Manifest Destiny
US History
Map of United States Circa 1830
What is Manifest Destiny?
3
American Progress Color Lithograph
by George A. Crofutt and John Gast
What is “Manifest Destiny”
•Belief that the US should expand its territory from coast to coast
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Understanding Manifest Destiny
"(It is) ..our manifest destiny to over spread and
to possess the whole of the continent which
Providence has given us for the development of
the great experiment of liberty"
-John O'Sullivan
Democrat
Editor of 'The Morning Post'
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US Territorial Expansion
When?
•1776
From Where?
•Great Britain
A - 13 Original Colonies
How?
•US declared
independence from
Great Britain
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A
US Territorial Expansion
When?
•1783
From Where?
•Great Britain
B - Western Lands
How?
•Part of Treaty of
Paris (ended
Revolutionary War)
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A
B
US Territorial Expansion
When?
•1803
From Where?
•France
C - Louisiana Purchase
How?
•Napoleon needed $
•Jefferson wanted to
buy New Orleans
•He got all of this
instead!
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C
A
B
US Territorial Expansion
When?
•1819
From Where?
•Spain
D - Florida
How?
•Andrew Jackson
invaded
•Spain then sold it to
us for $5 million
C
A
B
D
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US Territorial Expansion
When?
•1845
From Where?
•Republic of Texas (Independent Country)
E - Texas
How?
•Texas independent from
Mexico in 1836
•Gained independence to
become part of US
C
E
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A
B
D
US Territorial Expansion
When?
•1846
From Where?
•Great Britain
F - Oregon Territory
How?
•Claimed by four countries
(Britain, Russia, Spain, &
US)
•Americans demanded
“54° 40’ or fight!”
•Britain compromised 49°
& US accepted
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F
C
E
A
B
D
US Territorial Expansion
When?
•1848
From Where?
•Mexico
G - Mexican Cession
How?
•Polk offers to buy G from
Mexico & they refuse
F
•War!
•US wins
•In Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo, US offers $15
million for G
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G
C
E
A
B
D
US Territorial Expansion
When?
•1854
From Where?
•Mexico
H – Gadsden Purchase
How?
•US pays Mexico $10 million
•Provided necessary flat land
for southern transcontinental
railroad.
F
C
G
H
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E
A
B
D
Text: Manifest Destiny p. 317
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American Progress Color Lithograph
by George A. Crofutt and John Gast
Factors affecting westward expansion
Geographic and economic factors that
influenced westward movement
Population growth in the eastern states
Availability of cheap, fertile land (Homestead Act)
Economic opportunity, e.g., gold (California Gold Rush), logging, farming, freedom
(for runaway slaves)
Cheaper and faster transportation, e.g., rivers and canals (Erie Canal), steamboats
Knowledge of overland trails (Oregon and Santa Fe)
Belief in the right of “Manifest Destiny”—The idea that expansion was for the
good of the country and was the right of the country
The Dawes and Homestead Act
•Homestead Act passed in 1862 divided 2.5 million acres of Plains land into
sections or homesteads of 160 acres
•The law offered 160 acres of free land to anyone who agreed to live on the land
for 5 years and improve it.
•Dawes Act was intended to encourage Native Americans to give up their
traditional cultures and become farmers.
•Native American children were sent to boarding school to be “Americanized.”
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