Transcript Lesson 2: The Empire and the Rebel Alliance

Lesson 4: A Nation
Divided Against Itself
Ch. 2, Sect. 4: the Louisiana Purchase, Westward Expansion,
Southern Secession, and Civil War
Westward expansion
 Manifest Destiny – the belief that America was ordained by
God to expand West all the way to the Pacific, and that such
expansion was inevitable.
 The Oregon Trail – a well-used, 2,200-mile path used by
Western settlers.
Texas: Province, Republic,
State

In 1821, Mexico began to encourage American settlers to come to the
territory of Texas.

By 1830, more than 20,000 had come… most of the people in the
province.

But in 1829, Mexico banned slavery and demanded the American (slaveholding)
settlers free theirs.

In 1835, the Texans declared themselves independent from Mexico,
declaring themselves the Republic of Texas… and were recognized by
Mexico as 1836.

On December 29, 1845, Texas was voluntarily annexed into the US


but since Texas and Mexico still disputed their borders, Mexico declared war on
the US.
The US Army easily beat the Mexican Army, and in 1848 the war ended –
Mexico gave up not only Texas, but also California and all their northern
territories.
California: There’s GOLD in them
thar hills!
 In 1848, gold was discovered in
Sacramento Valley, leading to a gold rush
– many people seeking to make a fortune
through gold mining.
 In 1848, the # of people migrating to
California was 400.
 In 1850, it was more than 44,000 people.
 Though most individuals made little or no
money, by 1857 more than $2,000,000,000
of gold had been produced in CA.
“The Curious Institution”: Slavery
 In the 1700’s, slaves were primarily:
 Male
 First-generation (they had come directly from
Africa or the Caribbean)
 Spoke their native language (not much English)
 By the 1800’s, slaves were:
 Roughly equal #’s of men and women
 The majority were born in America
 Spoke English as their first language (often along
with a pidgin dialect – a simplified mix of
languages for people who could not speak each
others’ native languages)
 Slavery had become self-sustaining
The Compromise of 1850
 The North-South tensions had continued grow over time.
 In 1850, Henry Clay proposed a new compromise:
 To appease the North, California would become a free state
 To appease the South, new fugitive slave laws were passed to
find and return slaves who ran away – even if they were in free
states!
 Other territories that wished to become states would have
popular sovereignty on the issue of slavery – they could vote on
whether to become free or slave.
The 1860 Presidential election
•Abraham Lincoln, Republican Party Candidate
•First-term Congressman from Kentucky
•Self-educated lawyer
•Relatively unknown to most Americans before 1858
•Ran on the platform that slavery was immoral, and vowed to
stop its spread to new US territories.
•But tried to reassured Southern states that where slavery was
already legal, it would remain legal.
Lincoln would win the election, but only received 40%
of the popular votes and no electoral votes from the
South (this is because there were more than 2
candidates running)
Lincoln’s victory convinced Southerners that they had
lost their voice in government… and they decided to
act
Southern Secession
 South Carolina – declared that they
were leaving the Union on Dec. 20,
1860, followed by Mississippi,
Florida, Alabama, Georgia,
Louisiana, and Texas.
 They formed the Confederate States
of America in Feb. 1861, and elected
(former) senator Jefferson Davis as
their president.
 Would the North just let the
South walk away?
 (Hint: No)
“Union is for suckers!”
Fort Sumter, Charleston, SC
 One of 4 Union Army forts left in
the Southern states by April 1861.
 Lincoln chose not to reinforce –
send more men, or resupply the
fort, but did send food for the men
already inside.
 In response, Confederate cannons
fire on the fort, and it
surrendered… the Civil War had
begun.
In response to the start of the war, the border
states were forced to choose sides…
Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia, and North
Carolina seceded and joined the Confederate
cause.
Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri,
and the Northwestern portion of Virginia
(West Virginia) remained with the Union, even
though they were slave states.
The Armies…
Union
Advantages:
• Higher population (~4x)
Confederacy
Advantages:
• Defending their homeland = strong reason
• Food and industrial production (more cities
and workers)
• >70% of the nation’s railroads
• Strong navy
to fight
• Good military and the nation’s best
commanders
• Only needed to outlast the North to win
Disadvantages:
• Needed to conquer and pacify a huge area
Disadvantages:
• Little industry (could not match the North’s
to win the war
• Relative weak and indecisive military
commanders early in the conflict
weapons production) – had to rely on imports
• Low population
• Few railroads