-
Conflicts over Texas, Maine, and Oregon
The U.S. had interest in moving it's borders south into Texas and west to the Oregon Territory. -
Texas
After Texas won its national independence from Spain, they were looking to attract settlers to the land. -
Texas
Mexico outlawed slavery and required immigrants to convert to Roman Catholicism. However, Southern Americans ignored the Nexican laws. -
Period: to
Territorial and Economic Expansion
-
Revolt and Independence
General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna made himself dictator of Mexico. -
Revolt an independence
Sam Houston and a group of American settlers revolted and declared Texas to be an independent republic. Houston became president of Texas after it won its independence. -
Annexation Denied
Sam Houston applied to the U.S. government for the annexation of Texas. -
Boundary Dispute in Maine
A conflict arose between groups of lumbermen on the Maine Canadian border and turned into fighting. The conflict was resolved in a treaty negotiated by U.S. Secretary of State Daniel Webster and the British ambassador, Lord Alexander Ashburton; -
Boundary Dispute in Maine
The Webster-Ashburton Treaty was signed. The treaty settled the boundary of Minnesota and the boundary of Maine and British Canada. -
Annexation Denied
President John Tyler worked to annex Texas, but the U.S. Senate rejected his treaty of annexation. -
Boundary Dispute in Oregon
The possesion of the Oregon Territory was thought to be America's manifest destiny. It was originally claimed by four countries - Spain, Russia, Great Britain, and the United States. -
The Election of 1844
Many northerners opposed the annexation of Texas because slavery was allowed there. John C. Calhoun was proslavery and proannexation, and Martin Van Buren was just the opposite. The Democrats had a hard time deciding who should be the Democratic nominee. -
The Election of 1844
The Democratic Party finally chose James K. Polk of Tennessee. Henry Clay, the Whig nominee, tried to straddle the issue of annexation for Texas. In the end, Polk won the election for president. -
War with Mexico
The annexation of Texas led to trouble with Mexico. President Polk sent John Slidell to persuade Mexico to sell the California and and New Mexico territores as well as settler the Mexico-Texas border. -
Immediate Causes of the War
A Mexican army crossed the Rio Grande and captured an American army patrol and killed 11 men. Though the Whig's protested against war, they were in vain because a large majority in Congress approved of war. -
Military Campaigns
John. C. Fremont quickly overthrew Mexican rule proclaimed California as an independent republic.. -
Wilmot Proviso
David Wilmot proposed than an appropiations bill be amended to forbid slavery in any of the new territories acquired from Mexico. However, Wilmot's proviso was defeated in the Senate, -
Military Campaigns
Zachary Taylor's force of 6,00 men drove the Mexican army from texas, crossed the Rio Grande into northern mexico, and won a major victory at Buena Vista -
Military Campaigns
General Winfield Scott and his army succeeded in taking the city of Vera Cruz and then captured Mexico City. -
Annexing Texas and Dividing Oregon
Right before his term ended, President John Tyler persuaded both houses of Congress to pass a resolution for the annexation of Texas. Polk, was left with the issue of Oregon. -
Miltary Campaigns
Most of the War with Mexico was fought in Mexican territory. General Stephen Kearney succeeded in taking Santa Fe and southern California. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo-Mexican Cession
After the fall of Mexico City, the Mexican government had to agree with the U.S. terms. The treaty negotiated provided the Mexico would recognize the Rio Grande as the southern border of Texas, and the United States would take possession of the former Mexican provinces of California and New Mexico. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo-Mexican Cession
The U.S. agreed to pay $15 million and assume the claims of American citizens against Mexico. -
Mining Frontier
The discovery of gold in California. -
Farming Frontier
Congress' Preemption Acts of the 1830s and 1840s gave people the right to settle public lands and purchase them for low prices once the government sold them. -
Clayton-bulwer Treaty
Great Britain and the United States agreed to a treaty that provided that neither nation would attempt to take exclusive control of any future canal route in Central America. -
Railroads
Railroads became American's largest industry. Railroads grew by local and state governments granting special loans and tax breaks. -
Ostend Manifest
Polk offered to to purchase Cuba from Spain for $100 million, but Spain refused to sell. -
Ostend Manifesto
President Franklin Pierce dispatcehd three American diplomats to Ostend, Belgium to secretly negotiate buying Cuba from Spain. -
Walker Expedition
Southern adventurer William Walker had tried to take Baja California from Mexico. -
Gadsden Purchase
Mexico sold thousands of acres of semidesert land to the United States for $10 million. This was known as the Gadsden Purchase. -
Walker Expedition
William Walker took over Nicaragua but was defeated however. -
Manifest Destiny to the South
Southerners were disatisfied with the gains from Mexico. Most expansionist wanted the acquisition of Cuba -
The Expanding Economy
Between the 1840s to 1857, there wasa period of remarkable economic growth. -
Panic of 1857
There was a serious drop in economic prices and increased unemployment. The South wasn't as affect as the North and Midwest. -
Walker Expedition
After the defeat and capture by Central American authorities, Wlker was executed. -
Fur Traders' Frontier
Fur traders known as mountain men provided much of the early information about trails and frontier conditions. -
Overland Trails
Hundreds of thousands had reached Oregon, California, Sante Fe, and Mormon trails. They faced the daily experience of disease and depression from harsh conditions on the trail. -
Expansion After the Civil War
From 1855 until 1870, the issues of union, slavery, civil war, and postwar reconstruction would overshadow manifest destiny.