Transcript America’s “Manifest Destiny”

Manifest Destiny….
• What does the word “Destiny” mean?
• What does the word “Manifest” mean?
• Do you think the US has a sense of
“destiny” today? Explain
AMERICA’S
MANIFEST DESTINY
Expanding our borders
from sea to shining sea
What is Manifest Destiny?
• Americans’ belief that the United States’
destiny was to expand to the Pacific
Ocean and into Mexican Territory
• Term first used by newspaper editor John
L. O’Sullivan to describe westward
migration
A Period of Expansion
Expansion Fever hits [again] in 1840’s
– Americans were moving west, energized by a belief in the
rightful expansion of the US from coast to coast
Manifest Destiny
So, why go west?
Americans hit the trails to:
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Escape religious persecution (Mormons)
Find new markets for commerce (entrepreneurs)
Claim land for farming, ranching, and mining
Locate harbors on the Pacific for trade (to Asia)
Seek employment and avoid creditors after the
panic of 1837
• Spread the virtues of democracy
• Fulfill America’s “Manifest Destiny”
Trails
• Santa Fe – Independence MO to NM
– Trade route (guns, knives, etc)
• Oregon – Independence to Portland, OR
– Settlers – walked or took wagons
– Many died of fever &
disease by 1844,
settlers in Oregon
Mormon Migration
• Joseph Smith founded Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1830
• Believed in polygamy (more than 1 wife)
• Angry crowds drove them from NY to IL
• Smith arrested, then killed by angry mob
• Left Nauvoo, IL – from 1847-1853 more
than 16,000 Mormons migrated to Great
Salt Lake in UT along “Mormon Trail”
Effects of Manifest Destiny
• Polk’s campaign slogan: “Fifty-Four Forty
or Fight!”
• Referred to boundary dispute with British
Canada over Oregon Territory
• Threatened war if border wasn’t set there
• Settled on 49th parallel, that is still
boundary with Canada today.
Effects on Natives
The Black Hawk War
• 1832, Sauk and Fox tribes take a stand against white
settlers
– resulted in devastation for the Native Americans,
most killed, rest forced west
– settlers feared native attacks
Ft. Laramie Treaty signed in 1851
- US gave land in great plains to natives in exchange
for yearly payments & safe passage for westward
travelers
- US. repeatedly violated treaty
Communication Links
• Needed to stay in contact with people in
west
• Butterfield Trail – private stage line,
carried passengers and mail from St.
Louis to CA
• Pony Express – Missouri to CA using
horses to transport mail
• Telegraph - 1861
Who is James K. Polk?
November 2, 1795 - June 15, 1849
Who is James K. Polk?
• 11th President (1845-1849)
Democrat from NC
– “Dark horse candidate”
• Responsible for great territorial expansion
• Led the US into war with Mexico in 1846
James K. Polk
• Born in NC, lived in TN
• Democrat, a friend and
firm supporter of Andrew
Jackson and his policies
– Aided Jackson’s war on the
National Bank
• The last Jacksonian
– last “strong” president before
the Civil War
James K. Polk
How he led the way to our Manifest Destiny
• Committed to geographic expansion
• Ignored Whig objections, worked for the largest
territorial gains in the nation's history
– New lands exceeded the Louisiana Purchase
– He secured the Oregon Territory
• WA, OR, ID, MT, WY
– Purchased 1.2 million square miles in the Treaty of
Guadalupe Hidalgo (the end of the Mexican-American War)
• NM, CA, AZ, NV, CO, UT
– Completed the acquisition of most of the current
continental 48 states
Polk Trivia
• Scholars have ranked him 8th to 12th on the list of
greatest presidents for his ability to set an agenda and
achieve all of it
• Oversaw the opening of the U.S. Naval Academy, the
Smithsonian, the groundbreaking for the Washington
Monument, and the first postage stamps in the US
• First President to be photographed frequently in office
• First president not to seek reelection after one term