EXPANSION

1
EXPANSION
2
54 40 or Fight

• Oregon Country had continued to be unsettled
  question from Convention of 1818
• Polk states that U.S. should take all of Oregon
  up to 54 40 line
• Argument takes place as relations with Mexico get
  worse over Texas
• British dont want war, work out treaty that sets
  border at 49th parallel

3
Causes of War

• Texas becomes state in 1845
• Mexico does not recognize treaty from Texas
  Revolution
• Texas considers border at Rio Grande, while
  Mexico says it is at Nueces River
• Polk sends Gen. Zachary Taylor to area of dispute
• Sends John Slidell to Mexico to negotiate

4

• Slidell is authorized to offer money for
  California and New Mexico
• Mexican political situation is unsettled
• Mexican government will not negotiate with
  Slidell
• Slidell returns and tells Polk that Mexico needs
  to be chastised

5
Thornton Affair

• April 1846- Mexican army attacks American patrol
  in disputed area
• May 1846- Polk asks Congress for a declaration of
  war because American blood has been shed on
  American soil
• May 13- Congress declares war

6
Proponents and Opponents

• Whigs oppose the war and called it Mr. Polks
  War
• Abraham Lincoln introduced spot resolutions
• Abolitionists (such as Frederick Douglass) were
  against because of possible spread of slavery
• Henry David Thoreau- Civil Disobedience
• Democrats support cause of expansion
• Southerners and Westerners volunteer to fight

7
Start of War

• Strategy was to take the land that the U.S.
  wanted and attack Mexico to force peace
• Two main fronts-
• Stephen Kearny leads force to attack Santa Fe
  and New Mexico and then go to California where he
  would be assisted by a fleet under John Sloat
• Zachary Taylor would attack Mexico as far as
  Monterrey

8
Bear Flag Revolt

• Kearny marched to California where settlers had
  revolted against the Mexican government
• Led by John C. Fremont
• Kearny joins with Stockton and completes conquest
  of California

9
Mexico

• Battle of Monterrey is fought by Taylor and won
• Santa Anna (returned from exile and now has
  seized power) marches to meet Taylor
• 15,000 Mexicans fight 5,000 Americans at Battle
  of Buena Vista
• Famous cavalry charge led by Jefferson Davis
• Santa Anna had to withdraw

10
Winfield Scott

• Polk sends second army to Mexico under Scott
• Lands at Veracruz
• Force contained Robert E. Lee and Thomas Jackson
• Battles are won at Cerro Gordo and Chapultepec
• Opens the way to Mexico City which also falls

11
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

• Mexico gives up all claims to Texas
• Established border at Rio Grande
• U.S. pays 15 million for Mexican Cession lands
• Will become parts of California, Nevada, Utah,
  New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Wyoming
• 1853- Gadsden Purchase adds land that later will
  become part of New Mexico and Arizona

12
Results of War

• Gained land for U.S.- Mexican Cession
• Made slavery an important issue again
• Served as training ground for the Civil War-
  Grant, Sherman, McClellan, Meade, Lee, Jackson,
  and Davis all fought

13
Westward Expansion

• William Becknell- Santa Fe Trail
• Began in 1821 in order to trade with Mexico
• Trade of merchandise for fur, livestock, and
  silver
• Mountain Men come next to the West
• Rendezvous System- William Ashley proposes once a
  year gathering to buy and sell
• Jim Bridger, Kit Carson, and James Beckwourth
  were famous mountain men

14
Oregon Trail

• Went north on the Platte River
• Farm families settle in Willamette Valley
• Missionaries head to Oregon to convert Indians
• June 1846- Treaty with Great Britain sets border
  at 49th parallel
• Wagon trains were used for safety
• Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1851- Sioux, Cheyenne,
  and others agree to defined territory and will
  not attack settlers

15
California Gold Rush

• John Sutter begins California Trail
• 1848- James Marshall discovers gold
• Discovery leads to large number of people coming
  to Callfornia Forty-niners
• Mining towns begin to grow