05-11-2010+HIST2020



Raymond Flanagan, David Hazlett, Kassie Miller HIST 2020 May 11, 2010

**We started out as 13 Eastern colonies. Now we spread from sea to sea. How did that happen and equally as important why did it happen? **

· Population Increase · Louisiana Purchase · Lewis and Clark Expedition · Manifest Destiny · Mexican-American War · California Gold Rush · Industrial Revolution  The United States expanded from thirteen colonies on the East coast to the opposite coast in less than two hundred and fifty years. The concept of Manifest Destiny, or the right to American expansion, and waves of population increases based on hopes of freedom and prosperity fueled the exploration and settlement of these new frontiers. Population was one of the reasons for the need to expand. In the early nineteenth century, the United States experienced substantial growth. In 1810, the census counted 7,240,000, which was a jump of almost 2 million people in ten years (213). After the Revolutionary War, people rushed west, beyond the boundaries of the colonies to stake out farms on the rich soil. They moved across the northern route across Pennsylvania and New York. Because of the high cost of hauling goods overland, the Westerners depended on water transportation, and riverboats represented the most economical means of transporting goods to distant markets. Prosperity of the United States depended on its agriculture and trade. The Mississippi River was a very crucial link to the entire region. Because of this, Westerners did not feel secure with the Spanish being in control of New Orleans, which was the southern gate to the Mississippi (214-216). When Thomas Jefferson took office, he was confident that Louisiana and Florida would become part of the United States because it was owned by Spain, a weak nation; if a peaceful strategy to purchase them didn’t work, he was prepared to take them by force. In 1795, the U.S. negotiated a treaty with Spain that allowed U.S. merchants to utilize the New Orleans port to store goods without paying duty before they were exported. Under the leadership of Napoleon, France negotiated a secret treaty with Spain in 1800, which returned Louisiana back to France. Now France had control of the port of New Orleans (220). When Jefferson heard of this, he tried to buy the port and West Florida. In 1802, France revoked the right of deposit for U.S. merchants in the port, so Jefferson sent James Monroe to Paris to help Robert Livingston convince the French government to complete the sale. These two men had a brilliant strategy. They warned that the U.S. would ally itself with England against France if this issue wasn’t settled. Napoleon resisted at first, but he knew that war with England was imminent. He changed his mind in 1803 because he took the threat of a U.S.-English alliance serious, and being tied down with a European war, he thought the U.S. would annex the Louisiana territory. The Louisiana Purchase agreement, dated April 30, was signed May 2, 1803. The Senate ratified the treaty in October, and the U.S. took possession in December (Hokamp, 2007). In the midst of the Louisiana controversy, January 1803, Jefferson sent a secret message to Congress requesting $2500 for the exploration of the far west. He asked his private secretary, Meriwether Lewis, to discover whether the Missouri River would offer the most direct and practical water route across the continent for the purposes of commerce. He personally taught Lewis the latest techniques of scientific observation. William Clark, who was second in command to Lewis, assumed such a prominent role that it became known as the “Lewis and Clark Expedition” (1804-1806). Sacagawea, a young Shoshoni woman, accompanied them to serve as a translator and help persuade the natives they would encounter that they meant no harm. As Clark explained it, “A woman with a party of men is a token of peace.” They set out from St. Louis in May 1804 (221-222). “The Corps of Discovery”, as they were known, included almost 4 dozen other men. They began their journey on a 55-foot-long keelboat. Clark spent most of his time charting the course and making maps, while Lewis studied rock formations, soil, animals, and plant life along the way. What they found was some 300 species unknown to science, nearly 50 Indian tribes, and the Rockies. They barely survived the snow-covered mountains, and then they proceeded down the Columbia River to the coast. They reached the Pacific Coast in November1805, and returned safely the following September. The results fulfilled Jefferson’s scientific expectations and reaffirmed his faith in the future economic prosperity of the United States (Lewis & Clark, 2009). The rush of settlers in the 1830s and 1840s to advance beyond the nation’s borders, and expand until it had absorbed all of North America, including Canada and Mexico, was what some called Manifest Destiny (347). President John Tyler initiated the politics of Manifest Destiny by making Texas annexation a major political issue. He thought he could gain support from the southern states because of the slavery issue. It ended up costing him a reelection bid in 1844, because the antislavery Whigs charged that the whole scheme was a proslavery plot meant to advance the interest of one section of the nation against the other. Consequently, the Senate rejected the annexation treaty. An avowed Expansionist, James K. Polk, of Tennessee, won the election. He identified himself and his party with the popular cause of turning the United States into a continental nation. This platform attracted support from all parts of the country. As a result of Polk’s victory the Congress reconvened and, a few days before Polk took office, voted to approve the annexation of Texas (348). In the summer of 1845, John L. O’Sullivan, editor of the United States Magazine and Democratic Review, charged