Westward Expansion

Manifest Destiny- Americans believed that they were

destined by God to posses the entire Continent

Mountain Men- fur trappers and

explorers who were the first to live
and settle in the west
Most Famous- Jedediah Smith and Jim
Beckworth

Taking Chances and Moving

West
Land speculators- People who bought huge

amounts of land for very cheap and then divided

the land into smaller plots to sell to settlers.
They made A LOT of money doing this!

Prairie Schooner-

westerners used covered

wagons to move west. These wagons looked
like boats bobbing along the prairie (schooner
is another word for boat)

Prairie
Schooners
The wagons were made of
wood so they were not as
sturdy as cars today. If a
wheel or axel would break
or get damaged, they would
probably leave all their
belongings on the trail and
keep going or decide to
stop where they were and
make it home

Louisiana
Purchase
It all started with the
purchase of Louisiana from
the French. Thomas Jefferson
bought it for $15 million. He
did not have approval from
Congress but didnt want to
pass on the opportunity. This
made a lot of people mad.
Later that year Congress
ratified the purchase.

1. Doubled the size of

the U.S
2. Gave the U.S. full use
of the Mississippi River
3. Gave the U.S. the port
of New Orleans

Florida

Jefferson tried to buy Florida diplomatically

and Spain said no. Over the years, Spain
could not control the lawlessness in Florida
and in 1818 President Monroe sent Andrew
Jackson to take care of the Seminoles but
to do it without invading Florida. He did
not follow orders and went into Florida
anyway. Spain was furious and wanted
Jackson punished. John Quincy Adams
suggested that Monroe send a strong
message to Spain- Govern your land or get
out! Spain chose to leave and give the U.S.
Florida.

In 1821, Mexico gained its independence

from Spain. At this time only about 4000
people lived Texas, they were called Tejanos.
Before Mexico became independent, the
Spanish government had offered large
amounts of land to people who would
move to Texas.

Texas

Moses Austin was given permission to start

a colony in Texas as long as the settlers
agreed to follow Spanish law.
When Mexico got its independence,
Austins land grant was worthless. Mexico
said that the colony could come if they
became Mexican citizens and member of
the Roman Catholic Church

*297 families moved to Texas with the requirement that each had
a father that was moral, worked hard and didnt drink alcohol.
*By 1830 the population of Texas was 30,000 with 6 times more
Americans than tejanos
*Moses Austin died before Mexico gave permission to bring the
settlers there. His son Stephen took over for him and got the
permission.

Texas v. Mexico

Mexico outlawed slavery (many Americans

had brought their slaves)

All official documents had to be in Spanish

Tejanos did not like the Americans very much
Mexico would not allow any more settlers to
Texas

Americans had to pay taxes

Mexican troops were sent to patrol Texas

Texas v. Mexico

Stephen Austin tried to work

things out with the Mexican
President, Antonio Lopez de Santa
Anna. Austin threatened that if
the President didnt meet the
American settlers terms, they
would break away from Mexico.
Austin was jailed for 1 year.

 Santa Anna sent troops to

Texas. Sam Houston was
put in control of the
Texas Army.

The Alamo was an old

Spanish mission (church).

The Texans were held up
in the building for 12 days.
They eventually ran out
of ammo but by then, all
but 5 were dead and
those 5 were later
executed by Santa Anna
(183 total poeople)

The Alamo

Texas gains its Independence

Santa Anna gave Texas its

independence at the
Battle of San Jacinto
where he was defeated

Sam Houstons troops

attacked yelling their

motivating cry...
Remember the Alamo!

The Lone Star Republic

Texas becomes independent
Sam Houston was elected the President of Texas
Most Texans wanted Texas to become a state of
the U.S.A. but many Northern states did not
want to let them in as a state because they
would become a slave state (remember the
Missouri Compromise)

Texas finally became a state on December 29,

1845. it became a slave state.

