Shaping America – Moving Westward

After viewing this episode and completing the required reading, the student will be able to

  1. …analyze the concept of Manifest Destiny and the effects it had on the expansion of the United States.
  2. …compare and contrast how the United States government resolved the issues of the Oregon Territory and Texas. Why was war used in one instance and diplomacy in another?
  3. …incorporate the following into an analysis of the war between the United States and Mexico: “spot resolution,” Whigs, Manifest Destiny, Polk, Thoreau and Emerson, slavery, Texas, and Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

John L. O’Sullivan is given credit for making the famous statement in 1845 that “Our [United States] manifest destiny [is] to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions.” Manifest destiny became the banner that would lead the nation in its march to the sea. Before the march was completed, California, Oregon, Texas and much of the Southwest were incorporated into the borders of the U.S. It was not all smooth sailing as the United States faced internal conflict as Whig was pitted against Democrat and southerner against northerner. The United States also faced international conflict managing to avoid war with Britain, but having no such luck with Mexico.

The main issue of the election of 1844 was Manifest Destiny and the Democrats’ candidate, James K. Polk, led the charge for expansionism. The Whigs countered with Henry Clay, who tried to straddle the issue of admitting Texas to the Union. The Democrats viewed Polk’s election as a mandate for Manifest Destiny, and Polk began his crusade to acquire Oregon, California and Texas.

Mexico was not about to give up California, nor had they accepted Texas’ independence. They were determined not to sit idly by and watch the United States admit Texas to the Union and extend its influence into what was to become the Southwest region of the United States. War broke out when Mexican troops crossed the disputed Rio Grande River and attacked troops under General Taylor’s command. Polk immediately asked Congress to declare war and neither the Whig Party nor Lincoln’s “Spot Resolution” were successful in stopping the march to war. Southerners applauded the actions taken by Polk and Congress, and the Northerners saw the dreaded institution of slavery marching into Mexico with United States troops. To the surprise of many European powers, the United States enjoyed a relatively easy victory and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo sealed the victory. The fight with Mexico was over, but the fight over the extension of slavery had just begun.

The victory over Mexico was a victory for Manifest Destiny, but it was also a victory that helped accelerate sectional divisions within the United States. Not only would the United States be divided over the expansion of slavery, but it would also become divided over how to treat a group of people who were to become citizens who were ethnically and culturally quite different from the American population.

Select the single best answer to the following questions. Place your answer on the line.

  1. One argument against annexing Texas to the United States was that the annexation _____.
  1. could involve the country in a series of ruinous wars in America & Europe
  2. might give more power to the supporters of slavery
  3. was not supported by the people of Texas
  4. offered little of value to America
  1. In the 1840s, the view that God had ordained the growth of an American nation stretching across North America was called _____.
  1. Continentalism
  2. Isolationism
  3. Anglophobia
  4. Manifest Destiny
  1. One reason that the British government decided to compromise on the Oregon Country border was _____.
  1. the Whigs were threatening to invade Canada
  2. he fear of war with the United States
  3. the election of Clay in 1844
  4. John Tyler's election to the presidency
  1. In 1846 the U.S. went to war with Mexico for all of the following reasons EXCEPT _____.
  1. Manifest Destiny
  2. the deaths of American soldiers at the hands of Mexicans
  3. the desire to gain payment for damage claims against the Mexican government
  4. the impulse to satisfy those asking for "spot resolution"
  1. The terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo ending the Mexican War included _____.
  1. United States payment of $15 million for the cession of northern Mexico
  2. United States annexation of Texas
  3. The banning of slavery from all territory ceded to the United States
  4. a requirement that Mexico pay $3.25 million in damages to the United States