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The Spoils of Manifest Destiny
Objective: To show how the consequences of the U.S.-Mexican War affected the territory acquired from Mexico.
Teaching Notes and Mapping Activity
You and your students can mark the following on the War With Mexico
map and the locator map.
c. California had important seaports, which improved U.S. ability
to ship and trade goods throughout the world. Along the
California coast, write SHIPPING & TRADE.
1. With the victory over Mexico, the United States had achieved its
Manifest Destiny. With the land gained from the war, the country
extended from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.
d. All of these economic opportunities allowed U.S. settlers to
achieve the prosperity that they assumed was part of their
Manifest Destiny. Below DEMOCRACY, write PROSPERITY.
a. On the locator map, write MANIFEST DESTINY across the
United States.
b. Point out the new boundary between the United States and
Mexico—the Treaty line of 1848 and the Rio Grande. On the
War With Mexico map, draw a line along this boundary.
c. Draw a line through the label for Mexico.
d. Label MEXICO south of the new boundary.
2. The new territory gave U.S. settlers more places to go where they
could own their own land. U.S. settlers believed that it was part of
their Manifest Destiny to bring democracy to these new lands.
a. Circle the label for the United States.
b. Draw an arrow from the label toward the new territory.
c. Label the arrow MORE SETTLERS.
d. Below MANIFEST DESTINY, write DEMOCRACY.
3. The U.S. settlers also believed that part of their Manifest Destiny
involved bringing economic prosperity to the lands they settled.
The newly acquired territory provided the United States with many
economic opportunities.
a. The land was very rich in minerals, particularly gold, silver,
and copper. Across the new territory, write GOLD, SILVER,
and COPPER.
b. The land was also ideal for cattle ranching. Below GOLD,
SILVER, and COPPER, write CATTLE RANCHING.
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War with Mexico
4. Despite its democratic intentions, Manifest Destiny meant taking
lands that had been held by others. The former Mexican territories
were not empty. Mexicans and Native Americans had been living
there for centuries.
a. In 1848, more than 75,000 Mexicans lived in the newly
acquired territory. Below the label for the United States,
write 75,000 MEXICANS.
b. There were at least 200,000 Native Americans living in the
former Mexican territory in 1848. Below 75,000 MEXICANS,
write 200,000+ NATIVE AMERICANS.
5. U.S. settlers thought it was acceptable to take Mexican and Native
American land, simply because these people were not white.
Mexicans and Native Americans who found themselves living in
U.S. territories also found that they had no rights whatsoever—
Manifest Destiny did not apply to them. To the right of MANIFEST
DESTINY, write (ONLY FOR WHITES).
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Have your students use a contemporary map of the United States to
answer the questions below.
● Which U.S. states were all or partly
formed from the territory acquired
from Mexico in 1848?
● List 5–10 major cities now located
in the territory that once were part
of Mexico.
Correlates with:
The Nystrom Atlas of
United States History,
pages 54–55
● Mapping United States History,
Lessons 25, 26
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