1. Manifest Destiny 1840-1850

2. Manifest Destiny

4. Was not an official government policy

5. Promoted heavily in newspapers, posters, and other propaganda

6. John O’Sullivan first uses the term in a newspaper in 1845

7. “manifest destiny to overspread the continent”

8. Regarding the annexation of Texas

9. Says America was “chosen” to lead the continent out of wilderness

11. The Louisiana Purchase – over 1/3 of the continent is gained by Jefferson’s legislation

12. Government saw the appeal of potential land bringing more political power to the growing nation

14. Manifest Destiny adds fuel to the fire of expansion

15. Advertising potential for great wealth in minerals in the West

17. Most believing they were helping the US achieve Manifest Destiny and it was God’s chosen path for them

18. Manifest Destiny expands to foreign policy

19. Becomes the driving force behind the Mexican-American War

20. Later, the Spanish-American War (after we achieve “sea to shining sea”

21. Today, becomes intertwined with globalization

24. Moses Austin (father of Stephen F. Austin)

25. Due to the influx of Americans, Mexico felt that it was losing its control over Texas

26. To make matters worse, Stephen F. Austin calls American settlers to demand greater autonomy from Mexico

27. The goal was independence

28. 1830 – Mexico annuls existing land contracts and barred future emigration from the United States

29. General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna sent an army to Texas to impose central authority

30. Texan rebels, inspired by the U.S. Revolutionary War form a provisional government

32. Santa Anna decides to launch an attack on the mission after a 12 day siege

33. Only 2 Texans survive; 180 to 240 Texans dead; 400-600 Mexicans dead

35. Santa Anna v. Sam Houston

36. Battle in present-day Harris County

37. Rallying cries, “Remember the Alamo,” and “Remember Goliad”

38. Combat lasted less than 20 minutes; slaughter of Mexicans carried on for several more hours

41. Democrat Candidate: James K. Polk

42. Texas Annexation was a key issue

43. Issue of slavery in Texas

44. Why does John Tyler (incumbent) not run?

45. Tries to run on an independent platform

46. Alienates himself from Whig party, Whigs kick him out in 1841

47. Was William Henry Harrison’s VP

48. Harrison dies in office, he becomes Pres.James K. Polk (Dem.) John Tyler (Whig) William Henry Harrison (Whig)

50. James Polk wins (friend of Andrew Jackson, Tennessee slaveholder)

51. He supported Texas annexation (even though it was Tyler’s idea)

53. Restablish the Independent Treasury System

54. Settle the Oregon dispute (“Fifty-four Forty or Fight!!”)

56. “Fifty-Four Forty or Fight!” – U.S. should be prepared to go to war with Britain (again) if they were unwilling to move their border north to the 54, 40 degree boundary (near Russian-owned Alaska at this point)

57. Polk decides to be diplomatic and settles on the 49th parallel (where Washington and Vancouver, B.C. still separate the two countries today)

60. Send an agent to buy California, New Mexico, most of Arizona, and the Rio Grande border of Texas for $25 million

61. They didn’t take it; government was way too unstable

62. Mexico also felt that they still owned Texas and the U.S. was plotting to take all of Mexico eventually

63. Thornton Affair

64. Detachment of U.S. troops scouted near the Rio Grande border (near present-day Brownsville)

65. Skirmish with Mexican troops; 11 U.S. troops die

66. Gives the U.S. a reason to declare war though the circumstances behind the attack are still uncertain

67. Declaring War

68. Polk uses the Thornton Affair and Mexico’s refusal to sell their land as a cause for war

69. Exaggerates and says the Mexicans were actively attacking American soil

70. War declared on 13 May 1846

71. Polarization on the War

72. Whigs (North and South) vehemently denounce the war; see Manifest Destiny causing unnecessary expansion with a racist undertone

