Manifest Destiny - suggested that U.S. expansion was not only good but bound to happen


Manifest Destiny
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mountain men - explored W.
spent most of the year alone trapping small animals.
The mountain men's explorations provided Americans with some of the earliest firsthand knowledge of the Far West. They blazed trails and found mountain passes.

The Santa Fe Trail
William Becknell set out with hardware, cloth and china for Santa Fe. He made a large profit.
Soon others wanted to follow.
Traders began crossing the prairie in covered wagons they called prairie schooners.
Hundreds of traders and prairie schooners braved the cutoff to make the 800 mile journey through the desert from Missouri to NM each year.

Oregon Trail
Went from Independence Missouri to the Oregon Territory.
The first whites were missionaries.
They reported that Oregon had rich land.
In 1843 nearly 1,000 people traveled from Missouri to Oregon.
The next year twice as many came.
The trail was harsh. There were many dangers, injuries and death.

The Mormon Trail
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints - founded by Joseph Smith in NY in 1830.
Some objected to the Mormon teaching of polygamy.
In 1844 an anti-Mormon mob in Illinois killed Smith.
Brigham Young the next Mormon leader moved his people out of the U.S. to Utah (then part of MX)
1847 about 1,600 Mormon went to Utah and founded Salt Lake City.

The Texas Revolution
The Spanish land called Tejas bordered the US territory called Louisiana.
The land was rich and desirable.
Tejas was a state in the Spanish colony of New Spain.
In 1821 only about 4,000 Tejanos (people of Spanish heritage who consider Texas their home.) The Spanish officials wanted more settlers to move to TX
to help defend it against Native Americans and Americans who illegally sneaked into TX.
Moses Austin asked for permission to start a colony in TX.
Shortly after he arrived MX succesfully gained its independence from Spain.
Then Stephen (Moses' son) asked the new MX government to let him start a colony.
The govt. said o.k. if the new settlers agreed to become Mexican citizens and member of the Roman Catholic Church.
Between 1821 and 1827 297 families came to TX. These original Tx settler families are known as the "Old Three Hundred"
Every family had to be moral, work hard and not drink.
By 1830 there were 30,000 Americans.
Soon Americans became resentful of following Mx laws. They wanted to maintain slavery so that they could grow cotton.
They were used to governing themselves and didn't want to be taxed.
Texans rebelled against the Mexican army.
The fight for the Alamo - Texans were slaughtered by the Mexican Army
"Remember the Alamo" became a rallying call.
Eventually the Texans become victorious.
Texas becomes The Lone Star Republic, an independent nation for a decade.
In 1845 Texas was admitted as a slave state.
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo at the end of the Mexican American war gave the U.S. the current states of CA, NV, UT, AZ, NM, CO and WY.

In 1848 James Marshall found gold in CA
Many rushed to the area to try to find gold.
Not many were successful.
The Chinese worked "played out" sites and made them profitable.
Others were jealous, started a Foreign Miners Tax
By 1852 the gold rush was over, but enough people had moved to CA for them to apply for statehood.
San Francisco grew as a city.
CA was admitted as a free state in 1850.

Immigrants from Europe came to America in the mid 1800's for freedom, economic opportunity and abundant land!
Most immigrants came from Germany, but they were also from Scandinavia, Britain, Ireland, and China.
The Irish came to escape the potato famine.
Some opposed immigration.
prejudice - a negative opinion that is not based on facts

Immigrant - Someone coming into a country to live.
Emigrant - One who is leaving their country to live in another.
Pull-factor forces that make someone want to live in a new places
Push-factor forces that make someone want to leave their country to live in another
Know-Nothing-Party political party that wanted to eliminate foreign influence

The cheapest desk on a ship was steerage
The Irish came to America in the mid 1800's to escape the Potato Famine
Immigrants came to America in the mid 1800's for freedom, economic opportunity and land


The Second Great Awakening was a renewal of religious faith. Revivalist preachers said that anyone could choose salvation.
This appealed to equality-loving Americans

The temperance movement, labor unions and education all worked to improve the lives of Americans.
Women could not attend most colleges. One exception was Oberlin.
labor union- a group of workers who band together to seek better working conditions.

Abolitionists called for ending slavery.
William Lloyd Garrison began to public an abolitionist newspaper, The Liberator
The Underground railroad grew
Underground-Railroad series of escape route for slaves that ran from the South to the North
Harriet Tubman was an escaped slave who helped others escape through the Underground Railroad
The movement to end slavery was abolition
Frederick Douglass - escaped slave who became a abolitionist writer and speaker


In 1848 the Seneca Falls Conventions was held to promote women's rights.
suffrage = the right to vote