Unit Five 1840 1865 Manifest Destiny Manifest Destiny is the belief that Americans had the right or even the duty to expand westward across the North American continent from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean This would spread the glorious institutions of civilization and democracy to the barbaric Native Americans In order to accomplish this destiny Americans did not flinch at atrocities such as provoking war with Mexico or slaughtering Indians Great American Desert The Great American Desert was a nickname for the Great Plains This area the present day Midwest was characterized by its arid climate a flat topography and lack of trees Because of these features it was considered inhospitable and early settlers chose to cross it on the way to the Willamette Valley of Oregon rather than settling there MANIFEST DESTINY Manifest Destiny was the term used throughout the 1840s to describe Americans belief that they were destined by God to spread their beliefs across the continent This sense of duty created a sense of unity among the nation and stimulated westward expansion The term itself was coined by John O Sullivan in an 1845 magazine article The concept justified westward expansion in all its forms and ramifications including the Mexican War the persecution of the Indians and other such ethnocentric acts Was it Imperialism American annexation of territories such as Oregon are generally not considered imperialistic because these lands were obtained by negotiation between two equal powers and the people there were not opposed to joining the Union However lands gained by force such as the Mexican cession are considered imperialistic conquests Horace Greeley Greeley was a journalist and political leader He opposed slavery but he was not an abolitionist He was editor of the New Yorker and a Whig associated with Governor Seward of New York In 1841 he founded the New York Tribune In 1872 he was the Liberal Republican nominee for president Annexation of Texas Joint Resolution under President Tyler In 1843 Tyler started a campaign to annex Texas and in 1844 he succeeded in sending a treaty to Congress for the annexation This treaty was defeated in the Senate but later in early 1845 Congress passed a joint resolution to annex Texas because of the growing popularity of annexation Reoccupation of Texas After Congress voted to annex Texas the Mexican governmen began war preparations when Texans accepted annexation In response Polk sent troops to occupy Texas and the disputed territory south of the Nueces River Polk believed that the land was part of the Louisiana Purchase and therefore it belonged to the United States Reannexation of Oregon Prior to 1846 America and Great Britain had jointly occupied the Oregon Country However in 1844 Polk began to demand that America obtain the entire territory In compromise a treaty was signed in 1846 giving the United States all of Oregon south of the 49th parallel ELECTION OF 1844 In the election of 1844 the Whigs nominated Henry Clay The Democrats however were divided between Martin Van Buren and Lewis Cass A deadlock at the Democratic national convention resulted in the nomination of dark horse candidate James K Polk The Liberty party consisting of a small group of northern antislavery Whigs who were alienated by Clay s indecisiveness nominated James G Birney Also large numbers of Irish immigrants turned out to vote for Polk and he won by a small margin JAMES K POLK Polk was a slaveowning southerner dedicated to Democratic party In 1844 he was a dark horse candidate for president and he won the election Polk favored American expansion especially advocating the annexation of Texas California and Oregon He was a friend and follower of Andrew Jackson He opposed Clay s American System instead advocating lower tariff separation the treasury and the federal government from the banking system He was a nationalist who believed in Manifest Destiny 54 40 or Fight In the election of 1844 Polk used 54 40 or Fight as a campaign slogan implying that the he would declare war if Britain did not give the United States all the Oregon territory up to its northern boundary the line 54 40 N latitude However in 1846 Polk agreed to negotiate and the two countries divided Oregon at the 49th parallel Slidell Mission to Mexico Slidell was a negotiator sent to Mexico by James Polk with orders to gain Mexico s recognition of the independence of Texas and to purchase California and New Mexico However he was not received by the Mexican government because the threat of military revolt left the Mexican president to weak to negotiate Rio Grande Nueces River Disputed Territory A dispute over the southern boundary of Texas contributed to the Mexican War Mexico claimed that the Nueces River was boundary of Texas but Polk insisted that the Rio Grande River was the boundary line The land between these two rivers was uninhabited but it was a significant slice of Mexican territory MEXICAN WAR The Mexican war lasted from 1846 to 1848 The main cause of the war was American desire for territory especially Texas and California The war took place mainly on Mexican soil Partially because of disorganization and instability in the Mexican government the war resulted in and American victory The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ending the war made the southern boundary of Texas the Rio Grande gave California and New Mexico to the United States and gave 15 million to Mexico in compensation General Zachary Taylor Taylor was an American major general who became a war hero during the Mexican War His troops won important victories in northern Mexico at Matamoros Monterrey and Buena Vista and his resulting popularity helped him win the presidential election in 1848 Battle of Buena Vista The battle of Buena Vista was a battle during Mexican War Five thousand American troops commanded by General Taylor defeated three times as many Mexican troops under Santa Anna As a result of this battle Taylor was put in control of all of northern Mexico This American victory also hastened end of the War Stephen Kearney Kearney was an American colonel in the Mexican War In 1846 he led an army to Santa Fe and took the New Mexico territory without firing a shot Kearny then suppressed a rebellion of both Indians and Mexicans and managed to send a detachment of his army south into Mexico in time to join Taylor in the Battle of Buena Vista John C Fremont Fremont was an explorer soldier and politician known as the Great Pathfinder In