HIST 113 Lecture 13: Chapter 13 -1840-1861
31 Jul 2016
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Manifest destiny: americans believed god had chosen them to rule north america. Need to tame a frontier: added to national character . Main conflict over access to pacific coast. Major objective: acquiring texas & california for the united states. 1810-1830: nearly all colonies in america are independent. 1820s: u. s. tried to buy texas from mexico. 1836: americans in texas declared it independent from mexico. U. s. wanted land from northern mexico, offered to buy it. Polk sent troops to defend against attack from mexico. First major war fought by u. s. army, went on the offensive and won. Acquired 40% of mexican territory (parts of 10 future states) New americans: 75,000 spanish-speaking mexicans & 150,000 indians. Immigration boom from eastern u. s. , europe, australia, chinese. Wilmot proviso: territory acquired from mexico should be free not passed. This marked the point of more free states than slave states. Slave trade (but not slavery) is abolished in district of columbia.
