Westward Expansion
The United States physically expanded in the first half of the
century from sixteen states in 1800 to thirty-one in 1850. In
addition, huge areas west of the Mississippi came under
American jurisdiction and would eventually gain statehood. A
spirit, some would say plague, of boosterism called “Manifest
Destiny” convinced many Americans that the nation's God-given
mission was to stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific. "Manifest
Destiny" originated with a New York newspaper editor John
O'Sullivan as you read in the textbook. Painter John Gast
depicted it in his work "American Progress" (sometimes called
"Westward Ho" or "Westward the course of destiny").
Credit: Crofutt, George. "American Progress," chromolithograph, ©1873 George
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Crofutt, after the 1872 John Gast painting of the same name. The copyright for
the Crofutt work has expired. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Division Washington, D.C., LC-DIG-ppmsca-09855.
or view the painting here:
http://www.cprr.org/Museum/Ephemera/American_Progress.html
What does this painting tell you about "Manifest Destiny"
and its image of the West?
The Goddess of Liberty floats through the sky, carrying a book of
laws and linking the continent with a telegraph wire. As she leads
the march of "civilized" progress, she ties the nation together with
a telegraph. Invented by Samuel F.B. Morse in 1837, the
telegraph crisscrossed the country with over 23,000 miles of wire
by the mid-1850s. Note how the Indians, buffalo, and wild bears
casting backward glances retreat before the pioneers. With the
"sacred plow," covered wagon, stagecoach, and ultimately the
railroad, the sturdy pioneer moves forward.
Expansionists inspired the United States to negotiate the Oregon
Treaty with Great Britain in 1846, which added today's Oregon,
Washington, Idaho, and part of Montana and Wyoming. When the
United States acquired Puget Sound in this treaty, it became the
only good Pacific port under American control because the mouth
of the Columbia was so dangerous and because Mexico still
controlled the harbors of San Francisco and San Diego. At the
conclusion of the Mexican-American War in 1848, the country
grew to include present-day Texas, California, Nevada, Utah,
Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of other western states.
American actions in Texas to provoke the war with Mexico
exposed the imperialistic and racist aspects of manifest destiny
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practiced by a nation that less than seventy-five years before had
struggled as thirteen colonies against Britain's imperialism. The
"American Communities" section that precedes Chapter 14
makes those imperialistic and racist aspects clear.
Look at the 1850 map to see the land the United States acquired
as a result of the Mexican-American War and the Oregon Treaty.
From 1845 to 1848 the United States added 1.5 million square
miles of territory and increased in size by more than 30
percent.
©Susan Vetter 2008, rev. 2011
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