This thesis examines the ill-fated Texan Santa Fe Expedition of 1841 to analyze the state of a lucrative market network in the Southwest. Cut off from Santa Fe, the hub of the network, Texas struggled economically as an independent nation. Commercially isolated and dealing with near- worthless paper money, Texans hoped that trade with the people of Santa Fe would divert wealth into their nation. To justify the expedition, Anglo-Texans used the rhetoric of Manifest Destiny and turned the trek into a liberation mission. Moreover, Texans desired an overland route to Santa Fe to attract merchants to their otherwise inactive ports. Texans invested much into the expedition both economically and culturally; however, the Texan Santa Fe Expedition ended in utter failure and convinced many Texans that annexation to the United States was the wiser path to take. / Master of Arts
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/32672 |
| Date | 17 May 2011 |
| Creators | Saionz, Matthew K. |
| Contributors | History, Thorp, Daniel B., Ewing, E. Thomas, Hidalgo, Dennis R. |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
| Relation | Saionz_MK_T_2011_v2.pdf |
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