Tasks:
- Begin class with slavery quiz (chapter 16).
- Introduce term - Manifest Destiny and provide context for expansionism
- Expansionist surge of 1830s and 1840s had deep roots
- Americans conceived future as republic and empire
- Transportation Revolution helped Americans access interior & growing population from immigration to exploit the interior land
- Obstacles to expansion
- well-armed Indians controlled Great Plains
- Mexico held sovereignty over Texas
- Great Britain controlled Oregon
- Election of James Polk (1844) willingly assumed these risks, and expanded America's empire to the Pacific Coast
- Small group discussion: Analyze John Gast's painting to better understand Manifest Destiny
- Debrief elements of the painting - reality (what actually happened as Americans pushed West) and myth (what the painter did not accurately portray)
- End class by completing note taker that brings together elements of chapter 17:
Reminders:
- Unit Three Test corrections due 11/13
- Annotated Bibliography due 11/20
