History
Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion
A major chapter in the American National Epic was the period of Westward Expansion.
Countless migrants left the East Coast, making their way towards the Pacific, but settling along the way.
While the process started during the expeditions of Lewis and Clark, the scope of westward expansion increase considerably after the 1830’s.
Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion
Though the settlers were predominantly encouraged by economic incentives, the urge to migrate was explained through the semi-mystical nationalist ideology, Manifest Destiny.
Manifest Destiny asserted that it was the responsibility of (white) Americans to expand westward and make use of the continents bountiful lands, which were not being adequately cultivated (a point many Native Americans were likely to disagree with.)
Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion
August 1821 saw Mexico successfully declare independence from Spain. Aiming to replace the aristocratic hacienda system, Mexican government started handing out large grants called ranchos.
Most of these ranchos were very large, up to several thousand acres. Ranchos became distinct and separate independent political, economic, and social units.
They were run by families as private fiefs with total control over every aspect of life.
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Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion
Seeking to increase settlement in the territory of Mexico that is now Texas, the Mexican government authorized large land grants to people who agreed to supervise the administration of settlers.
Eventually this process was opened to foreigners looking to settle the land, with Stephen Austin becoming the first American to receive an empresario.
Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion
Mexican politics during this period were often times chaotic. Between 1821 and 1876, the presidency changed hands 75 times.
Though the American settlers aimed to create an independent state with the land they were granted from Mexico, their goals were dashed in 1835. Antonio López de Santa Anna, who had been elected president in 1832, overturned the constitution and made himself dictator in 1835.
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Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion
Eventually, resentment between the local Texas government and the central Mexican government escalated until a revolt ensued.
The War of Texan Independence hit a boiling point with the Battle of the Alamo, where Santa Anna's 4,000 strong army defeats 187 defenders who barricaded themselves in the Alamo, a Franciscan mission at San Antonio, Texas. "Remember the Alamo" became the battle cry until the end of the Texas Revolution.
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Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion
After the Alamo defeat, volunteers from the US South rushed to the aid of the Texan army commanded by Sam Houston. He surprised Santa Anna at San Jacinto. A month later Santa Anna signed a treaty recognizing Texas an independent republic with a boundary at the Rio Grande to the South and West. The Mexican Congress rejected the treaty and the border was disputed.
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Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion
Fearing reprisal by a Mexican government that did not fully recognize their independence, Texas sought aid from the US and was annexed in 1845.
The US also had aims for California and further expansion in the West, encouraging the US to provoke war with Mexico.
The Mexican American War will be fought from 1846-1848.
Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion
In February 1848, after a costly war, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed between Mexico and the US.
This treaty ended the Mexican-American War. Mexico ceded New Mexico and California to the US for $15 million, established the Rio Grande as the border between Texas and Mexico.
It also promised that the US would assume all claims American citizens had against Mexico.
Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion
The new additions to the US once again brought up the issue of slavery within the national debate.
1853 saw President Franklin Pierce negotiate the purchase of a section of land on the southern tip of Arizona and Mexico, known as the Gadsden Purchase. This land was needed to complete a southern transcontinental railway.
Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion
Located in the Sacramento Valley, John Sutter established the New Helvetia colony.
In 1848, James W. Marshall, a carpenter was building a sawmill on the American River. There, at Sutter's Mill, Marshall found the first gold nuggets. News of his discovery spread, and thousands of persons rushed to CA.
Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion
Between 1849 and 1850, more than 100,000 people came to CA. Some fortunes were made from gold, but most were made from supplying miners.
Levi Strauss made canvas trousers that the miners favored while brothers, Henry Wells and William Fargo offered banking, transportation and mail services.
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Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion