SPONGE

1
SPONGE
Chapter 13, section 2

1. Complete the sentence Mexico feared that the
   Americans would try to make Texas (p.386)
2. Define Siege. (p.387)

2
The Republic of Texas

• Chapter 13, Section 2

3
Setting the Scene

• The news of Texans fighting for independence
  from Mexico spread to the U.S. in 1835. Many
  Americans were inspired by the revolution, which
  so closely resembled the American Revolution.
• I was in Chicago when I heard the news, wrote
  Joseph Barnard, the Texans are in arms for the
  cause of republican principals and have entered
  the contest with spirit and vigor.

4
Americans in Mexican Texas

• In the early 1800s, American farmers looked
  eagerly to Texas, which was a part of Spain.
• In 1821 Spain agreed to give Moses Austin a land
  grant in Texas. When Moses died, his son Stephen
  took over the project.
• Mexico won its independence before Stephen could
  get started, but the new country agreed to let
  Austin settle in Texas.

5
Americans in Mexican Texas

• Mexico wanted settlers to develop the land and
  control Indian attacks because so few Mexicans
  lived in Texas.
• Austin brought 300 families to Texas, many of
  whom brought slaves and set up cotton
  plantations.
• By 1830, there were 20,000 Americans in Texas
  because Mexico continued to allow them in.

6
Conflict with Mexico

• Early American settlers agreed to become Mexican
  citizens and convert to Catholicism, but later
  settlers resisted.
• In 1830, Mexico barred any more Americans from
  settling in Texas.
• Mexico feared that the Americans would try to
  make Texas a part of the United States.
• The U.S. had already tried to buy Texas twice.

7
Conflict with Mexico

• Mexico began to enforce its laws, using troops to
  make Americans go to church as well as freeing
  slaves.
• In 1833, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna
  gained power in Mexico. He became a dictator and
  threw out the Mexican constitution.
• Rumors spread that he would drive Americans out
  of Texas.

8
Texans Take Action

• Texans, with the support of many Tejanos
  (Mexicans living in Texas) clashed with Mexican
  troops in the town of Gonzales and forced them to
  retreat.
• American rebels then took the town of San
  Antonio, unaware that Santa Anna was on the march
  to take Texas back.

9
Texans Take Action

• Texas declared independence and formed the
  Republic of Texas on March 2, 1836. Sam Houston
  was given control of the Army.
• By the time Santa Anna reached Texas, the Texans
  had taken up positions at the Alamo, waiting for
  an attack.
• The Texans were poorly equipped and outnumbered
  150 to 6,000!

10
Siege at the Alamo

• Inside the village, young William B. Travis was
  in command of famous frontiersman like Jim Bowie
  and Davy Crocket.
• Mexican troops began the siege of the Alamo in
  February. In a siege, enemy forces try to capture
  a city or fort, often by surrounding and
  bombarding it.

11
Siege at the Alamo

• The Texans bravely defended the fort in a
  hopeless fight. Travis sent a letter to the
  people of Texas
• I shall never surrender or retreat. I call on
  you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism, and of
  everything dear to the American character to come
  to our aid with all speed. Victory or Death!

12
Siege at the Alamo

• After 12 days of Mexican cannon bombarding the
  fort, the mission walls fell and soldiers poured
  into the fort.
• All 180 Texans in the fort were killed, many in
  hand-to-hand combat.
• However, 1500 Mexicans also lay dead at the end
  of the day.

13
Texan Independence
Remember the Alamo!

• The fall of the Alamo caused Texans to seek
  revenge against Mexico.
• News of the Alamo inspired many new American to
  volunteer to help the Texans. Houston trained
  these men into an effective army.
• On April 21, 1836 Houston attacked the Mexican
  army, which was camped along the San Jacinto
  River.

14
Texan Independence

• The battle lasted only 18 minutes, as the
  outnumbered Texans killed 630 Mexicans and
  captured 700 more.
• The day after the Battle of San Jacinto the
  Texans captured Santa Anna and forced him to sign
  a treaty, which made Texas an independent
  republic.

