Westward Expansion and Manifest Destiny
The belief that a continent was owed to one nation, and the war, trails, and gold rush that pushed the border to the Pacific.
5 topics · 16 questions
Each topic is a path, not a menu: work down it in order and every question builds on the one above. Click any of them to watch the answer draw itself.
Manifest Destiny as an Idea
- How it worksShow me the phrase manifest destiny mapped onto every territory the United States adds between 1803 and 1853.
- Common mistakeWhy isn't manifest destiny a neutral idea when it treats land already lived on by millions as empty?
- Going furtherWhat happens to Native nations and Mexican citizens already living on land manifest destiny claims for settlers?
Your turn1 of 2
By the 1840s, many Americans believed it was the nation's obvious destiny to expand across the continent to the Pacific, a belief that came to be called manifest destiny. Why isn't this a neutral idea when it treats western land as if it were empty and waiting to be settled?Texas Independence and Annexation
- How it worksWalk me through how the fall of the Alamo in 1836 rallied Texans to win independence weeks later at San Jacinto.
- Going furtherWhat happens between the United States and Mexico the moment Texas is annexed in 1845?
- How it worksHow did the debate over adding Texas as a slave state delay its annexation for nearly a decade?
Your turn1 of 2
Mexico had invited American settlers into Texas in the 1820s hoping they would strengthen the sparsely populated province. By the 1830s, those same settlers were fighting a war to break away from Mexico. Why did settlers Mexico had welcomed end up fighting to leave?The Mexican-American War
- How it worksShow me US army campaigns converging on Mexico from Texas, California, and a landing at Veracruz.
- How it worksWalk me through what the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 actually transferred from Mexico to the United States.
- Worked exampleTrace the Mexican Cession's roughly 525,000 square miles against the size of the original thirteen colonies.
Your turn1 of 2
The United States and Mexico disagreed over whether the border of newly annexed Texas sat at the Nueces River or farther south at the Rio Grande. President Polk sent troops into the disputed zone between the two rivers, and fighting broke out soon after. How did this border dispute end up costing Mexico about half its territory?The Oregon Trail and Overland Migration
- Worked exampleShow me the roughly 2,000 mile Oregon Trail route from Missouri through South Pass to the Willamette Valley.
- Worked exampleTrace a wagon train covering about 15 miles a day and estimate how long the full Oregon Trail actually takes.
- Going furtherWhat happens to Plains nations' land and buffalo herds once tens of thousands of settlers cross it every year.
Your turn1 of 2
Wagon trains heading to Oregon in the 1840s carried families' entire food, tools, and household supplies for a trip of about six months. Yet most adults and older children walked alongside the wagon rather than riding in it. Why did families willingly walk instead?The California Gold Rush
- How it worksShow me the routes forty-niners took to California: overland trails, around Cape Horn, and across Panama.
- Going furtherWhat happens to California's path to statehood once the Gold Rush floods it with population almost overnight.
- Worked exampleTrace California's population growing from about 1,000 non-Native settlers in 1848 to over 250,000 by 1852.
- Ties togetherHow does the sudden rush of settlers into California connect to the pressure that finally builds the transcontinental railroad?
Your turn1 of 2
News that gold had been discovered at Sutter's Mill in January 1848 spread quickly by newspaper, and within a couple of years hundreds of thousands of people had crossed oceans and continents to reach California. What pulled so many people to move that far, that fast?