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Final Stop, The Alaska Purchase

For the final stop on my trip through the age of Manifest Destiny we have the Alaska Purchase signed by President of the United States Andrew Johnson on the 20th of June 1867. What I find particularly interesting about this sale is that it’s an actual sale. The other sales in history have a tendency to only occur after a conflict, they were less sales and more conquests dressed nicely for the history books. Meanwhile Russia and the United States managed to in this instance sell a land without leaving a bloody wake. Sadly, even without a bloody war the sale was not without its own problems. Treaty concerning the Cession of the Russian Possessions in North America by his Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias to the United States of America which I feel has an unnecessarily long name personally, states “The western limit within which the territories and dominion conveyed, are contained, passes through a point in Behring's straits on the parallel of sixty-five degrees thirty minutes north latitude, at its intersection by the meridian which passes midway between the islands of Krusenstern, or Ignalook, and the island of Ratmanoff, or Noonarbook, and proceeds due north, without limitation, into the same Frozen ocean.” Along with many exact points of latitude and longitude. The problem with this is a notable lack of exploration in the area that the border resides in. Indeed, Thomas Long discovered Wrangel Island quickly after the sale. The Island itself is of little importance but its existence does prove the point of the flaws in how the treaty was set up. While there was deliberation on the exact ownership and placement of the boarder all accounts seem to show the Washington D.C. did not overly care about the matter, and any deliberation and arguing only lead to needless friction with Russia over something the United States government as a whole did not care about. The Point of this trip as it was, is that even when expansion seems to be clear cut and without conflict; rushing into something so massive without proper setup will only lead to unnecessary aggravation on both sides. The upside however is the ownership of the breathtaking Alaskan mainland for the United States, so the aggravation may have been worth it in this case.

Cavell, Janice. “Dividing the Northern World: The Arctic and the Alaska Purchase.” Diplomatic History, vol. 47, no. 2, 2023, pp. 304–28, https://doi.org/10.1093/dh/dhac094.

Malloy, William. “Treaties, Conventions, International Acts and Agreements Between the United States of America and Other Powers 1776-1909” Government Printing Office 1910.

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Stop 4, The Gadsden Purchase

Moving on to a somewhat lesser note is the next stop of my trip through the age of Manifest Destiny we have the Gadsden Purchase. The treaty itself was signed in Mexico City on the 30th of December of the year 1853. The treaty itself notably has multiple articles voiding the articles of the previous treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and it could be said that the treaty is more to correct and clarify the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo along with defining the borders of the two nations involved for “desiring to remove every cause of disagreement which might interfere in any manner with the better friendship and intercourse between the two countries” as stated in the Gadsden Purchase Treaty itself. The treaty however shows a glaring fault of this kind of expansion, that being that the land already had residents who had been guaranteed ownership of their property by the Mexican government. While the Gadsden Purchase Treaty specifically upholds the ownership of said land in spite of the country that land was in having changed as a kind of measure to correct this there was the problem of protecting against false claims. Natural Resources and the Law in Hispanic Arizona: The Babocómari Ranch and the Living Legacies of the Gadsden Purchase notes “Time and again the courts struggled to uphold the treaty obligations that the United States had assumed when it acquired Arizona, New Mexico, and the rest of what today we identify as the American West” and for good reason. This little trip has shown me that when a treaty like this is signed the people who live on the land that is ceded are ultimately secondary to the wishes of the country itself. Although the treaty specifically the rights and protections for the people effected it still wasn’t clean or easy for those people nor the people charged with making the choices on each case. History tends to gloss over the people affected by territory expansion but when you get close to it can’t be ignored.

Brescia, Michael M., and Michael C. Meyer. “Natural Resources and the Law in Hispanic Arizona: The Babocómari Ranch and the Living Legacies of the Gadsden Purchase.” Journal of the Southwest, vol. 58, no. 1, 2016, pp. 29–52, https://doi.org/10.1353/jsw.2016.0002.

“Statutes of the United States”  Volume 10 https://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/mx1853.asp

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Stop 3, The Mexican-American War.

Moving onward from my first two stops we have the Mexican American war. The Mexican American War started shortly after our last stop, the Annexation of Texas and ends with The Treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo on the second of February 1848. The Treaty was signed by the Mexican Republic in the city it’s names for, that being Guadaloupe Hidalgo. This, however, is not where I chose to visit. Rather I decided that it would be better to visit the moments of the war itself. While the events that took place in Northern Mexico on February 10th, 1847, had been reported in the news, the unsanctioned killing of Mexican civilians buy United States soldiers the events not reported on in the times of the war are my point of interest. Zacualtipán was attacked by United States soldiers, acting on an antiguerrilla expedition. While most of the guerrillas the expedition meant to combat escaped, the same cannot be said of the city itself. Zacualtipán was looted and burned by the expedition, many atrocities including rape and desecration of a church occurred. This event and more were done under the leadership of Brigadier General Joseph Lane. Lane did not report on the horrific action he and his men committed but accounts state that Zacualtipán was not the first location that was burned, its people slaughtered and raped. According to The Constant Recurrence of Such Atrocities: Guerrilla Warfare and Counterinsurge by Guardino, Peter; Lane stated his attack on Zacualtipán resulted in the deaths of “150 Mexican guerrillas and captured 50” but reports from outside of Lanes forces on both sides say that most guerrillas fled and escaped making it more than likely that the reported deaths were civilians. The United States government reported the massacre as a battle, and furthermore Lane was appointed Governor of Orgon after the war. Manifest Destiny is painted as a beautiful and flawless growth towards the future by many, but part of what I wanted to show with this trip is that like any burgeoning empire the United States development was far from clean or even just.

