Correction American Frontier
MEEF1-Dossier 2
The American Frontier
Doc A - Excerpts from Speech by Senator
John F. Kennedy, Valley Forge Country Club,
Valley Forge, PA October 29, 1960
Doc B – Manifest and Other Destinies:
Territorial Fictions of the Nineteenth-Century
United States. Stephanie Lemenager University of Nebraska Press. Lincoln, NE.
2004.
DOC C – American Progress by John Gast
(1872)
Westward Expansion
• Land Ordinance 1785/Northwest Ordinance 1787
• 1821 – Revolution overturned Spanish rule in
Mexico, U.S. recognized Mexico as a republic
• The Gold Rush, 1849
• American expansionists – those who favored U.S. territorial growth – looked at Texas, New Mexico,
California as targets for American expansion
• Few people living there
• Rich in resources
• Mexican government and economy weak after revolution • Mexicans did not deserve to keep territory Americans needed Reasons behind expansionism
• Population Increase
• Economic depressions—1818 and
1839
• Abundance of cheap (or free) land in West.
• Expansion offered opportunities for new commerce. • People began moving over new trails like Santa
Fe Trail and Oregon
Trail.(1836)
Chronology
• Westward expansion = 19th c
• Jefferson : 1804-06 commissioned the Lewis and Clark exp=spread democracy…
• Madison: the War of 1812 ≠GB (1814= treaty of Ghent)
• Monroe: 1823, the Monroe Doctrine = no
European intrusion on the American continent
• Jackson: 1830, Indian Removal Act
• Polk: expansionist policy (1844 campaign)Mexican war (1846-48)
• Taylor/Pierce/ Buchanan=struggle with slavery
• 1860: Lincoln, anti-slavery policy
US Territorial Expansion
When?
•1776
From Where?
•Great Britain
A - 13 Original
Colonies
Why?
•US declared independence from Great
Britain
A
B - Western Lands
When?
•1783
From Where?
•Great Britain
Why?
•Part of results of
Treaty of
Paris (ended
Revolutionary
War)
A
B
When?
•1803
From Where?
•France
C - Louisiana
Purchase
Why?
•Napoleon
needed $
•Jefferson
wanted to buy
New Orleans
•He got all of
Louisiana
The American Frontier
Doc A - Excerpts from Speech by Senator
John F. Kennedy, Valley Forge Country Club,
Valley Forge, PA October 29, 1960
Doc B – Manifest and Other Destinies:
Territorial Fictions of the Nineteenth-Century
United States. Stephanie Lemenager University of Nebraska Press. Lincoln, NE.
2004.
DOC C – American Progress by John Gast
(1872)
Westward Expansion
• Land Ordinance 1785/Northwest Ordinance 1787
• 1821 – Revolution overturned Spanish rule in
Mexico, U.S. recognized Mexico as a republic
• The Gold Rush, 1849
• American expansionists – those who favored U.S. territorial growth – looked at Texas, New Mexico,
California as targets for American expansion
• Few people living there
• Rich in resources
• Mexican government and economy weak after revolution • Mexicans did not deserve to keep territory Americans needed Reasons behind expansionism
• Population Increase
• Economic depressions—1818 and
1839
• Abundance of cheap (or free) land in West.
• Expansion offered opportunities for new commerce. • People began moving over new trails like Santa
Fe Trail and Oregon
Trail.(1836)
Chronology
• Westward expansion = 19th c
• Jefferson : 1804-06 commissioned the Lewis and Clark exp=spread democracy…
• Madison: the War of 1812 ≠GB (1814= treaty of Ghent)
• Monroe: 1823, the Monroe Doctrine = no
European intrusion on the American continent
• Jackson: 1830, Indian Removal Act
• Polk: expansionist policy (1844 campaign)Mexican war (1846-48)
• Taylor/Pierce/ Buchanan=struggle with slavery
• 1860: Lincoln, anti-slavery policy
US Territorial Expansion
When?
•1776
From Where?
•Great Britain
A - 13 Original
Colonies
Why?
•US declared independence from Great
Britain
A
B - Western Lands
When?
•1783
From Where?
•Great Britain
Why?
•Part of results of
Treaty of
Paris (ended
Revolutionary
War)
A
B
When?
•1803
From Where?
•France
C - Louisiana
Purchase
Why?
•Napoleon
needed $
•Jefferson
wanted to buy
New Orleans
•He got all of
Louisiana