Continental Expansion, 18201850

1
Continental Expansion, 1820-1850

• The Expansionist Impulse
• Western Territories
• Expansion and Sectionalism, 1840-1848
• The Mexican American War
• Internal Tensions

2
The Expansionist Impulse

• Manifest Destiny The Temple of Liberty
• John L. OSullivan United States Magazine and
  Democratic Review (July-August 1845)
• Other Motivations
• Oregon and the Agrarian Ideal
• California and Asian Ports
• Sectional Issues

3
Western Territories

• Oregon
• Shared w/Britain 1818
• Massive American Migration
• 5440 or Fight!
• Mexican Territories
• Centralist/Federalist Controversy
• Texas
• Moses/Stephen Austin
• The Republic of Texas
• Declaration of Independence March 2, 1836
• Goliad The Alamo
• The Battle of San Jacinto April 21, 1836
• Texas denied admission to the Union
• California
• The Californios and Mexican Independence
• American Business Interests
• American Immigration

4
Expansion and Sectionalism, 1840-1848

• Expansion and the Election of 1844
• Northerners and Oregon
• Southern Democrats and Texas
• Northern Whigs Oppose Expansion
• 1844 Whigs choose Henry Clay as Pres. Candidate
• Dems. choose ardent expansionist James K. Polk
• Oregon, Texas, California
• Polk Wins
• January 1845 Congress annexes Texas
• June 1845 agreement with Britain over Oregon

5
The Mexican-American War

• The Slidell Mission to Mexico
• The Border Dispute leads to war.
• Opponents of the War
• Abraham Lincoln and the Whigs
• Northern Reformers and Abolitionists
• Emerson, Thoreau
• New Mexico, The Bear Flag Republic, and
  California
• Stephen Kearny
• Winfield Scott Marches on Mexico City
• The All Mexico Idea
• The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo Feb. 2, 1848
• The Wilmot Proviso
• Exclude slavery from territory acquired from
  Mexico
• Debate along sectional lines

6
Mexican War (map)
7
Growth of the U.S. to 1853 (map)