1. Manifest Destiny and the Mexican War

2. The Election of 1844
The Polk Democratic
ticket
The Clay Whig
ticket

3. Slavery & the question of what to do with Texas and Oregon were dominant campaign issues

4. The Democratic nominee, James K
The Democratic nominee, James K. Polk of Tennessee, supported westward expansion

5. The Democratic slogan “54/40 or fight” referred to the desired northern boundary of the Oregon territory

8. The annexation of Texas appealed strongly to the nation’s expansionist mood

9. Polk tied the Oregon territory with the annexation of Texas
Polk tied the Oregon territory with the annexation of Texas.. (1) The Oregon territory would be free-soil territory… (2) While Texas would join the union as a slave state.

10. Henry Clay, the Whig candidate, opposed the issue of Texas annexation

11. Clay opposed Texan annexation… (1) to preserve North-South unity (2) to avoid war with Mexico by respecting Mexico’s claim to Texas.

13. Consequences of the Election

14. Polk won the electoral vote overwhelmingly, but he won the popular vote by only 40,000 votes

15. 1844 Election Results  Candidate Party Electoral Votes Popular Votes   James K. Polk -- Democratic -- 170 -- 1,337,243   Henry Clay -- Whig -- 105 -- 1,299,062

16. Congress interpreted the victory as an endorsement of westward expansion. On March 1, 1845, it approved the annexation of Texas, which was admitted into the Union as the 28th state

17. As for Polk, he was more concerned with ongoing problems in Mexico than Oregon, and because the British were eager to preserve their good relations with the United States, he was able to work out a peaceful solution

18. The Oregon Treaty set the United States and British border at the 49th parallel, with the exception of Vancouver Island, which was retained in its entirety by the British

19. The treaty established the border between the United States and Canada to the Pacific and improved relations with England

20. The annexation of Texas angered Mexico, and its rejection of Polk’s offer to buy additional land from Mexico, including California and New Mexico, created more friction between the two countries

21. The Mexican-American War

22. A young Army lieutenant named Ulysses S
A young Army lieutenant named Ulysses S. Grant called it… “one of the most unjust wars ever waged by a stronger against a weaker nation.”

23. In Massachusetts, writer Henry David Thoreau refused to pay his poll tax because the money might be used to support the war

24. Thoreau’s aunt paid it for him after he spent only one night in jail, but the essay that came out of it, “Civil Disobedience,” became a handbook for non-violent protestors and passive resistance demonstrators around the world well into the next century

25. Much of the dissent regarding the war was due to fears that the war was designed to acquire more territory for the spread of slavery

26. The Course of the War

27. In March 1846, Pres. Polk sent an “army of observation” (4,000 men) under the command of Gen. Zachary Taylor to the banks of the Rio Grande River, an area that Mexico considered its territory

29. Zachary Taylor

30. In April, 1846 Mexican troops fired on American troops in the disputed area

31. Taylor’s soldiers had managed to provoke a small attack by Mexican troops, and the war was on

32. In May, Polk asked for a declaration of war, asserting that American blood had been shed on American soil

33. It wasn’t much of a war!

34. The U. S. lost 13,000 men – 11,000 of them to disease – and won every single major battle

35. The Mexican army was badly led, badly equipped, and badly trained

36. The first major battle, at Palo Alto… Taylor led 2,300 soldiers against a Mexican army of 4,500 and routed them

37. In a follow-up fight, the U. S
In a follow-up fight, the U. S. force of 1,700 scattered a Mexican force of 7,500. American losses totaled less than 50 men for the two fights; the Mexicans lost more than 1,000

38. By 1847, the military had gained control of the entire southwest, including California, where American settlers revolted against Mexico and joined forces with the United States

39. General Taylor seized Northern Mexico, and in September of 1847 General Winfield Scott gained control of Mexico City, the capital, thus ending the war

40. Winfield Scott

42. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed in 1848, officially ended the war

43. Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848)
Mexico gave up California and New Mexico to the United States for $15 million
Rio Grande was established as the southern border of the United States
Mexico dropped claims to Texas.

44. Rio Grande River as the southern border of Texas

45. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo It gave America more than 500,000 square miles of Mexican territory including: California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and parts of New Mexico, Wyoming, and Colorado.

46. The United States increased its territory by a third

47. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

48. Some Whigs in Congress, including Abraham Lincoln, saw the war as an excuse by southerners to expand slavery

49. As early as 1846, David Wilmot of Pennsylvania introduced, as part of an appropriation (spending) bill to fund the war, an amendment to forbid slavery in any of the territories acquired from Mexico

50. The Wilmot Proviso passed in the House, but southern Democrats killed it four times in the Senate

51. The Election of 1848

52. The Whigs and Democrats both wanted to avoid the issue of slavery

53. Zachary Taylor, the Whig candidate and hero of the Mexican War, took no stand on the slavery issue won the election