1. Westward Expansion Chapter 13

2. The West  “The West” was anywhere between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean-That was the Western Frontier  Because it was hard to farm in the Great Plains, the land was used for Transportation  The Northwest had fertile lands

3. The West  The Southwest was owned by Mexico, and was part of the Spanish Borderlands.  People in these areas were only allowed to trade with Spain  This area has a distinct culture

4. The West  Spanish missionaries like Junipero Serro tried to turn Native Americans into Catholics  Natives were forced to live and work at missions, may died from overwork or disease  Buildings were and are still made with a similar look

6. The West  In 1821, Mexico won their independence from Spain  Mexico made land grants to rancheros and removed missionaries  Because the land given often belonged to the Natives, the Indians raided ranches

7. The West  America had been interested in Westward Expansion  They began to believe in Manifest Destiny, which was the idea that the country should go from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

9. Trails to the West  There were many trails to the west  In 1821, Captain William Becknell led a wagon train from Missouri to New Mexico  This was 800 miles long and was called the Santa Fe Trail, it was very popular

12. Trails to the West  John Jacob Astor established the American Fur Company in 1808 in Oregon after he traveled there  He used information the Lewis and Clark created

13. Trails to the West  Mountain men became famous.  They led isolated lives in the bitter cold, intense heat animal attacks  Trappers would bring their furs to a rendezvous where the mountain men would come together and bargain for the prices of furs

15. Trails to the West  The first people to built permanent homes in Oregon were missionaries  Marcus and Narcissa Whitman tried to help the natives, but in reality land was simply stolen from the natives.  When people heard there was good land, more settlers came  This started “Oregon Fever”

16. Trails to the West  Most settlers followed the Oregon Trail  This trail was 2,000 miles from Missouri to Oregon, and it took 5 months to complete.  Pioneers banded together for protection-Wagons carried supplies while the people walked  People began to get rid of personal items to make the wagons lighter

18. Trails to the West  Working with only hand tools, people had to clear land, plant crops and build shelters  Diseases, accidents and natural disasters were common.  Sine setters even gave up and returned east

19. Trails to the West  Women worked with men to make their family farms successful  Women also fought for the right to vote  In 1869, the Wyoming territory was the first that let women vote

21. Trails to the West  Natives had an uneasy peace with the whites  After gold was discovered in Oregon in 1850, white and Chinese miners came into the area  War broke out with the Natives

22. Conflict with Mexico  Conflict between Mexico and the Americans in Texas  Americans were moving to Texas, and they were Protestant, not Catholic  The Americans were bringing slaves, which was outlawed in Mexico  The Mexican democracy was overturned by Santa Anna, and he turned it to a dictatorship  In 1836, the Texans declared independence from Mexico and created the Republic of Texas

24. Conflict with Mexico  Santa Anna attacked the Alamo  The Americans defended it for 12 days until the Mexicans took over  A few months later, Sam Houston, led a small army to attack Santa Anna’s army  They captured the leader and signed a treaty that gave Texas independence.

26. Conflict with Mexico  Sam Houston became the President of the Republic of Texas  He hoped that the United States would Annex Texas  Initially they were not annexed because there was no free state to balance them

27. Conflict with Mexico  President John Tyler asked congress to annex Texas 3 days before he left his presidency  Although Santa Anna had signed a treaty, Mexico claimed that it was not truly a treaty

28. Conflict with Mexico  President James K. Polk offered to pay Mexico for the border of Texas and to pay for California  This angered Mexico  This began a war with Mexico  This was called the Mexican American War  Most Americans supported the war  But Northerners said it was about extending slavery

29. Conflict with Mexico  Polk sent troops to New Mexico and to California  Settlers in California declared themselves an independent republic  They rose a grizzly bear flag  Although Mexico tried to defend California and New Mexico, they did not have the troops

30. Conflict with Mexico  General Zachary Taylor invaded Mexico, the Americans invaded and took over the capital  The Americans had won the war 

31. Conflict with Mexico  The treaty that ended the war was the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo  They won the Mexican Cession which included California, Nevada and Utah as well as part of Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico  They had also had the Gadsden Purchase which made Manifest Destiny complete

34. A Rush to the West  People of the Mormon religion began to move west to Utah, eventually they founded the city of Salt Lake City  The Church was founded in 1830 by Joseph Smith  One thing that was controversial was that some people believed in polygamy  The Mormons moved from New York to Ohio, then to Missouri, then Illinois where Smith was murdered  Brigham Young moved the Mormons to Salt Lake City Utah.

35. A Rush to the West  Mormons and the government of the United States had conflict for 3 reasons  Mormon church controlled the election process in Utah  The Church only supported businesses for people that were Mormon  Polygamy

36. A Rush to the West  It took 40 years to work out these issues, Utah became a state in 1896  In 1848, James Marshall found a gold nugget in a ditch in California  80,000 “forty-niners’ ran to California to search for gold  There was both gold above ground and below ground and it the water

38. A Rush to the West  People were fighting over water rights because the gold would move with the water  Because of the people moving west, towns sprang up  There were vigilantes in these towns  The women who went to California mined, ran and worked in boarding houses, hotels, restaurants, laundries and stores

39. A Rush to the West  There was gold found in Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Arizona and Nevada  All different types of people went to California  People from Europe, Asia, Australia and South America

43. A Rush to the West  Men from China came to America in hopes that they could send home money  They faced prejudice  They could not get jobs in mines, they had to cook or do laundry, work on railroads or farms

44. A Rush to the West  Thousands of free African Americans moved to California  They had their own churches, and news papers  They ran their own businesses  But they did not have equal rights

45. A Rush to the West  Natives had their lands stolen  Nearly 2/3 of the Natives that lived in California died during the Gold rush