U.S. Expansion: Growth Of A Nation (1989)

In 1845, when the United States was not yet 70 years old, a writer John L. Osullivan coined the term manifest destiny. It meant that the nation's destiny was to expand. By O Sullivan's time, the United States had already grown from 13 former British colonies in the east to 27 states and several territories. And it would continue to grow to the Pacific coast. It would grow to Alaska, to the Hawaiian Islands. During this growth, there was conflict between Americans and the British. between Americans and the French, Spaniards, Mexicans, and Indians. There was hope as people trying to improve their lives sought opportunities in lands where farms, mines, and businesses had never existed. 70 years before the term manifest destiny was heard, American settlers were already moving. They came to the Northwest Territory and to the old southwest. These lands reaching to the Mississippi River had belonged to the British colonial government. After independence was declared, the state governments claimed them. But Thomas Jefferson and others worked to make them federal lands. A law was passed, the Northwest Ordinance. The Northwest Ordinance created a system for surveying and selling land. It guaranteed Americans who migrated westward that they would keep their rights of citizenship. As population grew, settled territories would become states. The first proposed state to be settled was Ohio. Private developers such as the Ohio Company purchased land from the government. They built settlements. They sold lots. Settlers came. They traveled overland in wagons and along rivers in flatboats called broad horns. Southern settlers pulled their broad horns into Kentucky. And so began the United States westward movement. The settlers were farmers. They were merchants and craftsmen who served the farmers. They were soldiers and adventurers who defended their neighbors against Indians. [Music] In battle after battle, they pushed the Indians out. The Indians had allies unfriendly to the United States. British Canadians and Spaniards in Florida. They supplied guns to the Indians who raided American farms. To stop the conflict, the government pressured Indians to sign treaties. They were forced to leave the land to give it to the settlers. Northern settlements grew into small towns and cities. [Music] Settlement was slower in the south. Then the war of 1812 was fought. At its end, Andrew Jackson led American troops against Indians who had attacked Georgia settlers. As the Indians retreated, more settlers came to the southwest. They purchased land from brokers. Some bought slaves. They raised cotton which brought high prices at eastern mills. In the south and the north, farms and towns reached the Mississippi River. This was the first major stage in United States expansion. In the second stage of expansion, Americans crossed the Mississippi into land which had belonged to France, Spain, and England. In 1803, they had purchased from France a huge tract, the Louisiana Territory. New Orleans, in the south of the territory, was a trading center. It had been governed by the Spanish and the French. Louisiana became American, but New Orleans business people kept their European customs in contacts. They joined with Americans to build the city and the region. [Music] The Missouri River became a route to the west. The first to travel it were frontier explorers, mountain men who hunted, trapped, and traded with Indians. They were followed by frontier farmers. The farmers lived lonely lives far from civilization. When several farm families arrived in a region, social life began. Churches were organized, stores and businesses were opened, local governments were formed, and the territory grew. In 1818, early in the Louisiana territo's history, Spanish and American leaders agreed that another tract would be added to the United States, Florida. Florida had been the first part of the North American mainland explored by Europeans. Pansed DeLeon had sought the fountain of youth there. Many years later, Florida had belonged to the British who then agreed to return it to Spain. During British occupation, Florida land had been sold to Europeans. They had built huge plantations. Some had owned black slaves. Others had hired English and European workers. When hired workers left the plantations, many had stayed in Florida. When slaves escaped, Creek and Seol Indians often adopted them. So, Florida acquired a diverse population which has remained to the present day. Early in the 1800s, Mexico owned most land southwest of the Louisiana territory. Texas was a part of Mexico. It was the next region of United States expansion. In the 1820s and 30s, Americans had settled in Texas. To buy land, they had become Mexican citizens. [Music] Suddenly in the 1830s, the Mexican government threatened the Texans rights and freedoms. [Music] The Texans rebelled. [Music] Led by Samuel Houston in 1836, they won their independence. They asked to join the United States, but the US government would not risk war with Mexico. So, Texas remained an independent nation. The Texas government placed ads in American and European newspapers offering land. Hundreds of thousands came. Many came from Germany. The new Texans raised cotton for the American textile industry. Their land remained independent for 10 years until in 1845 the US Congress voted for Texas statehood and Texans celebrated annexation. [Music] At the same time, the United