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TENSIONS BETWEEN MEXICO AND THE

UNITED STATES

� Mexico begins to allow settlers into Texas

� Requires American settlers to be mindful of two things

� Obey Mexico’s laws, including no slaves

� Convert to the Catholic Church

� Stephen Austin begins to lead Americans into Mexico (1823)

� American settlers disregarded Mexico’s rules and laws

Stephen Austin

MAP OF MEXICO 1824

ANNEXATION OF TEXAS

� Texas breaks from Mexico and

declares it’s independence in

1836, “Remember the Alamo”

� Texans are successful in

separating from Mexico, declare

themselves an independent

nation

� Many Texans want to join the U.S.

after it became independent.

� Mexico warned the U.S. to not

annex, or take control of Texas

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MEXICAN-AMERICAN WAR 1846-48

� With Texas annexation the question of the

American/Mexican border becomes a concern.

� President Polk offered to buy California for $25 million

� Mexicans were convinced the U.S. intended to take the

entire continent.

� They refused to sell California.

� Immediate cause of War

� Should the border become the Rio Grande River or

the Nueces River?

� Would Mexico sell California to the United States?

Nueces River boundaryRio Grande boundary

THE WAR

BEGINS

� April 25, 1846 Mexican and American forces clashed in disputed territory

� Texas boundary dispute

� 11 American soldiers killed

� U.S. declared war two days later

� American armies moved into California, New Mexico, and Texas to defend territories

� Mexican troops in California and New Mexico surrendered

The Mexican-American War

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MEXICAN AMERICAN WAR: INVADING MEXICO

� General Zachary Taylor led 6,000 U.S. troops into

Mexico

� General Santa Ana leads a Mexican army of 20,000

� Both met near Monterey in 1847

�Santa Ana retreated

Zachary Taylor at his

encampment during the Mexican War

BATTLES

� Winfield Scott led navy to Vera Cruz and captured it on March 27 with 10,000 troops

� Mexican army made a last stand at Chapultepec Castle, Sept. 13, 1847 � Los Niño's Heroes

� Mexico City Captured the next day

� Mexico surrendered February 2, 1848

Battle of Vera Cruz fought in March of 1847

THE MEXICAN-AMERICAN WAR, 1846-1848

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TREATY OF GUADALUPE HIDALGO

� Officially ended the Mexican-American

War in 1848

� Mexican Cession

included present-day California, Nevada, and Utah, & parts of

Arizona, New Mexico, & Wyoming

� Increased Size of the

U.S. by almost 25%

MEXICAN CESSION

MEXICO RECEIVES

� In return, Mexico received $15,000,000, — less than half the amount the U.S. had attempted to offer Mexico for the land before the opening of hostilities

� The U.S. agreed to assume $3.25 million in debts that the Mexican government owed to U.S. citizens

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WILMOT PROVISO

� Democratic Congressman David Wilmot introduced the Wilmot Proviso

� The Wilmot Proviso aimed to prohibit slavery in any new territory acquired

from Mexico.

� Wilmot's proposal did not pass Congress, but it spurred further

hostility between the factions.

� Slavery in territories still an issue, not

resolved

� Almost splits the nation’s political

parties

� The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) movement arose in western New York, where its founder, Joseph Smith, Jr., was raised during a period of religious revival in the early 19th century called the Second Great Awakening

� The beginning of Mormonism centers around experiences by Joseph Smith, Jr. and his associates in the 1820s.

� Many people feared the teachings of the new church and they were forced to move from New York to Ohio to Missouri and Illinois. Violence followed them with each move.

� In Illinois, Joseph began to follow a practice known as plural marriage or polygamy.

� Smith is killed in 1844 in Carthage, Illinois by a mob while in jail awaiting trial on numerous charges.

OTHER WESTWARD EXPANSION– MORMONISM

� Brigham Young emerges as the new leader; he chooses to

move everyone to the wilderness; Mexican-controlled Utah, far

from U.S. control. They finally entered the Salt Lake Valley in

1847. Utah becomes part of the United States in 1848

following the Mexican-American War.

