Rivalry in the Northwest

• The Oregon Country was a large area near the Pacific Coast. This land is known today as Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and parts of Montana and Wyoming.
• In the early 1800s, four nations claimed the land known as the Oregon Country. Those countries were Great Britain, France, Russia, and Spain.

Adams-Onis Treaty

• Secretary of State John Quincy Adams was able to get the Spanish to sign the Adams-Onis Treaty. This meant that Spain would give up all of their share Oregon.
• In 1818, Adams made out an agreement with Britain to make a joint occupation. This meant that both Britain and The US could settle there.

Mountain Men in Oregon

• Fur traders were some of the first American settlers to live in Oregon, because beaver furs were a great demand in Europe. One of these settlers was Jacob Astor of New York.
• Astor eventually organized the American Fur Company, which was the country's leading fur company. The American Fur Company traded with the East Coast, the Pacific Northwest, and even China.
• Some of the first fur traders traded with Native Americans. These men who searched for furs were called mountain men.

What did America gain from the Adams-Onis Treaty?

Answer: America gained the land we call today Florida.

Oregon and Manifest Destiny - Marcus and Narcissa Whitman

• Among the very 1st settlers were Dr. Marcus Whitman and his wife, Narcissa Whitman. The Whitman's dream was to provide medical help and treatment for the Cayuse.
• The settlers unknowingly brought a horrible disease called measles. The Cayuse people have never been exposed to this disease, and many Cayuse children. The Cayuse blamed the Whitmans for bringing the disease to them, and so they killed them and 11 other settlers.

Along the Oregon Trail

• The Whitman event was certainly shocking, but that hardly delayed any new settlers. Everyone was coming to the Oregon Country for the fertile land, perfect for crops.
• Many emigrants were willing to leave the East to find the rich soil grounds of Oregon.
• In 1843, approximately a thousand emigrants and pioneers completed this journey. The number of settlers and colonists would increase as the years went by.

America Seeks Its Manifest Destiny

• Many colonists and settlers believed their mission was to have a nation of democracy and freedom. That dream soon changed in the 1800s. That dream soon changed into the dream to spread freedom across the continent. John Quincy Adams helped make this dream into a reality.
• New York newspaper editor John O'Sullivan soon gave this dream an actual name: The Manifest Destiny, where Americans would travel across the continent to spread the American vision.
• O'Sullivan was stating that by the name of God, that America was destined to spread the American boundaries all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

"Fifty-Four Forty or Fight"

• Americans soon wanted all of the Oregon Country to themselves. James K. Polk, the Democratic nominee, helped this dream of colonialism. He helped come up with the slogan "Fifty-Four Forty or Fight", which many Democrats used at the time.
• Polk's rival, Henry Clay, didn't take a strong portion in this event. Polk soon won the election because Whig support was behind Polk.
• Polk was very focused of claiming Oregon for American. Britain was unwilling to give up their share of Oregon. In 1846, the two nations soon made a compromise. They set a border at 49 degrees N latitude.

How did Polk's point of view differ from Clay's in the 1844 election?

Answer: Polk's vision to expand America was more willing to be applied that Clay's.

Statehood for Florida and Texas

How did Florida become a state?

Answer: Spain transferred Florida to the United States.

Florida

• Under the terms of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, Florida had an appointed territorial governor, a territorial legislature, and a nonvoting delegate to the United States Congress.
• Tallahassee became the territorial capital in 1824.
• Excluding the Native Americans, fewer than 8,000 people lived in that territory.

The Territory Grows

• The report of population in the territory of Florida was 48,000 in 1837. One half of Florida's population count were slaves.
• Florida's desire to become a state as a slave state caused some trouble. Congress struggled to make slave states and free states balanced.

Statehood for Florida

• Six years after Florida's request to be a slave state, Iowa became a free state, so with the question of slavery removed, Florida became an official U.S. state.

What caused the population of Florida to grow?

Answer: More slave owners and slaves settled in Florida.

Texas

• In the Texas territory, the non-Native American was 3,000, all Tejanos, or Mexicans that claim Texas as their home, after Mexico won its independence from Spain.
• Mexico wanted families to settle on their vast lands, but under their rule.Stephan F. Austin helped bring American settlers to the Texas territory.
• Eventually, American population took over the Tejanos population, and the Americans didn't follow the Mexican's rule. Mexico soon issued a decree closing borders for further immigration.

The Alamo

• The Texan Alamos had only 180 soldiers to bring up against Santa Anna with his army of thousands. The Texans still had grand leaders, like folk hero Davy Crockett, commander William B. Travis, and Texas tough man Jim Bowie.
• The Alamo kept Santa Anna's army at bay with rifle fire, but on March 6, 1836, Mexican cannon fire broke the Alamo's walls.
• Defenders were killed, including Travis, Crockett, Bowie, and a great amount of Tejanos. Very few women and children escaped.

Texas Declares Its Independence

• On March 2, 1836-four days before the Alamo fall-Texan leaders declared independence from Mexico, which soon resulted the Republic of Texas.
• The Alamos declared Texan soldier and leader Same Houston commander in chief of the Republic of Texas.

The Lone Star Republic

• In September 1836, Texan elect Sam Houston is the Republic of Texas president. Mirabeau Lamar, a soldier of the Battle of San Jacinto, was voted vice president. Soon after, Houston sent a request for independence to President Andrew Jackson.
• Andrew Jackson, however, denied the request for Texas independence because the addition of another slave state would cause and upsetting between free states and slave states.

