Americans Expansion 1800

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In seeking to establish, what he called "an empire for liberty," Jefferson influenced the country's policies toward Native Americans and the extension of slavery into the West. Despite a life-long interest in Native American culture, President Jefferson advocated policies that would dislocate Native Americans and their way of life. In 1784, Jefferson opposed the extension of slavery into the northwest territory, but he later supported its westward extension because he feared that any restriction of slavery could lead to a civil war and an end to the nation. At the end of his presidency, Jefferson looked forward to a United States that spread across the entire continent of North America.

President Thomas Jefferson believed that Louisiana was the stuff of empire.

http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/letter-to-samuel-kercheval/

and we should have such an empire for liberty as she has never surveyed since the creation: & I am persuaded no constitution was ever before so well calculated as ours for extensive empire & self government." - Jefferson to James Madison, 27 April 1809[2]

he first wave of westward expansion accompanied the rise of manufacturing in New England and increasing mobility throughout the nation. As settlers moved to what is now the Midwest, the national infrastructure grew up around them, connecting the nation's cities and towns through a system of roads, canals and railroads. Accompanying the rise in new methods of transportation came progress in the fields of agriculture and medicine, as new machines were invented and new treatments for disease discovered. American culture developed in the form of writing, acting, and painting, and American intellectuals gained worldwide respect. Many painters and writers cited the American West as their inspiration, and the West began to symbolize the American identity: rough and rugged individualism willing to face new challenges.

Manifest Destiny is a term for the attitude prevalent during the 19th century period of American expansion that the United States not only could, but was destined to, stretch from coast to coast. This attitude helped fuel western settlement, Native American removal and war with Mexico

The phrase was first employed by John L. O'Sullivan in an article on the annexation of Texas published in the July-August 1845 edition of the United States Magazine and Democratic Review, which he edited. It was, O'Sullivan claimed, 'our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions.'

The religious fervor spawned by the Second Great Awakening created another incentive for the drive west. Indeed, many settlers believed that God himself blessed the growth of the American nation. The Native Americans were considered heathens. By Christianizing the tribes, American missionaries believed they could save souls and they became among the first to cross the Mississippi River.

Economic motives were paramount for others. The fur trade had been dominated by European trading companies since colonial times. German immigrant John Jacob Astor was one of the first American entrepreneurs to challenge the Europeans. He became a millionaire in the process. The desire for more land brought aspiring homesteaders to the frontier. When gold was discovered in California in 1848, the number of migrants increased even more.

In 1845, a democratic leader and influential editor by the name of John L. O'Sullivan gave the movement its name. In an attempt to explain America's thirst for expansion, and to present a defense for America's claim to new territories he wrote:

".... the right of our manifest destiny to over spread and to possess the whole of the continent which Providence has given us for the development of the great experiment of liberty and federaltive development of self government entrusted to us. It is right such as that of the tree to the space of air and the earth suitable for the full expansion of its principle and destiny of growth." (Brinkley 352)

Manifest Destiny became the rallying cry throughout America. The notion of Manifest Destiny was publicized in the papers and was advertise and argued by politicians throughout the nation. The idea of Manifest Destiny Doctrine became the torch, that lit the way for American expansion.

American expanded westward because with the increase in population due to immigration, jobs in the east became more difficult to find and free farm land was available in the west.A large amount of land was acquired after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, which encouraged Americans to expand westward. Americans believed that if they could not succeed where they were, they could move West and start all over. The Panic of 1837 was also an incentive for many.

WHY? manifest destiny

HOW? moving westward by use of Louisana Purchase, war and exploration

Important Dates:1790: Americans begin to rapidly move west.

- Kentucky added in 1792, Tennessee added in 1796

- 1803: French offers to sell Louisiana to America (Louisiana Purchase)

- Jefferson’s Presidency

- 1803: Jefferson asks Meriwether Lewis to explore the West

- Expedition begins in St. Louis in 1804, ends at Pacific Ocean in 1805

- 1810-1812: US annexed the area between Mississippi and Perdido River which became alabama.

- 1819: Acquisition of Florida from the Spanish

- Made possible by Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819

- 1845: Texas annexation

- why was initially Texas reluctant to being added to the rest of the American territory? (somebody answer PLEASEEE!!) they weren’t, they wanted to be part of america from the get go

- 2 reasons (i think, could be more)^^ 1. Would Texas join as a Free state or a Slave state? 2. Texas was their own independent country and didn’t know if they wanted to become annexed or not or stay independent.

- 1846-1848: American war with Mexico

- Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo: leads to acquisition of New Mexico, Arizona, part of California

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