HIS 108 Chapter Notes - Chapter 11: Gadsden Purchase, Northwest Territory, Expansionism
27 Apr 2019
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~ Chapter Eleven: Moving West ~
o This chapter explores the trans-Mississippi West between 1830 and 1865.
o First, we will consider how and when Americans moved west, by what means the United
States acquired the vast territories that in 1840 belonged to other nations, and the meaning
of “Manifest Destiny,” the slogan used to defend the conquest of the continent west of the
Mississippi River.
o As we explore the nature of life on the western farms, in western mining communities,
where Latin American, Chinese, and European adventurers mingled with American fortune
seekers, and in western cities, consider the ways in which communities and settlers in the
West were similar and diverse.
o This chapter concludes by examining the responses of Native Americans and Mexican
Americans to expansion and exploring how different cultural traditions intersected.
11.1 Probing the Trans-Mississippi West
o Until the 1840s, most Americans lived east of the Mississippi.
o By 1860, however, some 4.3 million Americans moved beyond the great river into the trans-
Mississippi West.
o The International Context for American Expansionism
o The shifting interest and fortunes of several European nations helped to shape the character
and timing of westward emigration even though individual settlers might not recognize the
large forces affecting their experiences.
o In 1821, Mexico declared its independence and acquired Spain’s territories in the trans-
Mississippi West.
▪ While maintaining control of this distant region and its people would have been
difficult under any circumstances, Mexico was not successful in forming a strong or
stable government until the 1860s.
▪ It was in a weak position to resist the avid American appetite for expansion.
o Russia. Spain, and Great Britain all had claims to Oregon, but negotiations with Russia and
Spain in 1819 and 1824 left just the United States and Britain contending for the territory.
▪ Oregon’s future would depend partly on how Britain defined its interests there as
Americans began to stream into Oregon in the 1840s.
o Early Interest in the West
o Some Americans penetrated the trans-Mississippi West long before the great migrations of
the 1840s and 1850s.
▪ The fur business had attracted Americans trappers and traders by 1811.
▪ Methodist missionaries established outposts to teach native tribes Christian and
American practices.
o The collapse of the Spanish Empire in 1821 provided Americans with a variety of
opportunities.
▪ In Texas, cheap land for cotton attracted settlers.
o Tribes driven from the South and the Old Northwest by the American government into
present-day Oklahoma and Kansas were among the earliest easterners in the trans-
Mississippi West.
o The fact that much of the trans-Mississippi West lay outside US boundaries and that the
government had guaranteed Indian tribes permanent possession of some western territories
did not deter American economic of missionary activities.
o During the 1840s the United States used war and diplomacy to acquire Mexico’s possessions
in the West as well as the title to the Oregon country up to the 49th parallel.
▪ The 1853 Gadsden Purchase secured yet another chunk of Mexican territory for the
nation.
o Manifest Destiny
o The phrase, coined in 1845, suggested that the country’s superior institutions and culture
constituted a God-given right, even an obligation, to spread American civilization across the
continent.
▪ Rooted in Puritan utopianism and revolutionary republicanism, this sense of
uniqueness and mission also stemmed from the rapid growth and progress of the
early nineteenth century.
▪ The idea that the nation could and should expand enjoyed wide popular support.
11.2 Winning the Trans-Mississippi West
o Manifest Destiny justified expansion, but events in Texas triggered the national government’s
determinism to move west of the Mississippi.
o The Texas question dated back to the years of Spanish control.
▪ Primarily a buffer zone for Mexico, the sparsely populated Southwest had scattered
centers of Spanish settlement.
▪ It was increasingly vulnerable as Spain weakened.
▪ In negotiations with Spain in 1819 that resulted in the Adams-Onís Treaty, the
United States specifically conceded Texas to Spain in return for Florida.
o Annexing Texas, 1845
o By the time that treaty was ratified in 1821, Mexico was independent but unable to defend
its borderlands or to develop powerful bonds of national identity.
▪ Mexicans soon had reason to wonder whether Americans would honor the 1819
treaty as American politicians like Henry Clay called for “re-annexation” of Texas.
o In 1823, the Mexican government resolved to strengthen Texas by increasing its population.
▪ In return for token payments and pledges to adopt Catholicism and Mexican
citizenship, settlers were promised land.
• Few settlers honored their bargain.
• Mexican anxiety rose as American residents evaded the mandate to abolish
slavery while emigrants still crossed the border into Texas.
o After skirmishes, Santa Anna, the Mexican dictator, signed treaties recognizing Texas
independent.
▪ The new republic, financially unstable with a questionable diplomatic status, sought
admission to the United States.
▪ With 13 free and 13 slave states, many northerners violently opposed taking in
another slave state.
• Powerful sectional, national, and political tensions exploded, demonstrating
the divisiveness of the slavery-expansion question.
• Southern Democrats insisted that their region’s future hinged on annexing
Texas.
o Stephen Douglas supported it not because it would expand slavery
but because it would spread American civilization.
• Most Whigs opposed annexation, fearing another slave state.
o They accused the Democrats of exploiting Manifest Destiny to gain
office rather than to bring freedom to Texas.
o Nine years after its revolution, Texas finally joined the Union, with the right to split into five
states if it chose.
o Was with Mexico, 1846-1848
o When Mexico learned of Texas’s annexation, it severed diplomatic ties with the United
States.
▪ Mexicans could easily interpret events from the 1820s on as part of a gigantic
American plot to steal Texas.
o In late April, the Mexican government declared a state of defensive war.
▪ Although Congress declared war, the conflict was bitterly divisive.
• Many Whigs, including Abraham Lincoln, questioned President Polk’s
truthfulness.
• Lincoln declared the Mexican-American War one “of conquest brought
into existence to catch votes.”
Document Summary
~ chapter eleven: moving west : this chapter explores the trans-mississippi west between 1830 and 1865, first, we will consider how and when americans moved west, by what means the united. Mississippi river. where latin american, chinese, and european adventurers mingled with american fortune seekers, and in western cities, consider the ways in which communities and settlers in the. West were similar and diverse: this chapter concludes by examining the responses of native americans and mexican. Americans to expansion and exploring how different cultural traditions intersected. 11. 1 probing the trans-mississippi west: until the 1840s, most americans lived east of the mississippi, by 1860, however, some 4. 3 million americans moved beyond the great river into the trans- In 1821, mexico declared its independence and acquired spain"s territories in the trans: while maintaining control of this distant region and its people would have been.