that foreign governments were conspiring to block the annexation of Texas in an effort to thwart “the fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions (349).” O’Sullivan pointed to three main ideas that lay behind the phrase Manifest Destiny. One was that God was on the side of American expansionism. This notion was born of the long tradition that identified the growth of America with the divinely ordained success of a chosen people. A second idea, “extending the area of freedom,” by spreading American rule, meant that democratic institutions and local self-government would follow the flag if areas claimed by autocratic foreign governments were annexed to the United States. The third idea was that population growth required the outlet that territorial acquisitions would provide. Eventually this Manifest Destiny would serve to spread our nation “from sea to shining sea.” Although the United States annexed Texas and claimed the unsettled territory between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande; Mexico rejected its claim to the unsettled territory. Mexico broke off diplomatic relations and prepared for armed conflict. President of the United States, James K. Polk, ordered General Zachary Taylor, commander of American forces in the Southwest, to advance well beyond the Nueces and proceed toward the Rio Grande. This encroached on the unsettled territory claimed by Mexico. The Mexican-American war started on April 24, 1846, when sixteen hundred Mexican soldiers crossed the Rio Grande, attacking a small American detachment, killing seven and capturing the rest. Polk prepared a war message to Congress concluding that fighting on the Rio Grande would be a short and decisive war, and would force the cession of California and New Mexico to the United States. The Mexican-American war lasted much longer, because the Mexicans refused to make peace despite a succession of military defeats. Taylor took Matamoros and despite fierce resistance his army captured Monterrey, a major city of northern Mexico. General Taylor decided to allow the Mexican soldiers to go free and refused to advance further into Mexico. His decision angered Polk. The President then ordered General Winfield Scott to prepare an amphibious attack on Veracruz, a city very close to Mexico City. Meanwhile, in February 1847, the Mexican army tried to dislodge General Taylor, but he defeated them, claiming victory over a sizable Mexican force. The most important battle of the war was when General Scott battled with forces under General Santa Anna at Cerro Gordo on April 18th, and won a decisive victory that opened the road to the Mexican capital. Mexico City was captured on September 14th. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the war. As a result of the Mexican-American War, the United States gained 500,000 square miles of territory and enlarged the nation by about 20 percent, adding the present states of California, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada and Arizona and parts of Colorado and Wyoming. The exploration and economic impact of the largest of these new territories began with the discovery of gold in California in 1848. In the hopes of striking it rich, floods of people moved to the area (353). At the time, the available methods of travel to reach California were expensive and lengthy. The rapid economic growth in the state quickened the rate of settlement, agriculture, and exploration. The large influx of people to the state created a demand for a better way to transport goods and passengers from the East Coast and Mid West (California Department of Finance, 2010). With the territory and population of the United States growing at a rapid rate, so did the need for advancements in transportation and manufacturing. The development of railroads throughout the 1840’s and 1850’s allowed for transportation of large quantities of materials or passengers across long distances. Most methods of transportation had previously been primarily North-South, to follow the flow of the rivers. These new lines allowed for enhanced East-West travel (354). Although it remained a primarily agricultural nation, the United States began to turn towards industrialization and an increase in factory production. These new methods of manufacturing offered a greater range of goods to the American consumer (356). The staggering increase in population made American expansion a necessity. Early exploration of the frontier provided a survey of previously uncharted terrain and trade routes. Over time, the United States managed to gain control of rivers and port cities in contingent territories to solidify their control over trade and transportation routes. This led to another period of economic growth and eventually the start of the industrialization of our nation.
 * Thesis: ** The United States expanded from coast to coast because of large population increases, exploration, wars with neighboring countries, and technological advancement.

**Materials List ** Louisiana Purchase – p.220 Lewis and Clark Expedition – p. 222 Battle of New Orleans – p. 233 Manifest Destiny – p. 343 Mexican-American War – p. 349 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo – p. 351

References <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Hokamp, H. (2007, February 19). //General History: U.S. Acquisitions//. Retrieved May 9, 2010, from allexperts.com: http://en.allexperts.com/q/General-History-674/U-S-Acquisitions-Westwa-1.htm // Lewis & Clark  //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">. (2009). Retrieved May 9, 2010, from nationalgeographic.com: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lewisandclark/journey_leg_2.html California Department of Finance. (2010, May 9). //The Gold Rush//. Retrieved from California Department of Finance: http://www.dof.ca.gov/HTML/FS_DATA/HistoryCAEconomy/gold_rush.htm