QCB1k Identify and evaluate the political and territorial changes resulting from westward expansion of the United States in the early nineteenth century

Evaluating Westward Expansion

In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson purchased the territory of Louisiana from the French government for $15 million. The Louisiana Purchase stretched from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from Canada to New Orleans, and it doubled the size of the United States. To Jefferson, westward expansion was the key to the nation’s health: He believed that a republic depended on an independent, virtuous citizenry for its survival, and that independence and virtue went hand in hand with land ownership, especially the ownership of small farms. (“Those who labor in the earth,” he wrote, “are the chosen people of God.”) In order to provide enough land to sustain this ideal population of virtuous yeomen, the United States would have to continue to expand.

The westward expansion of the United States is one of the defining themes of 19th-century American history, but it is not just the story of Jefferson’s expanding “empire of liberty.” On the contrary, as one historian writes, in the six decades after the Louisiana Purchase, westward expansion “very nearly destroy[ed] the republic.”

1. Do you think that the author is putting a positive or negative spin on Jefferson’s idea of an “empire of liberty”? How can you tell?

2. Using your knowledge of history, determine how westward expansion “nearly destroyed the republic.”

James K. Polk and the Policy of Expansion

In the presidential election of 1844, Democrat James K. Polk rode to victory over his Whig opponent Henry Clay on an aggressively expansionist platform that welded together the Texas and Oregon issues. Democrats appealed to the expansionist sentiments of both Northern and Southern voters and their shared desire to safeguard the sectional balance in Congress. After winning the election, Polk articulated his foreign policy goals: settlement of the Oregon dispute with Britain, annexation of Texas, and the acquisition of California from Mexico. The acquisition of California represented a significant expansion of American interest in Mexican territory and promised to complicate an already tense Mexican-American relationship over Texas. 1. What does the author mean when he says that Polk and his party “shared desire to safeguard the sectional balance in Congress”?

2. Using the results of the 1844 election as criteria, would you say that the majority of Americans believed in Manifest Destiny? How do you know?

U.S. Boundary History 1845: The independent Republic of Texas (1836-1845) is annexed to the United States. The territory of Texas extended north to 42 degrees north (into modern Wyoming) due to a secret treaty between Mexico and Texas. 1846: Oregon Territory is ceded to the U.S. from Britain following an 1818 joint claim on the territory (which resulted in the phrase "Fifty-Four Forty or Fight!"). The Treaty of Oregon establishes the boundary at 49 degrees north. 1848: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo following the Mexican War between the U.S. and Mexico resulted in the purchase of Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, and western Colorado. 1853: With the Gadsden Purchase of 1853, the land acquisition that resulted in the area of the 48 contiguous states today was completed. Southern Arizona and southern New Mexico were purchased for $10 million and named for the U.S. minister to Mexico, James Gadsden.

1. How would you describe the actions of the US in the 1840’s and 1850’s? Why?

2. How did the US acquire the land for Oregon? Southern Arizona and New Mexico? California and Utah?

Manifest Destiny: Clash of Cultures

The discovery of gold in Georgia led to a tragic story in American history. As the number of settlers grew, there was a push to displace the Native people who lived there. In 1830 the Congress of the United States passed the "Indian Removal Act." This opened the door to removing the Cherokee people from the State of Georgia. Before any Native Americans were forced to move, Chief Justice John Marsall of the Supreme Court ruled that the land was sovereign. He said the Cherokees would have to agree to move by signing a treaty with the United States. There were supporters and opponents on both sides. Daniel Webster, Henry Clay and Davy Crockett supported the Cherokee. The number of Cherokees supporting a treaty was small compared to the 17,000 who made up the tribe. In this case the minority ruled and the Treaty of New Echota was signed by President Andrew. The result of this act was the Trail of Tears where Native Americans walked from Georgia to Oklahoma under very harsh conditions. Over 4,000 lives were lost. This is only one example of the clash between cultures that began when European settlers arrived in America. The idea of manifest destiny was being used long before John O'Sullivan, an editor for the United States Magazine and Democratic Review, coined the term in 1845.

Our manifest destiny [is] to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions. -John L. O'Sullivan, 1845

1. Put the quote from John Sullivan in your own words.

2. Would you say that John Marshall believed in Manifest Destiny? How do you know?

3. How would you describe the views of Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, and Davy Crockett?