Take the Land, Not the People · Episode 1 of 8 · 49 min
Manifest Destiny and the Road to War
In 1845 a magazine editor coined 'Manifest Destiny,' and within a year the United States was at war with Mexico. The episode traces the ideology of providential and increasingly racial expansion: Texas annexation, the Nueces versus Rio Grande dispute, the Thornton Affair, and Polk's 'American blood upon the American soil' war message. It tests race against commerce and Polk's ambition, and hears dissenters including freshman congressman Abraham Lincoln.
Who's who
- John L. O'Sullivan+1 more episodeEditor who coined 'Manifest Destiny' in 1845
- James K. Polk+2 more episodesPresident who ordered troops to the Rio Grande
- Zachary Taylor+3 more episodesGeneral sent to the disputed Texas boundary
- Anastasio TorrejonMexican commander whose cavalry sprang the ambush that opened the war
- Antonio Lopez de Santa AnnaMexican general-statesman who looms over the series
- John C. Calhoun+2 more episodesSouth Carolina senator who engineered Texas annexation
- John SlidellEnvoy Polk sent to Mexico to buy California and New Mexico
- Abraham Lincoln+7 more episodesFreshman congressman who dissented from the war
Where it happens
- Rio Grande, Texas-Mexico borderDisputed boundary where the shooting started
- Nueces River, TexasMexico's claimed boundary versus the Rio Grande
- Rancho de Carricitos, TexasSite of the Thornton Affair
Timeline
- July 1845O'Sullivan's essay on annexation invokes 'manifest destiny.'
- December 29, 1845Texas is formally admitted to the Union.
- Spring 1846Polk orders Taylor to advance from the Nueces to the Rio Grande.
- April 25, 1846Mexican cavalry ambush a U.S. dragoon patrol in the Thornton Affair.
- May 8-9, 1846Taylor wins at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma.
- May 11, 1846Polk delivers his war message to Congress.
Still debated
Whether Polk deliberately provoked the war by stationing troops on disputed land has broad support, including from Grant, but defenders say the Rio Grande claim was long-standing and Mexico fired first. Historians also weigh race, commerce and slavery as the war's engine.
Connected episodes in other series
The Doctrine of Domination: Why America Dammed the WestRivers Reborn · Episode 2Also features John L. O'Sullivan
The Presidents Who Inherited Andrew Jackson's PlaybookAs Long as the Grass Grows · Episode 10Also features Abraham Lincoln
Three Hundred Dollars: How Money Bought a Civil War ExitGreeting: America and the Draft · Episode 3Also features Abraham Lincoln
The Supremacy Clause: Why Every Nullification Theory Has Lost in Court for 200 YearsHomemade Sovereignty · Episode 7Also features John C. Calhoun