Manifest Destiny?: Manifest Destiny and the Colonization of Texas
During the 1840s, the United States gains more than a million square miles of new territory, the greatest wave of expansion since the Louisiana purchase. Much of the land is annexed in a struggle between the U..S. and its neighbor to the south-Mexic...
Manifest Destiny?: U. S. and Mexico Clash Over Boundary Dispute
Texas is officially annexed in the mid 1840s during the administration of James Polk. Many historians believe that Polk then engineers a border dispute with Mexico to gain western territory the country had been attempting to purchase for years. When...
Manifest Destiny?: Mine Workers Face Discrimination and Exploitation
Laborers are urgently needed to support this new mining enterprise in California. Young men from as far away as China look upon this as a golden opportunity and begin to emigrate in large numbers. But when they arrive they face violence at the hands...
Manifest Destiny?: New Territory Deepens Division between North and South
A great chasm opens up between North and South over the slavery question in relation to territories acquired in the Mexican War. When President Polk decides not to run in 1848 because of poor health, Democrats nominate Lewis Case, a dull aging party...
Manifest Destiny?: California Gold Rush, The
In January of 1848, gold is discovered in Northern California on land owned by Swiss immigrant John Sutter Before news spreads and the rush of people arrives in 1849, experienced miners--Californios, Native Americans, and people from nearby areas--d...
Manifest Destiny?: Factors Influencing the Outcome of the Mexican War
Initially, Mexican leaders think they have a good chance of defeating the Americans, but they have few troops to oppose United States advances into California and New Mexico. Mexico's defeat in Central Mexico where they were the dominant force is li...
Manifest Destiny?: Geographic and Demographic Effects of the Mexican War
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo dramatically alters the geographic and demographic profile of the United States. Many of the Mexican negotiators work hard to assure citizenship rights for the Mexican afuera who live in the territories now part of th...
Manifest Destiny?: Crimes Against Native Americans during California Gold Rush
Indian lands are confiscated by forty-niners in their rush to find gold. Tribal members who retaliate are killed or imprisoned, their children enslaved. By 1860 the Indian population is reduced from 100,000 to 30,000. Historian Elliott West calls th...
Manifest Destiny?: Lasting Impact of California's Brief Gold Boom
Despite its impact on California and life in the United States the gold rush lasts only a short period of time. As California's gold production tapers off other gold and silver discoveries begin to develop in Nevada, Colorado, and other parts of the...