Lecture 19: Into The West (DVD) PDF

Lecture 19: Into the West (DVD) [Based on America: The Story of Us, Episode 3: “Westward”] I. First Stage: Across the Appalachians: A. Cumberland Gap- formed by meteorite 300,000,000 years B.C. a. Provided access through the Appalachians for...

Lecture 19: Into the West (DVD) [Based on America: The Story of Us, Episode 3: “Westward”] I. First Stage: Across the Appalachians: A. Cumberland Gap- formed by meteorite 300,000,000 years B.C. a. Provided access through the Appalachians for settlers to head west b. 1775- Land west of Cumberland Gap Controlled by European countries (Britain, France, Spain) and inhabited by 100s of Native American Tribes. 1. Resources: land, minerals (gold & silver) c. Daniel Boone- March 1775: Travels with 30 men through Cumberland Gap to open up the west 1. Builds the “Wilderness Road” to Kentucky 2. Defying British order to stop westward expansion. 3. Take no supplies- live off the land. 4. Clashes with Shawnee Tribe who wanted to stop white incursion onto their lands. 5. Loses 50 men settling Kentucky 6. By 1795: 200,000 people had followed Boone’s footsteps across the Appalachians. II. Second Stage: Across the Mississippi- The Louisiana Purchase A. 1803- President Thomas Jefferson buys the 500 million acre Louisiana Territory from Napoleon at 3 cents an acre. B. Lewis and Clark Expedition: Begins May 1804 a. Meriweather Lewis & William Clark set out to map Louisiana Territory b. The Rocky Mountains- an unknown frontier 1. Almost starve in the mountains. 2. Saved by 16 year-old Shoshone Girl- Sacajawea c. First Americans to reach Pacific Ocean by land. d. Discover 300 species of wildlife C. Trappers & Beaver: a. Lewis & Clark expedition opens up Rocky Mountains to trappers looking for beaver, which was highly prized in Europe 1. 100’s of trappers flood into Rockies to seek their fortunes. 2. New iron traps utilized to capture beaver 3. Jedediah Smith- the greatest trapper i. Covers 1,000 miles per year ii. Traps 600 beaver pelts per season iii. Works with the Native Americans- The Crow  Tribe a. Native Americans show him short cuts, nurse his men, etc. iv. Opens up the west for fur trade v. Greatest danger for Smith and other trappers- grizzly bears. vi. Forges paths in the west that were later used by settlers and some that still are being used today as roads. III. Third Stage: Wagon Trains West- 1840s: Mass-Migration A. Destination: California and Oregon a. 2,000 mile journey b. Travel 10 miles a day c. Objective: new opportunities d. People sell their homes and farms back east and move west e. Conestoga Wagons: carry people and food 1. Drinking water- captured rainwater from canvas 2. Fuel for Fire- dung from oxen f. Death Toll High B. Donner Party: June 1846 wagon train heads west a. Led by George Donner b. Have to get through the Sierra Nevada Mountains before the snow comes c. Takes a short cut- a fatal mistake, adds 100 miles to journey d. Early November 1846: the party gets to Truckee Pass, 30 miles from the California plains, their destination. 5 feet of snow falls in one night. Snow drifts up to 60 feet deep. e. The party is stranded for 5 months f. They run out of food. Eventually resort to cannibalism. g. Truckee pass renamed the Donner Pass C. Clash with Mexico: a. Mexico- large empire that stretches from Oregon to Guatemala b. Texas’ Independence: 1. 1820s: Americans invited into Texas by the Mexican Government to settle. Texas was soon overwhelmed by these settlers 2. By 1835- Americans outnumber Mexicans in Texas 10 to 1. Americans in Texas want independence. 3. The Alamo- February 1836: Mexican Forces attack the Alamo 4. Turning Point: America will now wage war to go west  5. Texas won, California later too. Additional Information: A. War of Texas Independence- February-April 1836: a. The Alamo- February-March 1836: A rebellion had broken out in Texas in 1835 because of the restrictive policies of Mexican President Antonio López de Santa Anna. Santa Anna invaded Texas with 4,000 men in late 1835 to put down the rebellion. In February 1836 Santa Anna laid siege to the Alamo defended by 200 Texans (Americans) in San Antonio. Although it cost Santa Anna 1,500 of his men, he took the Alamo on March 6 1836. The defenders of the mission were killed to the last man. Among the dead was former Congressman and frontiersman Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie- inventor of the Bowie knife. b. Battle of San Jacinto- April 21 1836: Texas finally won its independence from Mexico when Sam Houston, a former governor of Tennessee, led a Texan army to victory over Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21 1836. Amid shouts of “Remember the Alamo” the Texan Army killed nearly half of Santa Anna’s army in the space of 15 minutes and captured Santa Anna. In all 630 Mexicans were killed as opposed to 9 Texans. Houston forced Santa Anna to sign a treaty recognizing Texas’ independence. Texas became an independent republic, the Republic of Texas, with Sam Houston as its first President. B. Manifest Destiny: By the 1840s, many people in America had begun to believe that it was America’s destiny to expand its territory to the Pacific Ocean. This was known as manifest destiny. This term was coined by a New York journalist, John L. O’Sullivan, in1845 when he wrote that it was “... our manifest destiny to overspread and to possess the whole of the Continent which Providence has given us for the development of the great experiment