Manifest destiny• “the right of our manifest

destiny to over spread to possess the whole of the continent which Providence has given us for the development for the great experiment of liberty and federaltive development of self government entrusted to us.

Manifest destiny• Belief that it was God’s sovereign will for

the US to expand and possess territory all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

• Drove the United States to extend from sea (Atlantic) to shining sea (Pacific).

• Determined the boundaries of the “lower 48 states” of the United States.

Missouri Compromise• Law that admitted Missouri as a slave state

and Maine as a free state. The southern boundary of Missouri at 36’30”N would become a dividing line for any new states. All states north of that line would be free states, and all states south of that line would be slave states. President Monroe signed it into law in 1820, and it temporarily balanced the power in Washington, D.C.

Texas Independence and Annexation

• General Antonio Santa Anna rose to power over the Mexican government and tightened his control over the Mexican territory of Texas. Sam Houston rebelled against this control by declaring the Texas territory to be independent. Santa Anna responded with military force and slaughtered the Texans at the Battle of the Alamo.(1836)

Other battles followed, and the Texans eventually defeated Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto. They took Santa Anna hostage and made him recognize the Republic of Texas as independentAnd withdraw his forces to the Rio Grande. Texas remained an independent Nation until 1845 at which time they were annexed by President Polk.

War with mexico and the gadsden purchase

• Santa Anna considered the US annexation of Texas to be an act of aggression, but President Polk felt it was America’s manifest destiny to extend to the Pacific Ocean. In 1845, Polk ordered General Zachary Taylor to lead his troops to the Texas border. He also sent John Slidell to Mexico to settle disputes over the US-Mexico border and to try to buy California and New Mexico.

Santa Anna refused to meet with Slidell, Taylor moved his troops to the disputed territory, and Mexican troops moved across the border and attacked the Americans. War was declared on May 13, 1846. It was a series of American victories that led to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which ended the war. The treaty required Mexico to surrender the New Mexico and California territories to the US in exchange for money. In 1853, the US and Mexico were still arguing over land, so the US paid $10 million for land that is in present-day New Mexico and Arizona. This purchase allowed the United States to reach its goal of Manifest Destiny.