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Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion
Expansionist Roots
Thomas Jefferson, the nation's third president, had envisioned the United States as an "empire for liberty...with room enough for our descendants to the thousandth and thousandth generation." By completing the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, Jefferson doubled the nation's size, helping to fulfill that vision for America.
This kicked off a period of expansionism, or nation's practice or policy of territorial and economic expansion. The concept of Manifest Destiny supported the idea that Americans had the right to occupy the continent. This lead to jingoism, the feeling that territorial expansion of the United States was not only inevitable but divinely ordained. By the 1840s, Americans believed that their movement westward was both destined and ordained by God.
Reasons
While some settlers went west to escape debts or run from the law, most American settlers moved west in the 19th century for economic gain. Land in the West was plentiful and cheap.
Another major reason for westward settlement was social gain. One could change occupations more easily on the frontier. Although racial boundaries still existed, there was more freedom and social equity amongst the diversity of westward-moving settlers.
Reasons American settlers moved west in the 1800s include:
- To find new markets for trade
- To find employment opportunities
- To find better social conditions
- To escape religious persecution
- To find gold and become wealthy
Trails
Not only was the westward movement disastrous for Native Americans, it was also hazardous for American settlers. Thousands still made the journey using a series of new trails and routes. The main trails west were the Santa Fe Trail, the Oregon Trail, the Mormon Trail and the California Trail.
Santa Fe Trail
One of the busiest and most well-traveled trade routes was the Santa Fe Trail. Opened in 1821, the trail consisted of over 900 miles of barren grassland between Franklin, Missouri (just east of Independence, Missouri) and the Mexican provincial capital Santa Fe (in the current state of New Mexico).
Because New Mexico was Mexican territory at that time, this trail also represented American trade with Mexico. This trail was later used by the United States to invade Mexico in the Mexican-American War. Check out Travel the Trail: Map Timeline 1821-1880 to see the progression of the Sante Fe Trail.
Although much of the trail is now covered by modern highways, some wagon ruts can still be seen.
Oregon Trail
Another major trail, the Oregon Trail, started in Independence, Missouri, and was approximately 2,000 miles long. At first, this trail was only suited for travel on horseback. Eventually, a wagon trail was cleared as settlers ventured west to find better opportunities and wealth.
Although the first wagon train of about 1,000 people set out in 1843, the wagon trail wasn't fully cleared until 1846.
Oregon Territory
In 1792, Oregon was claimed by the United States after Captain Robert Gray explored the mouth of the Columbia River. This river forms the border between the present-day states of Washington and Oregon.
A merchant sea captain and former member of the Continental Navy, Captain Gray was the first American to circumnavigate the globe. At this time, to travel from the east coast of North America to the west coast, you had to sail all the way down around Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America and then back up the western coast. During his first voyage to the northwest coast, Gray 'discovered' the Columbia River when he crossed a dangerous sand bar. Of course, this river was known to local Native Americans, who called it Wimahl meaning "Big River", as they had been traveling along it for centuries. However, it was on this 'discovery' that America staked its claim to the Oregon Territory, which included parts of modern-day Oregon, Washington, and Idaho.
Great Britain and the United States both claimed this land in what is now parts of the US and Canada. For a time, they agreed to share it. However, in 1846, a treaty was signed that separated the area into two parts. A border line was drawn at the 49th Parallel, with the United States retaining the bottom half and Britain keeping the top half. The 49th parallel is still the border between the US and Canada today. In 1848, the Oregon Territory was officially organized, forcing the Cayuse and Nez Perce tribes to relocate. In 1859, Oregon became the 33rd state in the Union.
Mormon Trail
The Mormons, or Latter-Day Saints (LDS), moved west to escape religious persecution. Mormons follow both the Bible and the Book of Mormon, a book they believe their founder, Joseph Smith, had received through angelic visitations.
Mormonism was controversial at the time due to the practice of polygamy, or plural marriages. This practice was begun by Joseph Smith. Although his wife and son denied his practice of polygamy, in 1852, leaders of the LDS church acknowledged Smith's 28 marriages.
In 1844, a group of dissenting Mormons published a newspaper that was critical of Smith's leadership and his practice of polygamy. Smith had the newspaper press destroyed and called on the militia when there was a threat of violence. Smith was arrested and charged with treason by Illinois authorities; an anti-Mormon mob eventually stormed the jail and killed both Smith and his brother, Hyrum.
