Manifest Destiny & Westward Expansion
Manifest Destiny & Westward Expansion
What are the social, political, and
economic impacts of Manifest Destiny
and westward expansion?
Manifest DestinyRoots in LA Purchase + Indian Removal Act, but, termed coined in 1845 (generally represents 1840s/1850s)
Belief that it was America’s “God-given right” to expand westward (coast-coast)
- South agreed → land/slavery- Republican platform = halt slavery’s expansion
Gov’t promotes development of the West- Fed: Homestead Act (1862): 160 acres for small fee → 5yrs
- State: Subsidies ($/land) to RR construction
Republic of TexasTexas declares independence from Mexico (1836)
James Polk (D), embracing Manifest Destiny and riding “Fifty-Four Forty or Fight” campaign slogan, defeats Henry Clay (W)
- US annexes Texas (1846) through joint resolution- South happy → another slave state- Congress settles w/ British on Oregon (est. 1846) and 49th
Parallel to balance free-slave
Mexico-US boundaries not agreed upon...
What impact did the Mexican-American
War have on politics?
Mexican-American WarPresident Polk: Mexico “shed blood on American soil”
- Different opinions- ‘Spot resolutions’- Civil Disobedience (Henry David Thoreau - Transcendentalist)
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848)Mexican Cession: ½ territory (CA, NM, AZ, UT, NV) ⅓ US → $15m
***Led to heated debate on slavery in newly acquired territory → Wilmot Proviso fails in Senate; Compromise of 1850...
-
What were the reasons for the
nativist movement?
Consequences of ExpansionEffects:1870s decline of buffalo; erosion of soil (planting crops)Natives relegated to reservations
Pivot to Asia- Clipper ships: faster travel, helped increase trade w/
China (tea); Matthew Perry, 1853: (forced) opening of Japan
To note (and watch): Gadsden Purchase (1853)
Out West
California (admitted as free state in 1850; see: Compromise of 1850):
- Gold Rush (1840s) brings Anglo-Saxon settlers
- 1852: 200k → 1860: 300k
- 1860: Men outnumbered women 3:1
- Minorities’ rights- 150k Native Americans; 100k (former) Mexicans
--- could not civically participate
- By 1860, only 30k Native Americans remained
Debate Turns Political
Free-Soil Party (1848) → limit slavery expansion so white ppl could live AND work (not against slavery!)
v
Nativism returns → American Party (“Know-Nothing”)
- Anti-Catholic, too!