15
The Lone Star Republic

• The Texans carried a flag with a single star into
  battle and called their new country the Lone Star
  Republic.
• They wrote a constitution modeled after the
  United States and elected Sam Houston their
  first President.

16
The Lone Star Republic

• The new Lone Star Republic faced several
  challenges Mexico refused to accept Texan
  independence or Santa Annas treaty. Most
  Mexicans still thought of Texas as a part of
  their country.
• Texas was also bankrupt and suffered many attacks
  from Comanche Indians.
• Many Texans thought joining the U.S. would solve
  these problems.

17
The Lone Star Republic

• People in the U.S. were divided over whether to
  annex (add on) Texas.
• Southerners were generally in favor of adding
  Texas because slavery would grow into the west.
  Northerners opposed annexation for the same
  reason.
• President Jackson worried a war would start if
  Texas was annexed, and convinced Congress to
  refuse Texas admission.

18
The Lone Star Republic

• For nine years Texas was its own country.
• The republic attracted thousands of American and
  European immigrants in that time, growing to
  140,000 by the 1840s.
• The republic was home to a diverse group of
  people, including Mexicans, African Americans and
  Native Americans.

19
California and the Southwest

• Chapter 13, Section 3

20
New Mexico Territory

• In the early 1840s, Mexico ruled over California
  and the rest of the Southwest (which was called
  New Mexico Territory.)
• Most of the Southwest is hot and dry with deserts
  and mountains.
• Early tribes like the Zuni farmed the area using
  irrigation while other tribes like the Apache
  lived by hunting.

21
New Mexico Territory

• The Spanish explorer Juan de Onate claimed the
  region for Spain in 1598.
• Santa Fe was built in the 1600s and became the
  capital of the territory.
• Spain did not allow Americans to settle in New
  Mexico.

22
The Santa Fe Trail

• Once Mexico gained its independence in 1821,
  Americans were finally welcome to New Mexico.
• American merchants from Missouri made a route to
  New Mexico that became known as the Santa Fe
  Trail.
• There, they sold their goods to Mexican traders.

23
Californias Missions and Ranches

• California was also ruled by Spain at first, then
  later Mexico.
• The Spanish had already settled in California 65
  years before the first English colony landed in
  America.
• In California, missionaries quickly built a
  string of Catholic missions along the coast.
• Each mission became self-sufficient they
  produced enough food and supplies for the people
  living there and any nearby forts.

24
Californias Missions and Ranches

• Before the Spanish arrived, Californias natives
  lived in small, scattered tribes. They had little
  hope of resisting

• Spanish soldiers and were baptized and forced
  to work on mission lands.
• Work on missions for Native Americans included
  herding sheep and cattle and raising crops, but
  it was hard. Thousands died from overwork and
  disease.

25
Californias Missions and Ranches

• When Mexico gained its independence, it took land
  away from the missions and gave it to wealthy
  noblemen.
• The nobles set up ranches in California.
• Again, Native Americans did most of the work
  here. Some became expert cowboys, called
  vaqueros.

26
Support for Expansion

• By the 1840s, some Americans had moved to
  California and the United States began to offer
  to buy the territory.
• Many Americans saw our government as the best in
  the world, and thought it was our right and duty
  to spread American culture all the way to the
  Pacific.

27
Manifest Destiny

• This idea that the U.S. should spread across the
  continent was called, Manifest Destiny (Manifest
  means obvious.)
• Manifest destiny had an ugly side. Many Americans
  believed that whites were superior to other
  people, so there was no reason why they couldnt
  take land from inferior people.

28
Election of 1844

• In 1844, the Whigs nominated Henry Clay for
  President. The Democrats chose James K. Polk.
• Polk wanted to add Texas and Oregon to the U.S.
  He was the Manifest Destiny candidate.
• Polks motto was 5440 north or fight, meaning
  that he was going to fight for all of Oregon
  Territory.

Polk won the election for two reasons 1) He
supported expansion of the U.S. and 2) he had a
rockin mullet that no President since has been
bold enough to grow.