1. Manifest Destiny and the Rise of Sectionalism
This Power Point presentation accompanies the Mastering the Grade 8 Social Studies TEKS book by Jarrett, Zimmer, and Killoran, Chapter 12 Manifest Destiny and the Rise of Sectionalism

2. Essential Questions
What role did “Manifest Destiny” play in westward expansion?
Was the U.S.–Mexican War justified?
What were the effects of territorial expansion on our nation?
Could the divisions created by sectionalism have been avoided?
How might the attempt at political compromise have been altered to lessen the threat of Civil War?
Can Chief Justice Taney be blamed for the onset of the Civil War?

3. Important Ideas
Westward Expansion (Louisiana Purchase, Florida, Texas, Oregon Territory, Mexican Cession, Gadsden Purchase)
Manifest Destiny
Sectionalism
North
South
Irish and German Immigrants
Free Blacks
Abolitionists: William Lloyd Garrison, Fredrick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Harriet Beecher Stowe
Underground Railroad
Henry David Thoreau
Civil Disobedience
John C. Calhoun
Compromise of 1850
Fugitive Slave Law
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Republican Party
Dred Scott Decision

4. Manifest Destiny
People believed that it was in the U.S.’s fate to expand from the Atlantic to Pacific Oceans.
Explain the picture.
How does the picture relate to the idea of Manifest Destiny?
Explain this picture.

5. The Political, Economic, and Social Roots of “Manifest Destiny”
Expanding Democracy: Americans believed that God wanted them to spread democracy and be an example to the world.
Pioneering Spirit: Americans admired the rugged individuals that traveled to Texas, Oregon, California, and the Southwest.
Is Manifest Destiny a political policy or a social concept? Explain your answer.
The Political, Economic, and Social Roots of “Manifest Destiny”
Future Prosperity: Americans believed that the west was the key to economic prosperity and the success of farmers in Texas and discovery of gold in California encouraged this belief.
Security: Controlling the entire continent would lessen threats from England, Spain, and Russia.
Romanticizing the West: Americans created paintings, prints, and literature that showed the west as an ideal of nature.

6. Louisiana Purchase 1803 Acquired from France
President Thomas Jefferson
Cost $12 million
Doubled the size of the United States

7. The Purchase of Florida, 1819
Spain sold Florida because they thought they would lose it anyway.
Cost $5 million
U.S. gave up any claim to Texas

8. Oregon Territory
In1818 the US and Britain agreed to jointly control the territory.
In the 1840s many pioneers moved to the area,
The trail was hazardous and as many as 20,000 people died along the trail.

9. The Mormons in Utah
The Mormons were founded in upstate New York in the 1830s by Joseph Smith.
They migrated to Utah after being forced out of NY, Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois because of their beliefs.
In 1847 Brigham Young led them to the Great Salt Lake.
They became farmers and used irrigation to establish their community.
By 1877 there were 125,000 Mormons in Utah.

10. The Annexation of Texas
In the 1820s large numbers of Americans migrated to Spanish Texas.
In the 1830s Mexico became alarmed at the number of Americans in Texas and tried to stop more from arriving.
In the Texans revolted against the Mexican government and established the Republic of Texas.
James K. Polk promised to annex Texas in his election campaign for President in 1844.
In 1845 Texas entered the U.S. as a slave state.

11. U.S.-Mexican War
Began over the dispute over the southern border of Texas.
Polk used this incident to declare war on Mexico.
Americans in California revolted at this time.
Within two years the U.S. captured Mexico City.
Mexico gave up California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and parts of Colorado, and New Mexico in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
The U.S. paid Mexico $15 million for the Mexican Cession.
US Claimed Border
Mexico Claimed Border

12. Gadsden Purchase 1853 Purchased from Mexico for $10 million.
Bought because this area was seen as the most practical route for the new railroad that was expanding across the U.S.
How does the payment for the Gadsden Purchase compare to the purchase of the Mexican Cession?

13. The California Gold Rush
Describe the men in the photos.
In 1848 gold was discovered in the Sierra Nevada in California.
In 1949 and 1850 many people from all over the US rushed to find gold.
The gold rush lasted only a few years but the population of California greatly increased.
California became a new destination for settlers.

14. Westward Expansion Poses a New Challenge
As new territories entered the US the question became whether to be a slave state or free state.
Southern states wanted to maintain the balance of power between slave and free states in Congress.

15. America Expands
Westward