CHAPTER 11 EXPANDING WEST

SECTION 1

AMERICANS MOVE OUT WEST

    Early 1800s – Americans moved out west by traveling on horseback, canoes, and wagon trains Companies moved west in search of more beaver fur (beaver population killed off in East)

Mountain men

– western fur traders and trappers from the Rocky Mountains hired by eastern companies Beaver fur went out of fashion and demand fell in the 1840s

WESTWARD EXPANSION MAP

OREGON TRAIL

    1840s – easterners embarked on a trail that stretched 2,000 miles and lasted 6 months Trail stretched through the

Great Plains

from western

Missouri

to the

Oregon Territory

Pioneers had to deal with shortages of food and water, rough weather and geographic barriers (rivers and mountains) Many Native Americans were messengers and guides and traded food with the pioneers

OREGON COUNTRY AND TRAIL MAP

SANTA FE TRAIL

    An important trade path to the West that ran from

Independence, Missouri

to

Santa Fe, New Mexico

American traders exchanged cloth for horses, mules, and silver with Mexican traders Lure of high profits encouraged traders to travel through hot deserts U.S. government sent troops to protect the traders from Native American attacks

SANTA FE TRAIL MAP

MORMONS

    

Joseph Smith

founded Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in New York (Mormons) Mormons were persecuted because of

polygamy

(one man married to several women at the same time) Mormons moved out West seeking religious freedom 1844 – anti-Mormon mob killed Smith

Brigham Young

became new leader and the Mormon Church settled in Salt Lake City, Utah

SECTION 2

FATHER MIGUEL HIDALGO Y COSTILLA

     Mexican priest led a rebellion of 80,000 poor Indians and mestizos His rebellion failed, but it inspired the Mexican independence movement 1821 – Mexico became independent

Empresarios

– agents hired by the Mexican government to bring settlers to Texas **Texas was part of Mexico at this time

FATHER MIGUEL HIDALGO Y COSTILLA (in a glorious pose)

STEPHEN F. AUSTIN

   He was an

empresario

who started a Texas colony on the lower Colorado River in 1822 Many people who lived in this colony disobeyed Mexican laws, such as bringing slaves Capital of Texas is named after Austin

ANTONIO LOPEZ DE SANTA ANNA

  Mexico’s leader Suspended Mexico’s republican constitution and turned his attention to the growing unrest in Texas

TEXAS DECLARES INDPENDENCE

    March 2, 1836 – Texas declared independence from Mexico Texas is known as the “Lone Star State”

Sam Houston

led the Texas army Santa Anna was angry about the declaration and assembled a force of thousands

THE BATTLE OF THE ALAMO

    February/March 1836 – 200 Texan rebels fought a huge force of Mexican troops at an abandoned mission called

The Alamo

near San Antonio Texan rebels led by

Colonel William Travis

and proclaimed, “Victory or death!”

James Bowie Davy Crockett

, a famous American folk hero, frontiersman, and Representative from Tennessee, fought and died at the Alamo Despite heavy Mexican losses, all the Texan defenders were killed

THE BATTLE OF THE ALAMO (Painting)

THE BATTLE OF THE ALAMO (Painting)

HEROES OF THE ALAMO

Colonel William Travis Davy Crockett Jim Bowie

THE ALAMO (MODERN-DAY PHOTO)

BATTLE OF SAN JACINTO

      Texans led by

Sam Houston

April 1836 – Houston’s forces gained victory by surprising Mexican troops at San Jacinto (Texas) while they were sleeping Houston’s forces shouted the famous line,

“Remember the Alamo!”

as they attacked Santa Anna’s army was utterly destroyed in 18 minutes Mexican losses = 630 killed, 208 wounded, 730 captured Texan losses = 9 killed, 30 wounded

BATTLE OF SAN JACINTO (Painting)

AN INDEPENDENT TEXAS

    

Santa Anna

was captured at the Battle of San Jacinto and traded his life to sign a treaty that gave Texas its independence in 1836

Sam Houston

became President of Texas

President Jackson

refused to annex Texas as a state because he didn’t want to upset the balance between free and slave states  Texas would have entered as a slave state 1840s –

President John Tyler

wanted to allow slavery in Texas, so his party, the

Whigs

, stopped supporting him June 1845 – Texas annexed as a state

MAP OF TEXAS

MANIFEST DESTINY

   Many Americans believed it was their

destiny,

or

obvious fate

, to settle all the way to the Pacific Ocean They believed they were destined to expand their control over the continent in order to spread democracy There were debates if slavery should be allowed in the new territories

MANIFEST DESTINY PAINTING

JAMES K. POLK

      11 th President Belonged to the Democratic Party He wanted to annex the

Oregon Country

 Merchants would benefit from a Pacific port for trade with China He disagreed with Britain over how to draw the U.S.-Canadian border American expansionists created the slogan,

“Fifty-four forty of fight!”

54 °40' north latitude was the line they wanted their northern territory to extend to

CALIFORNIA UNDER MEXICO

   Mexico controlled present-day Arizona, California, New Mexico, and California They changed Spanish policy in California by terminating the

mission system

(Spanish religious and trading settlements)

Californios

– Mexican colonists living in California

SECTION 3

MEXICAN-AMERICAN WAR (1846-1847)

     U.S. stated our border was farther south than the Mexicans claimed it was March 1846 –

General Zachary Taylor

crossed the

Rio Grande

, and a battle between U.S. and Mexican forces occurred As a result, President Polk said Mexican forces invaded our territory, so Congress declared war on Mexico U.S. Army was outnumbered, but had much better weapons and equipment 200,000 volunteers answered Polk’s call to fight because they wanted an adventure in a foreign land

RIO GRANDE MAP

MEXICAN-AMERICAN WAR PAINTING

BEAR FLAG REVOLT

   A small group of Americans seized the town of

Sonoma

and fought

Californios

in June 1846 These Americans defied Mexico by claiming California was independent Fighting ended in 1847, but California was annexed as a state in 1850 and did not become an independent country

TREATY OF GUADALUPE HIDALGO

   General Taylor’s forces crushed the Mexican military in Buena Vista in 1847

General Winfield Scott

crushed the strongest fortress in Mexico at Veracruz and captured the capital of Mexico City on September 14, 1847; Santa Anna fled

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

signed in February 1848 and it officially ended the war and it increased the size of the U.S. by almost 25 percent

GASDEN PURCHASE

  U.S. paid Mexico $10 million in exchange for the southern parts of Arizona and New Mexico (Southwest) It secured a southern route for a transcontinental railroad on southern soil

MEXICAN CESSION

  

Cession

= the act of giving up property or territory rights Some Mexican-Americans were very confused when white settlers poured into the

Southwest

since Mexican land laws were very different The different cultures did influence each other since Mexican and American holidays were celebrated in the

Southwest

SECTION 4

CALIFORNIA TRAIL

  1830s and 1840s American and Mexican merchants would meet in California to trade factory-made goods for precious coins, hides, and

tallow

(fatty tissue of animals used to make soap, candles, food, etc.)

CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH

   January 1848 - gold discovered in California 1849 – about 80,000

“Forty-niners”,

who were gold-seekers from America and abroad, migrated to California Many came to “get rich quick” and stayed to build a stable frontier society

FORTY-NINERS PHOTO

CALIFORNIA ADVERTISEMENT

GOLD’S IMPACT ON CALIFORNIA

   

“Gold fever”

– the population explosion made California eligible for statehood in 1850 Population of

San Francisco

grew to more than 25,000 The

transcontinental railroad

gave California’s economy the means to grow by connecting the state to the rest of the country Railroad completed in 1869