The Trails
Most of the families that
traveled west would travel in
groups for safety and survival.
These were called wagon
trains

Santa Fe Trail
people believed that they could get rich
by selling to the Mexican settlers who
lived in the New Territory. This trail went
from Missouri to Santa Fe

The Trails
Oregon Trail
It started in Independence, Missouri and
went to the Oregon Territory. It started
with missionaries going to try and
convert Natives to Christianity. When
that failed, they wrote home telling
others what beauty and abundance
there was in Oregon, so others came.
The trail was 2000 miles long and took
about 4-6 months to travel

Oregon- Claimed by Russia, Spain,

Great Britain, and the U.S.

OREGON

The first Americans there were

missionaries trying to convert the
Native tribes. Most were unsuccessful
but their letters back home about the
fertile soil and huge forests sparked
interested settlers to follow.
President Polk split Oregon in half
with Great Britain. A compromise that
split Oregon in half at the 49th parallel
(todays border with Canada).

Mexican-American
War
When the U.S.

Mexican soldiers shot and killed 16

American soldiers near the Rio
Grande and President Polk and
Congress agreed on declaring War.

annexed Texas,
Mexico took it as
an act of war. Texas
and Mexico also
could not agree on
a border. The U.S.
said it was the Rio
Grande River and
Mexico said it was
the Nueces River.

The U.S. Invades Mexico

The American Army moved into New Mexico

and took the area without firing a shot. Then, in
California, a group of Americans that lived there
started a rebellion against Mexican rule. The
Americans jailed the Mexican commander and
made a flag with a grizzly bear on it and said that
California was now called the Bear Flag Republic.
General Zachary Taylor went into Mexico with
6000 men. He was met by 20,000 Mexican
troops led by General Santa Anna.
General Winfield Scott led U.S. forces into
Mexico City, Mexico's capital. The Americans
met fierce resistance at the castle of
Chapultepec where 1000 Mexican soldiers and
100 military cadets fought bravely to defend
their fortress. Six of the cadets chose to die
fighting instead of surrendering. To this day,
those boys are honored in Mexico as the Ninos
Heroes (the boy heroes).

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

In 1848, the
U.S. and
Mexico
signed the
treaty to
end the
war.

The U.S.
1. agreed to pay Mexico $15
million
Mexico gave up
2.
agreed
to
protect
the
80,000
1. their claims in Texas.
to
100,000
Mexicans
living
in
2. the Mexican Cession.
Texas and the Mexican
Cession

Gadsden Purchase

About 10 years after the war, the U.S. bought a small

amount of land from Mexico for $10 million. This
land was wanted for good railroad land.
This created the present day border of the
southwestern United States and Mexico.

Romanticism
James Fenimore Cooper
Washington Irving
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Poets
Walt Whitman
Emily Dickinson

Transcendentalism
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Henry David Thoreau

New American
Fiction
Edgar Allen Poe
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Herman Melville

American writers, artists

and thinkers

Great Awakening a
Renewal of religious faith
that helped lead Americans
to believe that they could
act to make things better

Temperance Movement- led by

churches to stop the drinking of
alcohol. Many women were
leaders of this movement.

Education- Horace Mann

led the set up of public
education. Helped local
governments set up
schools. Churches and
other groups started
opening private colleges.
Women started to be
able to attend some of
these colleges. Some
African Americans were
able to attend some
colleges (but not many)

Labor Unions and Factory

Reforms- groups of workers
who band together to seek
better working conditions.
Workers fought for better
working conditions and wages.

Prison and Asylum ReformDorethea Dix- worked to make

conditions better for the
mentally ill

Lots of New Reforms

Abolitionmovement to
end slavery
Frederick Douglass- a
runaway slave who spoke
out against slavery and
became very active with
politics and the Civil War

Courage
Sojourner Truth was
another black American
that was courageous
enough to speak out about
slavery and the need to do
away with it

The
Underground
Railroad
Harriet Tubman was known
as the Conductor of the
Underground Railroad
which was safe houses that
would lead slaves out of the
south to freedom in the
north or Canada. These
safe houses were the homes
of white abolitionists

Womens Rights
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and
Susan B Anthony led the
womens rights movement.
They wanted equal rights
for women
This
movement
finally won
women the
right to vote
in 1920.