oct. 1835 – MX tried to seize cannon at Gonzales; “the Lexington of TX” (1st battle of TX independence)

• Dec. 1835 – MX tried to occupy San Antonio; were driven out

• March 1836 – created Republic of TX; Sam Houston commander of army

• San Antonio – less than 200 TX soldiers defended mission called Alamo

• Defenders of Alamo were Wm. Travis, Jim Bowie, Davy Crockett; fought for 12 days; Travis killed, Bowie died fighting in sickbed, Crockett captured and executed; MX victorious

• Susanna Dickson – survived and told Houston • Houston ordered fort at Goliad to be abandoned;

Fannin (commander) and troops captured and 350 executed

• Houston – patiently planned attack on Santa Anna• Attacked San Jacinto while troops slept; yelled

“Remember the Alamo”; more than 600 MX casualties; only 9 TX died

• May 14, 1836 – Houston elected President of Republic of TX

Section 3: War with MX

• 1837 – TX existed as independent nation; Congress unsure of slave issue

• MX – didn’t recognize TX independence; tensions increased

• Manifest destiny – clear that expansion across US would occur

• Election of 1844 – Polk wins• 1845 – Congress to annex TX as 28th state

• Polk – sends Slidell to MX to set Rio Grande as southern border of TX and buy CA for $25 and NM for $5 million; MX insulted

• Polk sends Zachary Taylor to Rio Grande River; 11 Americans killed

• May 13, 1846 – Congress declares war on MX; some called it “Mr. Polk’s War”; abolitionists against it; most supported Polk

February 2, 1848Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

• MX ceded (gave up) all CA and NM; includes NV, UT, parts of AZ, CO, WY

• US paid $15 million to MX

• US paid $3.25 million claims against MX

• MX agreed to recognize TX as part of US

• MX accepted Rio Grande as border between TX and MX

• Gadsden Purchase – bought for $10 million from MX (map page 460)

• Mexicans in US territory could relocate to MX or become US citizens; most stayed in US

• MX Americans taught irrigation and mining

• Some hostility existed between groups

Section 4: Spanning a Continent

• Brigham Young – brought 15,000 followers 1,300 miles on foot from IA to Salt Lake Valley, UT for religious freedom

Mormons

• Belong to Church of Jesus Christ or Latter-Day Saints

• Referred to as “Saints”• Founder was Joseph Smith• Property was owned by all• Polygamy which angered many• Moved from NY to OH to Mo to IL• Mob attacked and killed Smith• Successor Young moved to UT

• 1850 – Congress recognized Young as governor of UT territory; built canals and irrigation systems

• 1860 – 30,000 Mormons lived in Salt Lake City; 90 other towns

• 1896 – UT becomes 45th state

John Sutter

• Built sawmill in northern CA

• Worker named Marshall found gold

• Many fled to find gold (called forty-niners)

• 5,000 miners came from Chile

• More than 80,000 came across land

Mining Town

• Most lived in tents

• Women made money by doing laundry or opening a boardinghouse

• No police or prisons

• Vigilance committees formed

• Vigilantes – law without judge or jury

• Prospectors – miners

• 1849 – CA entered Union as free state

• African Americans – fled to CA but denied right to vote and were segregated

• Native Americans – forced to work in mines or households; disease reduced population from 150,000 (1848) to 35,000 (1860)

• Bureau of Indian Affairs (1824) – tried to reduce Indian land claims; created 8 reservations in CA

• Chinese heard of Gam San (“Gold Mountain”); thousands fled to CA; passed law to tax Chinese miners; started laundries, restaurants, boardinghouses

• San Francisco – “Chinatown”

• Miners became farmers, shopkeepers, or city workers when gold dried up

• Small towns were left as abandoned ghost towns.