Manifest Destinies: America’s Westward Expansion And The Road To The Civil War, by Steven E. Woodworth

The phrase “manifest destiny” was memorably coined by a New York journalist in the period when the United States happened to be fighting Mexico over the territory that later became the Southwestern states, and it has been a common term to refer to the widespread belief that it was America’s obvious fate to rule over a territory extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, as ended up being the case. In this case, the author seeks to look at numerous fates for the United States that were obvious, and examines a wide variety of related stories involving America’s westward expansion and the equally obvious trouble that so much land caused to the United States. The expansion of the United States, as is often the case, made some of the internal problems of the United States, in particular the political struggle over slavery, even more difficult to solve, and so the author finds himself moving between social, political, diplomatic, and military history, even into religious history at some points, in order to keep the thread together of the varied motives and consequences of America’s push to the West during the 1840’s, a decade that began with a carefree sense of optimism and ended with the United States in a strong sense of crisis that would endure until the Civil War.

This book manages to fit 20 chapters of varied material into five parts that together take up a bit more than 350 pages. The author begins with a list of maps and a preface before exploring the mature two-party system that existed in 1840 (I) that led the Whigs, desperate for victory, to mount a breezy campaign to elect a military hero in William Henry Harrison (1), which promptly led to problems when Harrison died and his Vice President, Tyler, took office (2), leading to a conflict over the Whig political platform that Clay wanted to pass but that Tyler continually vetoed, and also touches upon the role that abolitionism, and preventing its political growth, had on the second party system of Democrats and Whigs (3). This is followed by chapters on westward expansion (II), that include a discussion of the origins of the noted Oregon Trail (4), the allure and danger of California (5) to the unwary migrant, and a religious history of Mormons and their migration to Utah in search of religious freedom (6). The third part of the book tackles the politics of expansion (III), with chapters that cover Tyler’s efforts to annex the independent Republic of Texas (7), the election of 1844 which led to Clay’s defeat at the hands of James Polk, in large part over the issue of Texas (8), and how Texas was successfully annexed after that election was completed but before Polk took office (9). The fourth, and largest, section of the book covers the Mexican-American War (IV), with the author discussing the battles along the Rio Grande that began the war (10), the Monterrey campaign that followed these initial victories by the United States (11), American invasions of New Mexico, Chihuahua, and California (12), the improbable victory of Zachary Taylar against heavy numerical odds at Buena Vista (13), Winfield Scott’s victories at Veracruz and Cerro Gordo (14), the successful conquest of Mexico City (15), and the negotiated peace that followed (16). The final part of the book then discusses the controversies of expansion (V), with chapters on the election of 1848 (17), which saw Zachary Taylor elected president, the California Gold Rush (18), the role of California in the debate over the expansion of slavery (19), and the struggle for the compromise of 1850 (20) that would lead to the destruction of the second party system with the collapse of the Whigs and the division of the Democrats after 1852.

Although this book is a somewhat long one, it is also an enjoyable and worthwhile read that discusses an important era of American history when slavery moved from a subject on the periphery of American politics that both major parties were able to minimize, despite the rise of free soil and abolitionist fervor, to an issue that would destroy and divide religious and political institutions ranging from the Baptist and Methodist and Presbyterian churches to the Whig and Democratic parties. The conquest of so much land that was viewed by the South as being “theirs,” but was becoming inhabited by people who wanted nothing to do with either slavery or black people in general, was the sort of crisis that the author rightly considers to be manifest with as the 1840s ended and as the generation of Clay, Calhoun, and Webster departed the political scene. The history, in general, is sound, and the author manages to make his opinions about various political figures obvious and plain, commenting on the obvious political nature of Lincoln’s Spot Resolutions that were somehow missed by his constituents, the author’s hostility towards Fremont, who became famous as the pathfinder showing the way for Americans to California, and the author’s generally negative comments about the politics of the 1840s and the behavior of political parties who sought victory without caring much about political principles. Whether or not these sorts of sniping and cutting comments are enjoyable to the reader or not will depend on personal taste.