Brigham Young was Joseph Smith's successor in the LDS Church. He led about 5,000 Mormons to Utah from 1846 to 1847 on what became known as the Mormon Trail. Before the migration was finished, about 70,000 Mormons migrated to Utah.
In 1890, the LDS church renounced the practice of polygamy. The Mormons petitioned for Utah's statehood, which was granted in 1896. Mormons remain a major part of Utah's population today.
California Trail
The California Trail followed the Oregon and Mormon Trails for about the first half of the journey. Until 1848, only about 2,700 immigrants had used the trail. However, in 1849, 25,000 immigrants used the trail in just one year! What caused this sudden rush of immigrants?
Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began when gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in the Sierra Nevada mountain range in January 1848. Word of this discovery soon traveled east, and overland migration to California skyrocketed as a result. Among the so-called forty-niners – prospectors who flocked to California in search of gold in 1849 – were people from Asia, South America, and Europe, in addition to those from North America. Over 90% of the 49ers were young men. The California Gold Rush constituted the largest migration in American history. As a result, California's population soon swelled to over 100,000 diverse peoples from all walks of life.
Read Gold in California to learn more about this wild time in American history.
Two billion dollars of precious metal was mined, but very few miners "struck it rich." In fact, most miners went home broke. The following excerpt is a letter gold miner S. Shufelt wrote to his cousin in 1850. It is about Hangtown, later renamed Placerville, an important town in the California Gold Rush.
"We hired an ox team to carry our baggage & started for this place then called Hangtown, from the fact that three persons had been hung here for stealing & attempting to murder.... We pitched our tents, shouldered our picks & shovels & with pan in hand sallied forth to try our fortunes at gold digging. We did not have very good success being green at mining, but by practice & observation we soon improved some, & found a little of the shining metal.
Some are also troubled with diarreah, others with ague & fever & various other diseases incident to all new countries. It is quite sickly here & every person ought to be very careful & not expose himself more than is necessary.
If any man has his health & will work, he can make more than ten times as much here as he can in the states in the same length of time. But many, very many, that come here meet with bad success & thousands will leave their bones here. Others will lose their health, contract diseases that they will carry to their graves with them. Some will have to beg their way home, & probably one half that come here will never make enough to carry them back. But this does not alter the fact about the gold being plenty here, but shows what a poor frail being man is, how liable to disappointments, disease & death.
There is a good deal of sin & wickedness going on here, Stealing, lying, Swearing, Drinking, Gambling & murdering. There is a great deal of gambling carried on here. Almost every public House is a place for Gambling, & this appears to be the greatest evil that prevails here. Men make & lose thousands in a night, & frequently small boys will go up & bet $5 or 10 [This is the equivalent to $115-$225 today] -- & if they lose all, go the next day & dig more. We are trying to get laws here to regulate things but it will be very difficult to get them executed."
California had been ceded to the United States by Mexico in the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo after the Mexican-American War (which we will learn more about later in this unit). Later, California's application for statehood caused yet another controversy between the North and South in the sectional debate over slavery. However, it was granted admission to the Union as a free state in 1850. Read African Americans in the Gold Rush to learn more about this tension.
Impact on Native Americans
The increasing number of settlers moving west inevitably affected Native American communities. In order for white settlers to fulfill their Manifest Destiny and occupy the continent, Native Americans were forcibly removed from their native lands. Additionally, many Native Americans began to assimilate, or become part of, white culture in their dress, occupations, religons, and education, even as they tried to maintain their tribal and cultural traditions.
During this period of American history, the Five Civilized Tribes - the Choctaws, the Creeks, the Chickasaws, the Cherokee, and the Seminoles - all ended up being forcibly moved from their native lands in the American southeast to the west. They were called 'civilized' because they attempted to adopt practices of the white settlers, like large-scale farming. In fact, some had became successful businesspeople and landowners.
In 1814, General Andrew Jackson led United States forces against the Creek nation in the Creek War, which occurred in Alabama from 1813-1814. As a result, the Creeks lost 22 million acres of land in Alabama and Georgia. From 1814 to 1824, eleven treaties were negotiated that took southern Native American lands and replaced them with lands in the west. These treaties took lands from Native Americans in Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Mississippi.
