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An Empire in the
West
Chapter 14Lecture Outline
© 2013 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
The Tyler Presidency
• The Death of Harrison
– VP John Tyler
• Unlike the other Whigs
• Did not like nationalism
• Hates the American
System and Henry Clay
• Domestic Affairs– Repeal Treasury Act
– Denied 3rd national bank
– All about states’ rights
• Supported nullification
– Whig cabinet resigned
– Tyler “man with no party”
Drunk History Harrison:https://youtu.be/CDukCTcITLY
The Tyler Presidency
• Foreign Affairs
– British navy checking for slave trade off Africa
• British outlaw ships with slaves 1807, colonies: 1834
– Slave revolt on the Creole & sailed into Bahamas
– Most slaves given freedom, 19 who rebelled put on trial for piracy but
found innocent as they were illegally slaves and were fighting for
freedom (17 were freed in 1842)
– Creole finally makes it to US in 1841 with 3 women and 2 children
slaves, Southerners outraged about their lost of property
The Tyler Presidency
• Foreign Affairs
– Webster-Asburton Treaty of 1842
• Joint effort to check for slave trade
• Settle Canada border dispute in U.S.
The Western Frontier
• “Manifest Destiny” is born
– God deems US should be coast to coast & beyond
– Newspaper propaganda to justify taking more land
The Western Frontier
• The Spanish West and Mexican Independence
– Mexico achieves independence in 1821
• The Rocky Mountains and Oregon Country
– Traders in the Rocky Mountains would become stereotypical “mountain men,” cut off from civilization and enjoying their independence.
– Rich soil = rush of settlers “Oregon fever”
Fur Traders Descending the Missouri (1845) One of George Caleb Bingham’s paintings from his winter in central Missouri. A bear cub is
depicted at the bow.
America, Story of Us: Westward 10:50 -16:35 http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2b1k9y
The Western Frontier
• The Settlement
of California
– Missionaries
– Saving native
souls cost
many native
lives.
– 72k in 1769 to
18k in 1821
– 1846: around
800 Americans
compared to
8000-12000
Hispanics
The Western Frontier
• Early Development of California
– Between 1841 – 1867 350k Americans went to California/Oregon
– Many also went to Colorado, Texas, Arkansas…
Moving West• The Santa Fe Trail
– Santa Fe to St. Louis, Missouri
– So popular silver peso was main currency in Missouri
• The Overland Trails
– 2000 mile trek
– average 1 grave every 80 yards along trail
– scarcity of water
– hostile Indians
– 6 months in covered wagon caravans
1845: 5k/year
1849: 30k/year
1850: 55k/year
Moving West
• The Indians and Great Plains Ecology– Fort Laramie Treaty– 10k Indians (some at war with each other) met with US officials & 3 weeks of
discussions led to treaty:1. Govt pays cash annually for compensation of damage done by wagons to land2. Stop harassing white caravans3. All federal forts to be built4. Confine themselves to a specific area (foreshadowing: “reservation”)
• The Donner Party– became lost on the way to California and were forced to resort to cannibalism
before they were rescued http://www.history.com/shows/america-the-story-of-us/videos/the-donner-party
Moving West
• The Pathfinder: John Frémont
– Mapped several trails including Oregon
– Maps widely circulated
• California in Turmoil
– Presidents from Jackson to Tyler had tried to purchase California from the Spanish & then the Mexican governments
Annexing Texas• American Settlements
– invited settlers if they became citizens
– Too many & too many with slaves
• Texas Independence
– Santa Anna…Alamo in San Antonio
– March 2, 1836 declares independence
– April 21, 1836 Battle of San Jacinto
Sam Houston was commander in chief of the Texas forces.
Annexing Texas
• Negotiations for Annexation
– Would tip free/slave state balance
– Could cause war with Mexico
– Jackson and Van Buren won’t but Tyler pushes for it
– Calhoun’s Annexation treaty fails in Senate
Annexing Texas
• The Election of 1844
– Texas annexation was the key issue
– Whigs (Clay) denounced, Democrats (Polk) adopted it
Polk’s Objectives
-Destory 3rd National Bank return to Independent Treasury-Settle Oregon issue-Annexation of Texas -Remove Cali from Mexico
Annexing Texas
• The State of Texas
– Tyler asks for congress to pass resolution
– Tylers final action as POTUS was to sign resolution 3/1/1845
– Mexico dispatches troops to Rio Grande
• Oregon
– Americans ready to go to war over Oregon but British decided it wasn’t worth war.
Polk’s Dream (1846) The devil advises Polk to pursue 54°40´ even if “you deluge your country with seas of blood, produce a servile
insurrection and dislocate every joint of this happy and prosperous union!!!”
The Mexican War• The Outbreak of War
– Border dispute causes hostilities…Congress grants Polk his declaration of war
• Opposition to the War
– JQA “unrighteous”
– Abraham Lincoln’s “spot resolutions”
– Clay fears was will fracture Union
– North worried it was about slavery
The Mexican War
• Preparing for Battle
– four fronts (New Mexico, California, Texas, and Mexico)
– takes two years
– Commanders: Winfried Scott than Zachary Taylor
• The Annexation of California
– John C. Fremont declares independence in CA and himself military governor
The Mexican War• US vs Mexico
– 7k vs 32k
– By end US grew to 79k
– 31k were state militias with
no morals
– Many Mexico soldiers forced
into army (prisoners or poor)
– Weapons obsolete
• Scott first in command
– Scott seemed a future
political threat to Polk
– Taylor in Matamoros
– Polk disliked terms on
surrender
– Taylor ordered to stay put
but he attacks Santa Anna
– Scott put back in command
to attack through Veracruz
• same route as Cortez
– conquers Mexico City
The Mexican War
• Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
– America received from California to New Mexico in return for giving Mexico $15 million in compensation
• The War’s Legacies
– a surge in national pride
– Would provide expectations of a quick and easy war 15 years later…
The Mexican War
• Several firsts…
– Successful Imperial American war
– Occupation of enemy capital
– West Point grads played major role
– War correspondents
• Combat experiences for:
– Robert E Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, George B. McClellan, George Meade
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