Westward ExpansionManifest Destiny/ Texas

Independence/ Mexican War

American History 11R

o “Our manifest destiny is to overspread and to possess the whole of our continent which Providence has given us for the development of the great experiment of liberty.” John L. O'Sullivan, New York news editor.

• Belief that it was the nation’s destiny and duty to expand and conquer the west in the name of god, civilization, and progress

“American Progress” by John Gast

• Date: 1820 – 1845• People: Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna

(Mexican President), Sam Houston, Stephan Austin

• Background:

• 1820 Stephen Austin - Mexican government approves American families in the Texas region– Cheap land

– Promise to be loyal to the Mexican government

– Promise to learn Spanish language

– Promised conversion Roman Catholicism

• Anglos (American settlers) and Tejanos (Mexican settlers) in Northern Mexico

Santa Anna

Stephen Austin

Sam Houston

• Anglo problems increase with Mexico, especially over slavery, which was abolished in Mexico in 1829

• Santa Anna tries to control settlers through immigration laws in 1830 and later create a more centralized state.

• First fight, Battle of Velasco, 1832. Texans win.• Texans demand self government for territory as

separate Mexican state in 1833.• Santa Anna sends in army in early 1836. In February,

1836, he attacks the Alamo and kills all defenders.• General Sam Houston and his Texans attack Mexicans

at the Battle of San Jacinto 6 weeks later. Win.• Santa Anna captured and relinquishes Mexico’s claim

to Texas. • Republic of Texas formed.

• Texas declares independence on March 2, 1836

• Sam Houston elected President of the “Lone Star Republic”

• December 29th, 1845 Texas became the 28th

State in the Union.

Texas Declaration of Independence

How could westward expansion have been accomplished

differently?

• Date: 1846 – 1848

• People: James Polk, Zachary Taylor

• Background

– Mexico – Difficulty controlling northern territory

– Texas wanted to join U.S.

– Mexican soldiers attack American soldiers in U.S. territory, killing some.

– Polk believed that war with Mexico would allow expansion to Pacific Ocean and bring not only Texas but also California and other territories into the Union

– Enthusiastic support in all parts of the United States.

• War fought almost entirely by volunteers

• U.S. invades Mexico in 1846– Major battles – Veracruz and Mexico City

– War lasted about a year

– Generals Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott.

– United States lost 13,000 soldiers in war• 11,000 to yellow fever

• Veterans of war suffer from debilitating diseases after war

• Civil War military leaders gain experience in Mexico.– Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant

• Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo - 1848– U.S. paid $15 million to Mexico

• Historical Significance

– U.S. gains California, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, most of Arizona and parts of Colorado and Wyoming

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

What are the long term effects of the Mexican War that effect us

today?