Westward Expansion and War

Section One - Texas WIns Its Independence

The Mexican War for Independence

• Mexico rebels againsts Spain and gains its independence in 1824

Anglos in Texas

• Texas is part of Mexico
• Tejanos - settlers of Spanish desecent living in Mexico
• Tejanos are being attacked by Comache and Apache Indians
• Mexico invites Americans to settle in Texas to stop Indian attacks - require them to be Cathlolic, become Mexican citizens, and follow Mexican laws.
• Stephen Austin - Creates a colony in Texas. By 1824, 20,000 Americans moved there
• Americans in Texas ignore Mexican laws, especially one outlawing slavery
• Americans outnumber Tejanos

Texas Revolution Begins

• Mexico fears losing Texas
• Santa Anna - takes over Mexican govt., and suspends the constitution, essentially making himself a dicator

The Alamo and San Jacinto

• Alamo - an old Spanish mission
• Santa Anna attacks 189 Texans at Alamo with 1800 men
• Santa Anna easily defeats Texans at Alamo
• Texans declare independence
• Sam Houston - leads a Texan attack and capture Santa Anna at San Jacinto, force Santa Anna to sign a treaty saying Texas is independent

The Texas Republic

• Republic of Texas - Known as Lone Star Republic
• Texans hope US will annex (add) Texas
• President Jackson worries that adding slave Texas will upset balance of free and slave states
• US decides to recognize Texas as a free country, but not to annex it yet

Section Two - The Far West

Oregon Country

• Mountain men - fur trappers who worked in the west
• Rendzvous - meeting at which mountain men sold furs to companies
• As more people head west, hunting grounds shrink, making fur trade less profitable

The Oregon Trail

• Oregon Trail - starts in Independence, Missouri and goes 2000 miles across the plains to get to farmland in Oregon
• Began in late spring
• Family of four needs about $600 to make the trip
• Contestoga wagons were used
• Very dangerous - weather, Indian attacks, lack of food

Other Trails West

• California Trail - Through the Sierra Nevada Mountains to get to California
• Donner Party - Left the California Trail and got lost in spring of 1846. Finally found in February of 1847 after nearly half of the orginal 87 died. They relied on cannbalism to stay alive.

Section Three - The Mexican War

Manifest Destiny and Expansion

• Manifest Destiny - idea that the US should run from the Atlantic to the Pacific because Americans believe themselves to be superior in culture, religion, and economy to people of Spanish descent and Native Americans
• James K. Polk - elected President in 1844 promisiming to annex Texas
• Texas - annexed in 1845 by the United States
• Mexico angered that US annexed Texas
• US declares war on Mexico on May 13, 1846

War with Mexico

• 200,000 men enlist - four times what the government asked for
• General Zachary Taylor drive into Mexico
• California - Americans in this Mexican territory declare themselves independent

The Mexican Cession

• Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (Feb 1848) - Ends war and gives Mexican Cession to the US
• Mexican Cession - parts of modern day Arizona, California, Utah, Nevada, Colorado and Wyoming go to US; 500,000 square miles for $15 million
• Gadsden Purchase - US pays $10 million for what is now Southern Arizona and New Mexico

Section Four - The Growth of the West

The California Gold Rush

• Gold discovered near Sutter's Mill in 1849
• Forty-Niners - 80,000 people rush to California hoping to strike it rich
• Prospectors - those who serached for gold; few beome rich, most find nothing
• Boom town - town where miners suddenly flock to
• Ghost Town - former boom town where everyone has left when gold ran out

Effects of the Gold Rush

• Most prospectors were American, but some did come from overseas, especially China
• Chinese were discrimated against
• Levi Strauss - Prospector who created concept of jeans when miner pants ripped
• California becomes a state only two years after US got it from Mexico

Mormons

• Joseph Smith - creates the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons)
• Mormons chased out of NY, Ohio, Missouri and Illinois for polygamy - having more than one wife
• Smith murdered for relgious beliefs in Illinois
• Brigham Young - decides to lead the Mormons west to Salt Lake City, Utah to be alone to practice their religion
• 40,000 Mormons in Utah by 1860