This map shows of the land cessions Cession means the formal giving up of rights, property, or territory by Native Americans in the Southeast from 1814 to 1820. As you can see, Chickasaw, Cherokee, and Creek tribes lived in parts of Alabama.
Indian Removal Act
Although native tribes progressively lost lands throughout this period, the Indian Removal Act of 1830 was proposed to solve the "Indian question" once and for all. President Andrew Jackson signed the law and carried it out as commander-in-chief.
In 1830, President Jackson said this about the Indian Removal Act:
"It will separate the Indians from immediate contact with settlements of whites; free them from the power of the States; enable them to pursue happiness in their own way and under their own rude institutions; will retard the progress of decay, which is lessening their numbers, and perhaps cause them gradually, under the protection of the Government and through the influence of good counsels, to cast off their savage habits and become an interesting, civilized, and Christian community."
Notice the phrases "their savage habits", "their own rude institutions" (rude meaning rudimentary, primitive, or even ill-mannered), and "become...civilized". What do you think Jackson's opinions of Native Americans are, based on this wording?
Also, this passage tells us one reason why "Indian Removal" was implemented. Jackson, and many other white people, felt that separating the Native Americans from the white settlers would make Native Americans more content and increase their numbers. This turned out to be inaccurate. Another main reason for removal was simply that white settlers wanted more and more lands, including those held by the Native American tribes.
When Martin Van Buren became president in 1837, he continued Jackson's enforcement of the removal act, and his administration negotiated more than a dozen treaties with the Native American tribes.
The Trail of Tears
The routes these Native American tribes took from their homes in the Southeast to Indian Territory (what is now present-day Oklahoma) are known as the Trail of Tears.
Choctaws
In 1830, the Choctaws became the first tribe to sign a removal treaty. Those who tried to stay behind lost their lands to white squatters or they were cheated out of their land holdings. Over 15,000 Choctaws emigrated west to Indian Territory from 1831 to 1833. About 2,500 died along the Trail of Tears.
Seminole
Most of the Seminole tribe from Florida fought relocation, which resulted in the Second Seminole War from 1835 to 1842. However, eventually most of the Seminoles also moved west. The leader of the Seminole tribe during the Second Seminole War was Osceola.
Osceola had fought against Andrew Jackson as a Creek during the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in the War of 1812. He fled to Florida when the Creek Red Sticks lost the battle. Born in Tallassee, Alabama, Osceola was of mixed-race ancestry, including Creek, Scottish, and English heritage. In 1837, he was captured under a flag of truce and sent to a military prison in South Carolina where he later died of disease.
Creeks
The Creeks (also known as the Muscogee) never agreed to move west. They signed a treaty granting more land to the United States but tried to stay in Alabama. However, land speculators cheated them out of their land, and the Creeks were forced to steal crops and livestock just to survive. By 1836, they were forced to move west by order of the Secretary of War, who viewed them as a danger. About 15,000 Creeks moved west as a result.
A few Creeks managed to stay behind in Alabama, and their descendants can be found at the Poarch Creek Reservation in Atmore, Alabama.
Chickasaw
The Chickasaw did not resist removal because they felt it was inevitable. In 1832, they signed a treaty agreeing to move west if the government would protect them. However, the War Department did not fulfill this promise. The Chickasaw had to pay the Choctaws to migrate to some of their land in the winter of 1837-1838. In 1837, 3,001 Chickasaw met in Memphis, Tennessee, and traveled the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma. More than 500 died on the journey.
Cherokee
The Cherokee, led by Chief John Ross, tried to fight the decision in the courts, first with Cherokee Nation v. Georgia in 1830 and then with Worcester v. Georgia in 1832. Even though the Supreme Court ruled favorably, Presidents Jackson and Van Buren refused to enforce the rulings.
The Cherokee were given two years to migrate west, but by 1838, only 2,000 had actually done so. As a result, 7,000 federal troops were sent to force the remaining 16,000 Cherokee off their lands. On the Trail of Tears, 4,000 Cherokee died of hunger, disease, and exposure. Chief John Ross survived the journey, but his wife was among those who died.
Watch the video Trail of Tears (5:24) to learn about the Trail of Tears and the Cherokee.