Guardino, Peter. “The Constant Recurrence of Such Atrocities: Guerrilla Warfare and Counterinsurgency During the Mexican-American War.” The Journal of the Civil War Era, vol. 12, no. 1, 2022, pp. 3–27, https://doi.org/10.1353/cwe.2022.0001.

Halsall, Paul “Internet Modern History Sourcebook”  1998 https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/1848hidalgo.asp

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Stop 2, The Annixation of Texas

My second destination was a bit different than what you might have expected, while the Joint Resolution for the admission of the state of Texas into the Union took place in the District of Columbia on the 29th of December of the year 1845 this was not my destination. My destination was Austin on the 19th of February 1846, for the inauguration of the first united states governor of Texas. While the Resolution that was signed the year prior ended the Republic of Texas. It was only when the last President of Texas Anson Jones lowered the flag of the Republic of Texas and raised the flag of the United States of America that that most in the modern day incorrectly consider to be the true end of the Republic of Texas. This is not true however, while the inauguration of Governor Henderson at the beginning of 1846 was a momentous day for the joining of Texas into the United States all legal documents show that the republic ended the year before. The Speech shown here, at this cabin south of the capitol building was only a formality in the end. History likes to show great moments and speeches as the turning point of history, but very often it is days or even months before or after the signing of documents and the ending of talks that marks the true ends and beginnings of events. But I chose to come to this moment in spite of that; because for all it was a simple formality and the Joint Resolution marked a month and some days before this as the ending of The Republic of Texas, this moment is when the last goodbye was said to something that was already gone. A moment just as important as the singing of paper.

Miller, Hunter.  “Treaties and Other International Acts of the United States of America.” Government Printing Office Vol. 4, Doc 80-121, 1934 https://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/texan04.asp

Volanto, Keith J., and Gene B. Preuss. “When Was the Republic of Texas No More?: Revisiting the Annexation of Texas.” Southwestern Historical Quarterly, vol. 123, no. 1, 2019, pp. 30–59, https://doi.org/10.1353/swh.2019.0050.

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Stop 1, The Louisiana Purchase.

Starting off on my trip throughout Manifest Destiny I decided to head to Louisiana. It seems best to start with the first chronologically if only to build on the ideas. The Louisiana Purchase Treaty was signed in Paris on April 30th, 1803. The second article of The Louisiana Purchase Treaty states “In the cession made by the preceding article are included the adjacent Islands belonging to Louisiana all public lots and Squares, vacant lands and all public buildings, fortifications, barracks and other edifices which are not private property.--The Archives, papers & documents relative to the domain and Sovereignty of Louisiana and its dependances will be left in the possession of the Commissaries of the United States, and copies will be afterwards given in due form to the Magistrates and Municipal officers of such of the said papers and documents as may be necessary to them.”. With that said the true prize of the treaty would be New Orleans, our destination, although as I’m soon to tell it was less a visit and more an invasion. Due to the Louisiana Purchase Treaty France surrendered its claim on the Louisiana, but it did nothing for Spain and their possession of New Orleans. The Spanish giving control to the French of New Orleans was predicated on a deal from Napoleon to Spain which included the not selling the colony, something that was directly violated by the Louisiana Purchase Treaty. In spite of the United States building forces in anticipation of needed force it was unnecessary. The Spanish decided to turn New Orleans over to the French on November 30th, 1803, with the French the turning it over to the United States on December 20th, 1803. The United States like to gloss over just how complicated the event of the Louisiana Purchase Treaty was at the time, despite it looking like armed conflict was quite possible. Visiting New Orleans and Louisiana as a whole at this time showed high tension and simmering resentment on both sides but in the end, it was settled amicably.

Lee, Jacob F. “‘Do You Go to New Orleans?’: The Louisiana Purchase, Federalism, and the Contingencies of Empire in the Early U.S. Republic.” Early American Studies, vol. 21, no. 3, 2023, pp. 460–90, https://doi.org/10.1353/eam.2023.a904223.

Miller, Hunter.  “Treaties and Other International Acts of the United States of America.” Government Printing Office Vol. 2, Doc 1-40, 1931.https://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/louis1.asp