Transcript Manifest Destiny

Expansion and
Build-up to the Civil
War
Manifest Destiny and War with Mexico
Manifest Destiny
• The idea the Americans would expand to the
Pacific Ocean started with Thomas Jefferson
(Lewis and Clark expedition)
• Definition: The idea that the US should
expand from the Atlantic to the Pacific in
order to create a vast republic that would
spread democracy and civilization
Reasons for moving west
• The Panic of 1837 convinced people that they were
better off with a fresh start in the West
• Tons of land out west
• Farming and mining for gold!!
• Transportation and communication revolution
• Steamboats
• Railroads
• Communication wires (Morse code)
Trails West
• Santa Fe Trail- 780 miles from Independence,
Missouri to Santa Fe, New Mexico
• Oregon Trail- Started in Independence, Missouri and
ended in Portland, Oregon
• Fertile soil, lots of rainfall
• Traveled in wooden-wheeled Conestoga wagons
• Walked, and pushed handcarts
• Trip took months, many died of disease
• Caravans provided protection against NA attacks and
loneliness
• By 1844, about 4,000 Americans settled in Oregon
Mormon Movement
• Religious community
• Joseph Smith established the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints in NY in 1830
• Moved to Illinois
• Brigham Young, Smith successor, decided to
move beyond the boundaries of the US
• Settled in Utah near the Great Salt Lake
“Fifty-Four Forty or Fight!”
• 1844, James K. Polk ran for president on the
platform that wanted to annex (take) all of the
Oregon Territory
• Newspapers adopted the slogan “Fifty-Four Forty
or Fight!”- referred to the latitude and longitude
lines 54 degrees 40’
• Peaceful agreement made- extend the boarder
between US and Canada to 49th parallel
Impact of Native
Americans
• Conflict between Native Americans and
settlers grew as more whites were moving
west
• Native Americans continued to be removed
from their homelands throughout the
remainder of the 19th century
War With Mexico-Background
• Mexico breaks from Spain in 1821independent
• Mexican gov’t encouraged American farmers
to settle in Mexico
• To prevent boarder violations by horse thieves and
protect against NA attacks
• Offered land grants
• Americans pledged to obey Mexican laws and
observed Roman Catholicism
US tries to buy Texas
• President JQA tried to buy Texas from Mexico for $1
million- failed
• Jackson tried to buy Texas for $5 million- failed
• Tension between Mexico and Americans living in TX
grew over cultural differences and slavery
• Many southerners moving in and bringing slaves
• Mexico abolished slavery in 1824
• Mexico seals its borders in 1830
Stephan Austin and Texas
• Austin established a colony between the Brazos
and Colorado rivers- “no drunkard, no gambler,
no profane swearer, no idler” would be allowed
• Austin wanted greater self-gov’t for Texas but
was unsuccessful
• Mexican President, Antonio Lopez de Santa
Anna imprisoned Austin for inciting revolution
Texas Independence
• The Alamo: Spanish Mission in San Antonio used as a fort
• Attacked by Santa Anna’s Mexican army
• All 187 Texan defenders were killed by the Mexican army
• Including:
• William Travis- commander of the TX forces
• Jim Bowie-famous for knife
• Davy Crockett- famous woodsman
• Significance: “Remember the Alamo!”- war cry for
Texans fighting for independence
• Battle of San Jacinto- 1836
• April 21, 1836, Sam Houston and Texans defeated Santa Anna
and shouted “Remember the Alamo!”
