Expansion and Reform (1820-1860)

As the ambitions of the United States expanded westward, the concept of Manifest Destiny took hold in the 1840s. American settlers were fueled by the belief that they carried a divine destiny to take control of land occupied by Native Americans. After Texas became the 28th state in the union, disagreements over the border would lead to the Mexican-American War. The U.S. would capture territories that would form the future states of California, Arizona, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and New Mexico. But reform was in the wind, as women suffragists rallied at the first women’s rights convention, organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton in Seneca Falls, NY, in 1948, and the question of slavery would test a nation that was founded on the idea that all men are created equal.