� Many westward trails went through Utah on there way to

California and the Pacific Ocean.

� Violence follows the Latter Day Saints. They were attacked

many times and sometimes they attacked others.

� The “Mormon Wars” – 1838 – Dozens of LDS members are

killed by mobs in Missouri.

� Mountain Meadows Massacre – 1857 – 120 emigrants were

killed by Mormon militiamen in Utah.

OTHER WESTWARD EXPANSION– MORMONISM

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QUESTIONS

1. What were the two immediate causes of the

Mexican-American War?

2. What was the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo?

3. What was the Wilmot Proviso?

4. Why did the Mormons move to Utah?

OREGON COUNTRY

� Divided with Great Britain – Britain got British Columbia – 1846

� Contained states of Washington, Oregon, and part of Idaho

� Oregon Trail helped people settle there

� “54°40’ or Fight”

� Becomes state in 1859

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BEAR FLAG REPUBLIC

• Californians revolted against Mexicans in 1846, became the California Republic, an independent nation

• The California state flag today is based on this original Bear Flag, and still contains the words "California Republic."

• California becomes a state in 1850.

CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH

� The California Gold Rush began on

January 24, 1848, when gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California

� News of the discovery soon spread, resulting

in some 300,000 people coming to California

by ship and covered wagon

� Early gold-seekers, called "forty-niners“

� Immigrants, such as Mexicans, Chinese and the Irish, went to work in the mines.

� Immigrants were treated poorly with long hours, low pay and very dangerous work.

CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH

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CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH – 1849CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH – 1849

49er’s49er’s

THE LURE OF SILVER & GOLD & COPPER

� Other areas discovered mineral riches, including gold, silver and copper

� The Comstock Lode, a Silver Bonanza, was later discovered in Nevada

� Big mining camps in Colorado, Arizona & Montana

COMPROMISE OF 1850COMPROMISE OF 1850COMPROMISE OF 1850COMPROMISE OF 1850

�California would enter as a free

state; No slave state would enter

�New Mexico and Utah territories

would allow popular sovereignty

(people) to choose slavery or not

The Compromise of 1850

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�Fugitive Slave Act

�All escaped slaves in the north can

be returned to the south and slavery

�Made it illegal to help escaped

slaves anywhere in the nation

�A major set back to abolitionist

movement

COMPROMISE OF 1850COMPROMISE OF 1850COMPROMISE OF 1850COMPROMISE OF 1850

THE GADSDEN PURCHASE

� Purchased from Mexico in 1853 for $10 million because we thought that we would build a transcontinental railroad there.

� Included Tucson and parts of Arizona just south of Goodyear and Buckeye.

The Gadsden Purchase

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KANSASKANSASKANSASKANSAS----NEBRASKA NEBRASKA NEBRASKA NEBRASKA ACT (1854)ACT (1854)ACT (1854)ACT (1854)

�Gave people in Kansas and Nebraska

the choice whether to allow slavery in

their states (“popular sovereignty”).

�Violated the Missouri Compromise

line which upset people in the north

The Kansas-Nebraska Act

BLOODY BLOODY BLOODY BLOODY KANSAS (1856)KANSAS (1856)KANSAS (1856)KANSAS (1856)

�Bloody fighting in Kansas as pro- and

anti-slavery forces battled each other

�“Beecher’s Bibles”

�Direct result of the Kansas-Nebraska

Act

�1st time white abolitionists fought

against pro-slavery groups

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� From 1858 to 1959, 19 more states were

added to the Union

� Arizona enters in 1912

� Hawaii becomes last state to join in 1959,

7 months after Alaska.

� Puerto Rico possibly may become next state,

but nothing happening yet.

FINAL STATES TO BE ADDED TO THE UNION

QUESTIONS

1. What was the Bear Flag Republic?

2. What was the Compromise of 1850?

3. What was the Gadsden Purchase?

4. What was the Kansas-Nebraska Act?

5. What was Bloody Kansas?