Texas Becomes a State

• Many Texans wanted Texas to join the Union. Southerners wanted Texas to become a state, but the Northers didn't want another slave.
• The Manifest Destiny was a very popular idea in 1844, and the South wanted Texas, and the North wanted gain of Oregon territory. Candidate James K. Polk supported both, so after he won, Congress passed a resolution to annex Texas, and in 1845, Texas joined the Union.

Why did it take so long for the United States to annex Texas?

Answer: The United States didn't want to disrupt the balance of free and slave states.

War With Mexico

How did Santa Fe Trail benefit the New Mexico Territory?

Answer: The Mexican Government wanted American trader to come to New Mexico, so the Mexicans would get a better business.

The New Mexico Territory

• The New Mexico Territory was a vast land between Texas and California, which included the present states of New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming.
• In 1610, the Spanish discovered the land of Santa Fe. When New Mexico was still owned by Spain, the Spanish wanted Americans to stay away because they were afraid they would take over their territory.
• After 1821, when Mexico won its independence, Mexicans welcomed American traders, in hopes to boost the economy.

How did William Becknell influence the American settlement of New Mexico?

California's Spanish Culture

• Lots of Spanish explorers and missionaries came to settle in California in the 1700s. Captain Gaspar de Portola and Father Junipero Serra both began a chain of missions between San Diego to Sonoma.
• The mission's goal was to convert Native Americans to Christianity and the Spanish life. Native Americans soon learned how to weave and to farm. An American mountain man named Jedediah Smith the mission as "large farming and cattle-ranching establishments."

Conflict Begins

• James K. Polk was determined to get California and New Mexico from Mexico. After Mexico refused to sell their lands, Polk planned to gain the lands through war.
• The relations between the two unions weren't friendly. The disagreed where the Texas-Mexico border should be. The United States said the Rio Grande was the border, while the Mexicans claimed the border was along the Nueces River.
• Polk sent John Slidell, a representative for Polk, to Mexico to propose a deal. Slidell could offer $30 million for California and New Mexico as long as Mexico accepted the Rio Grande as the Texas border.

A War Plan

• Polk planned to defeat Mexico by accomplishing three goals. First, the United States would drive Mexicans forces out of Texas. Then, it would seize New Mexico and California. Finally, American forces would advance into Mexico and capture the capital, Mexico City.
• In 1847, Zachary Taylor completed goal #1. All of the important towns between Mexico and Texas were captured. General Stephen Kearney made progression toward goal #2 by marching his troops to the Santa Fe in 1846, after the Mexican governor fled.

California's Uprising

• Before war with Mexico, American settlers in northern California had begun an uprising. They were encouraged by American general John C. Fremont.
• With almost effortless overcoming of Mexican presence in the Mexican territory, on July 14, 1864, the Americans declared independence for California, as called themselves the Bear Flag Republic.

Peace Terms

• With the defeat of Mexico on February 2, 1848, Mexico's leaders signed the Treaty of Hidaglo. Mexico gave the United States more that 500,000 square miles-which are today California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming-in trade for $15 million.
• With Oregon and ex-Mexican territories under the American flag, the Manifest Destiny dream has been realized whether slavery should be allowed.

What did America gain from the Mexican War?

Answer: Western States and access to the Pacific Ocean.

California and Utah

How did the discovery of gold help California?

The discovery of gold drew lots and lots of people to California, and an increase of the population exploded.

California Gold Rush

• .When gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in 1848, people from all over the world came to California in luck of finding gold.
• 80 percent of the population were Americans, while the other 20 were from Mexico, South America, Europe, Australia, and China

The Californios

• Mexicans that lived in California as citizens of the United States. The Californios had to prove his or her ownership of land.

The Life of Forty-Niner

• As people rushed to California for gold, new communities were built. Tows and small cities appeared overnight. One sight on the Yuba River had only had two houses, but a year later, over 1,000 people were living their.
• Cities flourished with gold and people, multiple ships arrived with gold seekers, San Francisco soon became a boomtown.

Gold Rush Society

• Mining camps contained men off all background, but their were hardly any women. Lonely and in hardships, many men would drink, gamble, and fight.

Economic and Political Progress

• The Gold Rush had long effects on California. Agriculture, shipping, and grew to meet the demand for food and other goods.
• Rapid growth brought the need for a better government. In 1849, Californians applied for statehood and wrote a constitution.

How did the California Gold Rush lead to the expansion of cities?

Answer: Since people came to California in search for gold, the population boomed.

A Religious Refuge in Utah

• While the Gold Rush was happening, changes were taking place in Utah. Mormons were building a new community and fulfilling their vision for a godly life.

The Mormons Move On

• The founder for the Mormon Church was Joseph Smith, a New Englander living in western New . Smith said that he had received visions that led him t build a new church.
• Smith published The Book of Mormons in 1830, announcing that it was a translation of words written on golden plates that he had received from an angle.
• Smith hoped to use his visions to build an ideal society. He believed that property should be held in common, rather than belonging to an individual. In 1844, a mob of local residents killed Smith, and Brigham Young took over as head of the Mormons. His goal was to was to move west to the Great Salt Lake in present-day Utah.

A Haven in the Desert

• The Mormon migration began in 1864. Approximately 12,000 Mormons made the trek in the largest single migration in American history.
• The Mormon's route was named the Mormon Trail and served as a valuable route to the western United States.
• In 1847 the Mormons finally reached the Great Salt Lake. There, Young declared that the Mormons would build a new settlement.