of liberty and federated self-government entrusted to us.” C. Mexican-American War 1846-1847: Manifest Destiny would lead us into a war with our southern neighbor, Mexico, in 1846- the Mexican-American war. a. Background: This war would come about over the American annexation of Texas. As we saw Texas became an independent republic in 1836. However, in1845 Texas voted to enter the United States as a state. While Santa Anna had been forced by Sam Houston to agree to Texas’s independence, his government never gave up hopes of reclaiming Texas. The last thing that he wanted was for Texas to become part of the United States, which would make it hard for Mexico to recover the territory. b. Fighting begins: Sensing that Mexico might attack Texas, U.S. President James K. Polk sent a U.S. Army under General Zachary Taylor “Old Rough and Ready” to the tiny town of Corpus Christi, just south of the Nueces River. After Mexico rejected a diplomatic mission in March 1846, Polk ordered Taylor to move his army south to the Rio Grande- hoping that the Mexicans would begin hostilities by attacking Taylor. In April 1846 the Mexicans attacked Taylor’s forces. In May, General Taylor defeated the Mexican army in Texas and pursued it across the Rio Grande into Mexico, where he captured Monterrey in September. He went on to defeat a larger Mexican force at the Battle of Buena Vista in February 1847. c. Polk Acts to Fulfill Manifest Destiny: President Polk’s overall aim in this war was to fulfill America’s manifest destiny goals by taking Mexican territory. While General Taylor was defeating Mexican armies on their home turf, Polk’s strategy was to capture territories. 1. New Mexico: In the Spring of 1846, Polk sent Col. Stephen Kearny from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, with an army to New Mexico, which Kearny was able to take without firing a shot. 2. California: Polk also acted to seize California. He sent a naval squadron under Commodore John Sloat to California in 1845 and ordered him, in the case of war- to occupy California’s ports. Polk also authorized the Georgia-born adventurer, Captain John C. Fremont, to go to California to protect American interests there. Fremont put together a small force of about 60 Americans and seized the town of Sonoma and proclaimed the independence of the “Bear Flag Republic” in June of 1846. In July, Sloat and his fleet captured the capital city of Monterey, California, and the rest of California was quickly brought under American control.  d. End of the War: In March of 1847, General Winfield Scott landed an army of 12,000 soldiers near Vera Cruz and began moving inland. After defeating Santa Anna at the mountain pass of Cerro Gordo, Scott and his men attacked the key fortresses of Churubusco and Chapultepec that guarded Mexico City. When they fell, Scott took Mexico City on September 13th 1847 and the Mexican-American War was over. e. Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo- 1847: In the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo America got Texas as well as New Mexico and California. These territories accounted for the present-day states of California, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, most of Arizona and parts of Colorado and Wyoming. For its part, the United States agreed to assume responsibility for money that Mexico owed to some U.S. citizens and agreed to pay Mexico 15 million dollars for the territories. IV. Fourth Stage: California Gold Rush: A. Gold Discovered in 1848: a. James Marshall discovers a gold nugget in the California River in January 1848 b. News spreads and leads to the “Gold Rush” c. 100,000 people flock to California to get rich quick. d. San Francisco becomes a boom town. e. Hand-panning gives way to “Sluice Boxes” f. People make a lot of money supplying the miners. g. Tough Way of Life: 1. Some prospectors starve to death for lack of supplies 2. Most do not strike it rich: less than 1 in 100 3. Tensions flare between miners h. Gold Rush over in 5 Years. Had given birth to California. V. Westward Expansion- A Case in Point: Abraham Lincoln A. Hardships of Pioneers: a. Lincoln loses mother when he is 9 to Milk Sickness (white snake root eaten by cattle is passed through milk to humans) b. Had a tough childhood B. Successive Moves West: Lincoln’s grandfather had followed Daniel Boone’s Wilderness Road to Kentucky, his father had moved to Indiana. C. Life in Wilderness: a. Lincolns lived in a single-room log cabin b. Make their tools, furniture  c. Short life expectancy- Malaria. VI. Downside to Westward Expansion: Treatment of Native Americans: A. Indian Relocation- 1830: President Andrew Jackson declares that Native Americans will be relocated to reservations. a. Tribes affected: Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Seminole, Cherokee forcibly removed. b. Suffering of tribes: “The Trail of Tears” 1. Many die of disease, exposure VII. The Key to the West: The Mississippi River A. 2,000 miles in length (Minnesota to New Orleans) B. “Lifeline” connecting the West to the outside world (really only form of reliable transportation) C. Way for settlers to get their goods to market. D. Initially- farmers moved goods via “Flatboat” that they poled down the Mississippi. Would sell their boats as lumber in New Orleans and walk home. E. Revolution in Transport- Steamship a. Transforms the Mississippi and America b. Can travel 50 miles a day upstream c. Make Midwest America’s economic powerhouse