1840-1850

Manifest Destiny and Social Reform

     Manifest Destiny and Social Reform were very important aspects during 1840-1850. Manifest Destiny is mainly about the idea that the idea that the nation was meant to spread to the pacific. Social Reform was about people that wanted to reform their society because they didn't like it how it was. The social reformers were mainly run by women.

     The majority of Americans believed in Manifest Destiny which was the idea that the nation was meant to spread to the pacific. In 1818 the U.S. and Britain agreed to share the Oregon land. Many Americans migrated to Oregon because they were farmers looking for good soil. Texas which was part of Mexico wanted to be absorbed by the U.S. which was called annexation. When Texas was annexed by Polk, the Mexican government was furious. This led to the start of the Mexican-American War.  

    The Mexican-American War was started in January 1846 when President Polk sent Gen. Zachary Taylor into territory that was part of both U.S. and Mexico. He wanted Mexican troops to fire at his soldiers so it would be easier to get the American people to agree to go to war with Mexico. His plan worked and the U.S. was going to war with Mexico. Before the war started, American settlers in California had an uprising and toke over California renaming it Bear Flag Republic. President Polk sent General Scott tocapture Mexico's capital and he did in September 1847. Mexico surrendered and signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo on February 2, 1848. They gave the U.S. territories which are now the states of California, Nevada, Utah, most of Arizona and New Mexico, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming. The U.S. paid Mexico $15 million and took over $3.25 million in debts. The Mexican government owed to American citizens. The new states in the U.S. made Manifest Destiny a reality.

       There were many important people involved in these events. Andrew Jackson was the president of the time when the idea of Manifest Destiny started. He didn't annex Texas because it wanted to be a slave state. When James K. Polk won the presidential election he promised to annex Texas and Oregon. He did what he promised by making Texas a state in the Union and dividing Oregon along the 49 th parallel with Britain. The also won the Mexican-American War under Polk's leadership. This meant the California and many other states were now part of the U.S.

     This decade was mainly about the expansion toward the west and reforming society. The Americans believed in Manifest Destiny and they accomplished that by defeating Mexico in the war and then taking over most of their territories. They also reformed the society by banning alcohol in most of the states. Women were the majority that wanted to reform society by banning alcohol.

Sources:

Manifest Destiny, Wikipedia.org, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manifest_Destiny

Reform Movement, Wikipedia.org, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reform_movement