• March 2, 1836- Texans declare their independence from Mexico
• 1845- Texas joins the Union
Polk Urges War With
Mexico
• Jame K. Polk- big believer in “Manifest
Destiny”, wanted to purchase California
from Mexico
• Many supported b/c of Manifest Destiny and
land opportunities
• Northerners feared that slavery would spread
Mexican-American War
1846-48
• War started with Mexico over the southern border of
Texas
• Mexican troops crossed the Rio Grande and attacked US forces
that were positioned there led by Gen. Zachary Taylor
• War was declared May 1846
• Stephen Kearny invaded and captured New Mexico w/o
bloodshed
• John C. Fremont invaded and captured California
• Established the Republic of California
• Winfred Scott invaded Mexico and captured Mexico City
Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo
• February 2, 1848- treaty signed by US and Mexico
• US received full title over Texas and Rio Grande
• US gained California and New Mexico territory
• Includes Utah, Nevada, and Colorado
• US bought California for $15 million
• Gadsden Purchase established the current
boundaries of the lower 48 states
California Gold Rush
• Gold found in California in 1848, led to the Gold Rush of
1849
• Forty-niners- people who moved to CA in 1849 to search
for gold
• San Francisco population explodes
• Significance- California applies to statehood in 1850major sectional issue
Expansion and
the Build-up to
Civil War
Divisive politics of slavery
Difference between North and
South
• North:
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Economy based on manufacturing and industrialization
Railroad construction
Urbanization
Immigration from European countries
• South:
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Economy based on agriculture and slavery- COTTON
Plantations and small farms
Lack of railroads and industry
No significant European immigration
Election of 1848
• New political party developed
• Free Soil Party- anti slavery
• Nominee was Martin Van Buren
• Whig Party nominee was Zachary Taylor
• Easily won the election
Wilmot-Proviso
• Wilmot- Proviso- banned slavery in territory acquired from war
with Mexico
• California, Utah and New Mexico
• Divided Congress on regional lines
• Northerners supported Proviso- feared that adding slave territory
would give South more influence
• Southerners opposed- raised Constitutional issues (property protected
in the const.)- Proviso goes against this
• House approved the Proviso, Senate rejected it
California Gold Rush
Gold Rush- by 1849, 95,000 people had settled in
California
• Growing number required need for government
• Many different nationalities coming (Asians, South
Americans, Europeans, Free African-Americans,
Mexicans)- also included slaves
California Statehood
• Applied to the Union as a free state (new constitution banned
slavery)
• Caused debate b/c again it would upset the balance of free state
and slave states in the Senate
• South thought it would be a slave state b/c it was below the
Missouri Compromise line
• South warned that if California came in as a free state, they would
rebel
Compromise of 1850Background
• When Congress met in 1849, the California
statehood issue was on the top of their agenda
• Northerners also demanded slavery be abolished in
Washington D.C.
• Southerners accused Northerners of refusing to
follow the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793
• Southerners threaten secession- withdraw from the
Union
Compromise
of
1850
• Terms of the Compromise:
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California enters as a free state
Tougher fugitive slave laws
Slave trade is not allowed in D.C.
Mexican Territory divided into 2 parts with the people deciding
on the slavery question
• POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY
• Taylor died, and successor Millard Fillmore supported
the compromise
• After 8 months of debate the compromise was passed
• Fillmore thought the compromise was the “final settlement” on
the issue of slavery
STOP AND THINK!!!!
• When California applied for statehood in 1850,
Mississippi senator Jefferson Davis warned, “For the first
time, we are about permanently to destroy the balance of
power between sections.” Why might Davis have felt this
way?