74. Led by General Stephen Kerney

75. Goal was to move through NM, AZ, and the Sonoran desert to meet up with troops in California

76. California

77. Kerney brings his troops through NM and AZ; arrives in California in late 1846

78. Finally defeats the Mexicans near Los Angeles in January 1847

79. Central Mexico

81. Mexico sells this land for $15 million (with a lot of influence from U.S. military)

83. Manifest Destiny took on a selective, racist mentality

86. Migration to the West

88. Only worsened ethnic and racial conflicts

89. Indians, Asians, and blacks all denied basic rights

90. Thousands of Indian children, declared orphans, were bought and sold as slaves

91. Gold discovered in late 1840s, U.S. government claimed “unlimited amounts”

92. Most migrants came around 1849 (hence the San Francisco 49ers)

93. Migrants also came from Asia

94. By the early 1850s, gold mining became a corporate business

96. By 1860, railroads covered the North

97. The South struggled to keep up

98. Railway developments coincided with iron developments (backed by great financial support)

99. Clipper Ship

100. Small, fast ship with big sails and a small hull

101. Only way to travel to California before the trans-continental RR

102. Telegraph

105. Mormon Church founded on the principle of reviving pure Christianity

106. Believed Christ once resided in North America

107. Smith exercised complete and absolute authority over his followers

108. Refusal to accept the U.S.’s separation of church and state

109. Also believed in polygamy

110. Smith’s group gradually moved west

111. Smith was killed by an angry mob in Nauvoo, Illinois

112. Smith’s successor, Brigham Young led the group into Utah (Salt Lake City area)

113. Young and his followers resisted being governed by the U.S.

114. Almost went to war in 1857

116. Most were poor and took on very low paying jobs; some moved to the west

117. Immigrants from Germany also came

120. Measure fails due to no Congressional action

122. The party had appeal in the North because it would limit southern power in the federal government

123. Their platform advocated for:

124. Barring slavery from the west

125. Providing homesteads to settlers in the west free of cost

126. Southerners were outraged at the “Free-Soilers” singling out slavery

127. Once again, the admission of free states would disrupt the balance of free/slave states

129. Series of five bills

130. California admitted as a free state

131. Slave trade was abolished

132. Territories of New Mexico and Utah organized under popular sovereignty (let the people decide whether to be a free or slave state)

133. Fugitive Slave Act is passed (assists in return of runaway slaves)

134. Texas gives up western land to pay off Republic of Texas debt ($10 million given to TX)

135. This bill essentially postpones the Civil War for another decade

136. Henry Clay was important in formulating the compromise

138. Americans look to Cuba and the Philippines for international expansion

139. Spain not happy about this

141. Several fraternities form to advocate against immigration

142. Order of the Star-Spangled Banner

143. A cohesive group formed with the “Know-Nothings”

144. When asked about their party, they would always say, “I know nothing”

145. Grass roots movement (power flowed up from the bottom)

146. Promotion of Protestantism over Catholicism

148. Known as a “doughface” Democrat

149. Northern Democrat with Southern sympathies

150. Ushers in the end for the Whigs

151. Whig Party falls apart due to members defecting to the Northern Democrats, Know-Nothings, and Free-Soil parties

153. Introduces a bill for statehood for Nebraska and Kansas

154. Had business interests in railroads

155. Wanted a transcontinental line to go through there

156. Strong advocate of popular sovereignty

157. Lincoln-Douglas debates over the Kansas-Nebraska Act

158. Kansas-Nebraska act does the following:

159. Throws out the Missouri Compromise

160. Throws out the Compromise of 1850

161. Let the free/slave state issue be left to popular sovereignty

162. Results:

163. Divides the nation completely

166. Booming business in the North due to railroads

167. Society dealing with a complex, industrial society

168. Free Labor ideology

169. Free labor could not compete with slave labor, so expansion of slavery had to stop to ensure freedom for the white laborer

170. They were trying to appeal to immigrants especially

171. “Slave Power conspiracy”

172. Republicans began to charge Southern Democrats of a conspiracy to nationalize slavery through measures such as the Kansas-Nebraska Act

173. Lincoln takes on Douglas, President James Buchanan, and Chief Justice Roger Taney as proponents of this conspiracy in his famous, “House Divided” speech

176. Supreme Court heard the case and asked these questions:

177. Could a black person be a citizen and sue in court?

178. Did residence in a free state make Scott free?

179. Did Congress possess the power to prohibit slavery in a territory?

180. Chief Justice Roger Taney declares that:

181. Only white persons could be citizens in the U.S.

182. Congress possessed no power to bar slavery form a territory

183. Slaves cannot be taken away from their owners without due process of the law

184. Scott’s case is thrown out because he cannot sue

185. This poses a serious threat to the Republican’s platform to restrict the expansion of slavery

187. The assault was stopped by U.S. Marines under Col. Robert E. Lee

188. Brown was captured, tried, and executed in December 1859

189. John Wilkes Booth (future assassin of President Lincoln) witnessed the execution

190. This event greatly upsets the South

191. Causes more sectional division between the North and South

193. Abraham Lincoln, Republican nominee

194. Democrats were split, Southern Democrats walked out of the 1860 Democratic National Convention

195. Southern Democrats nominated John Breckinridge of Kentucky

196. Northern Democrats nominated Stephen Douglas

197. Lincoln wins in a landslide with the Democrats split

198. Does not receive a single vote in ten southern states

199. Republican party platform:

200. Deny the validity of Dred Scott v. Sanford

201. Oppose slavery’s expansion

203. Rather than be a minority, Deep South leaders call for regional independence

204. By the time Lincoln takes the oath of office, seven states secede from the Union

205. From South Carolina to Texas

206. Leaving president James Buchanan said a state could not leave the Union

209. Elected Jefferson Davis as President

210. Rather reluctant to become president

211. Loved the United States

213. Lincoln calls in 75,000 troops to suppress the insurrection

214. Waco’s own Felix H. Robertson was an artilleryman at the battle