Today’s Class (11/03/16)
Outcomes:
– Be able to explain the term “manifest destiny”
– Be able to provide examples of the influence of
manifest destiny on America’s westward expansion in
the Antebellum Period.
Agenda:
1. Notes/Lecture/Discussion – Manifest Destiny &
Examples
2. Primary Source Analysis – John O’Sullivan
– “The Great Nation of Futurity,” 1839
– “Annexation,” 1845
3. Class Review & Discussion Questions
John Gast, American Progress, 1872
Manifest Destiny
The belief that the United States had the God-given right to
expand westward to the Pacific.
Emanuel Leutze, Westward Ho, 1861
Forces Behind Manifest Destiny
• Nationalism
– Feeling of cultural (white) superiority, spread American ideals &
cultural practices (democracy, Christianity)
• Population Increase
– 1800 = 5.3 million
– 1810 = 7.2 million
– 1820 = 9.6 million
1830 = 12.8 million
1840 = 17 million
• Rapid Economic Development
– Market Revolution effect, industrialization increases
• Technological Advances
– Steamboats, reaper, steel plow, telegraph
• Not 100% agreement—northern critics argued the South wanted to
expand slavery to westward lands.
Manifest Destiny In Action
Westward Trails
• Old Native American trails combined
with new routes were used by
westward settlers.
• Two primary trails:
– Santa Fe Trail – from Independence,
MO to Santa Fe (Mexican territory)
– Oregon Trail – from Independence,
MO to Oregon City, OR
• Covered wagons and foot travel were
the primary methods for moving
westward
– The deadly journey took ~5 months
– Cost lives of many settlers, horses,
oxen along the way
Manifest Destiny in Action
Acquisition of Texas
– Settled by slaveholding Americans in 1823
• Led by Stephen F. Austin & Sam Houston
– Attracted settlers with cheap land & tax exemptions
– Texan settlers clashed with Mexican government
over slavery & autonomy
• Texan settlers eventually (after the Alamo) defeated
Mexican army & declared their independence in 1836
• Lone Star State = 1836 – 1845
– Expansionists called for Texas’ admission to the
union
• BUT Senate balanced at 13 free states & 13 slave states
James K. Polk’s Election
– Democrat candidate won the 1844 election (against
Henry Clay ) – nicknamed “Young Hickory”
– Expansionist – supporter of manifest destiny
• Sought acquisition of Texas, California, Oregon
Manifest Destiny in Action
Oregon border dispute
– Adams-Onis Treaty (1819) est.
mutual British & American
occupation of the Oregon
territory.
– Increase in American settlers
forced boundary settlement
• Polk & expansionists = “54°40’ or
fight!”
– British & U.S. compromised at
49° N boundary
– 1846 – Oregon added as a free
territory
Manifest Destiny in Action
Mexican War (1846-48)
– U.S.-Mexico relations were
strained after Texas’ annexation in
1845
– Boundary dispute developed in SW
Texas—boundary at Nueces River
or Rio Grande?
– Mexico refused to sell California or
recognize Texas’ independence.
– Polk sent troops led by Zachary
Taylor to the Rio Grande.
• War if Mexican troops fired first
Manifest Destiny in Action
Mexican War (1846-48)
– In April 1846, fighting broke out
between Mexican & U.S. troops—
Polk called for war, Congress obliged.
– A mostly one-sided war lasted 16
months, Gen. Winfield Scott
captured Mexico City in 1847
– Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo signed,
ending the war in Feb. 1848
• Mexico ceded land (Mexican Cession)
that would include California, Nevada,
New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, Colorado,
and Wyoming
• U.S. paid Mexico $15 million
“Old Fuss and Feathers”
Primary Source Analysis
John O’Sullivan
– Writer/editor of the Democratic Review, a well-known
newspaper around the time of the Mexican-American
war
– Most people give him the credit for coining the term
“Manifest Destiny”
Read, annotate, & respond to questions for:
– “The Great Nation of Futurity,” 1839
– “Annexation,” 1845
John O’Sullivan, "The Great Nation of Futurity," 1839
1. What does O’Sullivan think America stands for?
2. What, according to O’Sullivan, is America’s mission?
John O’Sullivan, “Annexation,” July 1845
1. What does O’Sullivan mean by “our manifest destiny to
overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free
development of our yearly multiplying millions”?
2. Based on these two documents, how did Americans feel
about expanding westward?
Discussion/Review Questions
1. How does Manifest Destiny connect to the
idea of “American exceptionalism?”
2. Are you surprised by the reasons that
O’Sullivan gives for expansion?
3. Do you think he really believes that God
wants Americans to expand?