Slavery leads to violence
• Proslavery in the South and antislavery in North
disagreed over the treatment of fugitive slaves and the
spread of slavery into the new territories
• Resulted in increased sectionalism between the regions
Fugitive Slave Laws
• Part of the Compromise of 1850• Runaway slaves could NOT testify in court and no trial by
jury
• Helping an escaped slave resulted in fines and jail time
• Slaves were returned to owners
Underground Railroad
• Secret network of abolitionists who would help fugitive
slaves escape to the North and Canada
• Harriet Tubman- former slave and “conductor” on the
underground railroad
• Made 19 trips and helped 300 people to freedom
• Nicknamed the “Moses” of her people for her efforts
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
• Antislavery novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe
• Attacked the institution of slavery as evil, became a
bestseller in the North
• Significance• increased sectional tensions between North and South
• Portrays slavery as a moral issue
Kansas-Nebraska Act
• Stephen Douglas’ plan to organize territories in the West
• Popular Sovereignty- settlers in the territories would vote
for or against slavery in both Nebraska and Kansas
• Repealed the Missouri Compromise• Kansas and Nebraska both north of 36th parallel line
• Significance- sectional tension exploded
• Northerners resented the idea that slavery could expand in
territories previously banned
• Led to the formation of the Republican Party
“Bleeding Kansas”
• Violence erupted as pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers
rushed to Kansas and began fighting with each other
• 2 rival governments were set up”
• Pro-slavery capital- Lecompton
• Anti-slavery capital- Topeka
• Pottawatomie Massacre- John Brown, a fiery abolitionist,
murdered 5 slave owners with a broad-sword in Kansas
• Significance- Kansas erupted in its own civil war
Brooks Sumner incident
• Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner delivered
a 2 day speech attacking supporters of slavery
• Called out SC senator Andrew P. Butler
• Butler’s nephew, Preston S. Brooks struck
Sumner over the head with his cane
• Southerners applauded and showered Brooks with new
canes
Expansion and
Build-up to Civil
War
New Political Parties
• Whig Party collapses in 1854- conflict over slavery
• Know-Nothing Party (American Party) established in
1854
• Members believed in nativism- favoring native-born
Americans over immigrants
• Anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic
• Republican Party- est. 1854
• Opposed to the expansion of slavery into western territories
• Supported by many people in the North as a result of
“Bleeding Kansas”
Slavery Dominates
Politics
• President James Buchanan elected in 1856
• Weak and indecisive at dealing with the slavery issue
Dred Scott v. SandfordDred Scott Decision
• Dred Scott was a slave from Missouri
• taken north of the Missouri compromise line by his owner
in 1834
• Sued for his freedom because he had lived in free
territory
• Supreme Court ruled he couldn’t sue b/c he wasn’t a
citizen
• The Founding Fathers had not intended for AfricanAmericans to be citizens
• Also said Congress had no right to prohibit slavery in the
territories and the Missouri Compromise was
unconstitutional
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
• Abraham Lincoln (Republican) v. Stephen
Douglas (Democrat) ran for Senate in Illinois
1858
• Held 7 open-air debates throughout Illinois on
the issue of slavery in the territories
• Douglas believed in popular sovereignty and that
slavery would pass away on its own
• Freeport Doctrine• If people didn’t want slavery all they had to do was elect people
who wouldn’t enforce slavery
John Brown’s Raid
• John Brown was a fiery abolitionist
• Wanted to free slaves and punish the slaveholders
• October 16, 1859- led 21 men into Harper’s Ferry, VA
(Now WV)
• Aim was to seize the federal arsenal, take the weapons and
start a revolt
• Captured and tried for treason and executed
• Northerners saw him as a martyr (individual who sacrifices his
life or personal freedom in order to further a cause or belief for
many)
• Southerners thought his punishment was just
• Scared of more uprisings
Election of 1860
• 3 major candidates in addition to Lincoln (Republican
candidate)
• Democratic Party was split
• Stephen Douglas in North (b/c of popular sovereignty)
• John Breckinridge in South
• Constitutional Union Party- John Bell- wanted to ignore
the issue of slavery all together
• Lincoln wins the Election of 1860
• Southerners thought they lost their political voice in the
national government
• South thought Lincoln would free the slaves, said they had not
choice but to leave the Union
Secession
• From November- March 1860-61, 7 States left
the union
• SC led the way, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida,
Louisiana, Georgia and Texas
• Argued the Constitution was a contract and the North
broke it by not enforcing the Fugitive Slave Laws
*****
• Cry for “States’ rights”- complete independence
of Southern states from federal government
control
Confederate States of America
• These 7 states drafted their own Constitution and
called themselves the Confederate States of
America (Confederacy)
• Constitution resembled the US Constitution but it
“protected and recognized” slavery in new territories
• Stressed that each state would be “sovereign and
independent”
• Chose Jefferson Davis to be their President
• Lincoln said he wouldn’t take active measures to
force the states back in the Union