States acquired the Oregon country in the far northwest. Years earlier, American and British hunters, trappers, and fur traders had come to Oregon. The region was controlled by two companies, Britain's Hudson's Bay Company and the American Fur Company. At first, the British outnumbered Americans in Oregon. Then, in 1843, a huge American expedition, a thousand men, women, and children, traveled nearly 2,000 m to the territory. Suddenly, the British were outnumbered by Americans, and Americans pressured the British for control. In 1846, the two governments agreed to draw a boundary. It would be at the 49th degree of latitude. Vancouver Island would be British. The conflict was resolved. Oregon Americans now lived in the growing United States. It was at that time that John O Sullivan wrote about manifest destiny. With O Sullivan's words before them, Americans considered the lands on their long southwestern border with Mexico. For years, these lands had been sparsely settled by Spanish and Mexican peoples. [Music] In the 1700s, eastern traders had come here by sea. Travel to California meant a long, dangerous voyage around the tip of South America. In the 1820s, traders had established a route between St. Louis and New Mexico, the Santa Fe Trail. Jedodias Smith, agent for the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, found overland routes to California. By 1845, trade with Mexico was common. Trouble was also common. American diplomats confronted the Mexicans. They charged that Mexican border guards were attacking American traders and troops. In 1846, the Mexican War began. [Music] It went on for 2 years until in 1848 the Mexicans surrendered. They signed the treaty of Guadalupe Idalgo, providing that America would pay Mexico $15 million and acquire California and the Southwest. [Music] 5 years later, another narrow strip was bought from Mexico, the Gadston Purchase. Now, the Southwest belonged to the United States, but few Americans came until in 1849, gold was discovered in California. Suddenly, Easterners removed their money from banks. They set out for California. They traveled west. They settled. They changed the nation. By the 1860s, Americans had claimed the east, the west, the central states, over 3 million square miles of land. In 1861, they fought the Civil War. [Music] When the war ended in 1865, the nation had changed. Devastation and death made expansion seem unimportant. Nevertheless, in 1867, a few American statesmen thought of acquiring a huge territory in the far north, Alaska. Alaska's owners, the Russians, had not greatly developed the land. Now, they needed money to modernize European Russia. [Music] They sent their ambassador to America's Secretary of State, William Seard. Seard offered $7.2 million for Alaska. In Congress, a 2/3 majority approved, but at first, congressmen refused to pay for Alaska, and when they did pay, it was grudgingly. In 1867, people in Alaska celebrated. Their homeland had become a US territory. But for 17 years, no territorial government was appointed. Few pioneers and settlers came. Then late in the 1890s, gold was discovered in Canada's nearby Klondike region and near Gnome, Alaska. Thousands of prospectors came. In just 2 years, Gnome, Skagway, and Dawson became cities with tens of thousands of people. Federal offices were opened. Officials were appointed. Agents from the Department of Agriculture came. They recommended increased farming, fishing, lumbering. In 1906, Alaska sent a delegation to Congress and in 1916, statehood was first proposed. Alaskan statehood was debated for 40 years. During that time, American ships had visited another distant region with a very different history, Hawaii. During Washington's presidency, Americans had stopped at Hawaii on their way to China. They traded with Hawaiians for food, water, and sandalwood. Later, Yankee whalers came to the region. Around 1820, Protestant missionaries began coming from the United States and England. In time, Hawaiian land was claimed by missionaries. Most planted sugarcane. Time passed. [Music] They formed processing and shipping companies. Five British and American firms came to control Hawaii's business. In 1874, the US government wanted to build a naval base at Pearl Harbor. Hawaiians were about to hold an election. American Hawaiians decided to bribe the legislators to choose Kalakua, who was in favor of the base. Soon, the Pearl Harbor base was built, and Americans took even more power. They forced Kalakua to accept a new constitution, giving power to them. They pressured his successor, Queen Lily Ukalani, to appoint Americans to public office. In 1893, the Americans staged a revolution. They replaced the queen with a so-called republic. Its head was Sanford Dole, member of an old missionary family. America's President Grover Cleveland urged Dole and his followers to return the islands to the queen. Dole refused. He asked for Hawaiian annexation, which President Cleveland blocked. By 1898, after Cleveland had left the presidency, expansionism returned. Americans campaigned for Hawaiian annexation. Hawaii became a US territory. State would come in 61 years. [Music] Hawaii, Alaska, the North American continent from Atlantic to Pacific. In a little over a century, after a 100 years of friendly and hostile relations with other nations, the United States had grown from a small group of former British colonies to a great nation. [Music] That's the story of United States expansion.