Americans Move West Manifest Destiny o Idea that

Americans Move West

Manifest Destiny o Idea that the United States should extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans o Mid 1800’s – Americans b/g to move west and settle for a variety of reasons n Religion, money, land, etc. o They reached the west by following a series of “trails”

Trails to the West o Oregon Trail n Main route to the Pacific coast o California Trail n Route taken in the Gold Rush of 1849 o Santa Fe Trail n Wagon route through the Southwest to trade w/Mexico o Typical trip west took 5 -6 months

Donner Party o 1846 – group of 87 people going west n Led by two brothers (last name Donner) o Got trapped by winter snows high in the Sierra Nevada. n 41 people died of starvation n Those left alive forced to resort to cannibalism in order to survive

Mormon Migration o Mormon Trail n Route used by Mormons o Led by Brigham Young n To escape persecution and find a place to practice religion freely n Stopped at the Great Salt Lake, present day Utah

Come to Mexico! o 1820’s – Texas is part of Mexico but full of American settlers o Santa Anna – Mexican president – passes colonization laws to get settlers into Mexico o Offered the settlers… n Cheap land to nearly anyone willing to come n A 10 year tax exemption o But required them to… n B/c Mexican citizens, live under Mexican law, convert to Catholicism

Recruiters o Empresarios – recruited people to settle in Mexico gave empresarios large land grants in Texas n In exchange the empresarios had to fill the land w/ a certain number of settlers o Empresarios governed the colonies they established o Stephen Austin was the first and most successful empresario

Americanize Texas o Mexican govt. assumed the settlers would… n Accept Mexican citizenship, adopt Mexican customs, come to see Mexico as their own country o The Mexican govt. was wrong, Americans did not… n Learn Spanish, convert or attend the Catholic church, dismissed Mexican culture

Tension Builds o 1830’s – Mexico tries to take back control… n Closed their borders to American settlers n Banned the import of slaves n Placed taxes on goods imported from foreign countries o Wanted to discourage trade w/ the US o New laws infuriate settlers n They did not want the Mexican govt. telling them what to do

Negotiations o Settlers hold two conventions to have negotiations w/ Mexico about the new laws o The First Convention – 1832 n Name Stephen Austin president of the convention n They asked Mexico to… o Reopen Texas to US immigrants, loosen taxes on imports

Get Aggressive o The Second Convention – 1833 n More aggressive requests n They recommended separating Texas from the current Mexican state it resided in and making it a new Mexican state o Created a constitution for the new state o Designated Austin to travel to Mexico City to negotiate w/ the Mexican govt. o Negotiations didn’t go well

Austin Imprisoned o Austin sent a letter to his people n He suggested Texas should peacefully organize its own state govt. n The letter was intercepted by Mexican officials o January 1834 – Austin was arrested for treason, jailed in Mexico City w/o trial and was released 1 ½ years later

Get Ready! o 1834 – Santa Anna names himself dictator o Austin felt negotiations w/ Santa Anna were impossible n Urged Texans to organize an army and prepare for war o Sam Houston n Took command of the Texan army

The Alamo o February 1836 –Texan rebels holed up at the Alamo n Goal – to delay Santa Anna’s forces and give Houston’s army more time to prepare o They held off the Mexican troops for 13 days o March 6, 1836 – Mexican troops storm the Alamo n Texans fought them off for 6 hours b/f they were overrun n Davy Crockett & Jim Bowie died here

The Alamo in San Antonio, TX

Battle of San Jacinto o Both armies camping along the San Jacinto River (modern day Houston) o Houston launches an afternoon assault n Mexicans in a panic, they were taking a nap o The battle lasted less than 20 minutes n The killing lasted for hours

“Remember the Alamo” o Yelling their battle cry Houston’s troops attacked the Mexican troops n Hundreds were killed n Over 700 Mexicans were taken captive o Including Santa Anna n He was forced to order his army out of Texas and sign a treaty making Texas its own country § Republic of Texas n Texans suffered only 9 killed and 34 wounded

The Republic of Texas o 1836 – Sam Houston elected president o Voted in favor of annexation n Annexation – b/c part of the United States o North does not want to admit Texas as a slave state o Jackson wants to avoid sectional tensions and war w/ Mexico n Mexico was still claiming Texas n He made no move toward annexation