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Trends in Antebellum America: 1810-1860 1. New intellectual and religious movements. 2. Social reforms. 3. Beginnings of the Industrial Revolution in America. 4. Re-emergence of a second party system and more political democratization. 5. Increase in federal power Marshall Ct. decisions. 6. Increase in American nationalism. 7. Further westward expansion. The Agriculture Frontier • The crowded East – By the early 1800s, • land was scarce in the East, especially New England. • Land was more productive and expensive in the Middle Atlantic states. • In the South, planters controlled the best lands. – the young and poor in the rural East had strong reasons to move west where land was cheap and fertile. – Native Americans had been pushed west of the Mississippi River The Agriculture Frontier, cont’d. • The Old Southwest – Skyrocketing cotton prices and the defeat of the Indian confederacies stimulated a land boom in the Old Southwest. – In less than 30 years, six new slave states entered the Union: Mississippi, Alabama, Missouri, Arkansas, Florida, and Texas. – The southwestern frontier attracted planters and independent farmers. – The Southwest Ordinance of 1790 opened all territories south of the Ohio River to slavery. The Frontier of the Plains Indians, cont’d. • The fur traders – Mountain men acted as trappers for fur companies. • lived in brutal, harsh conditions • mortality rates among trappers ran as high as 80 percent a year. – The rendezvous system brought trappers, Native Americans, and traders together in an annual fair to trade furs for various goods. – In the 1830s, the fur trade decimated the animal population and disease ravaged Native American tribes. The Frontier of the Plains Indians, cont’d. • The Oregon Trail – Between the 1840s and early 1850s, about 150,000 Americans made the overland trip from Missouri to Oregon, Utah, and California. • Mormon Trail – Mormons flocked to Utah • California Trail – Gold Rush: 1849 • Overall: – The overland trip was long and difficult, requiring cooperation among families traveling in the wagon trains. “American Progress” by John Gast, 1872 Overland Immigration to the West *mountain men trapped in the Rockies *missionaries were next to travel west to Oregon Between 1840 and 1860, more than 250,000 people made the trek westward. Trails Westward Politics, Expansion, and War • Manifest Destiny – Manifest Destiny assumed the white Americans had a special mission to spread civilization and democracy. – It fueled and justified expansion of the United States across the continent and was closely associated with the Democratic Party. The Americanization of Texas • Tough for Mexico to control Texas. • The Mexican government encouraged American settlement by offering large land grants to empresarios • Americans had to: – accept Mexican citizenship – convert to Catholicism, – obey the Mexican government. • American settlers poured into the region, many bringing slaves. Steven Austin-empresario (1793-1836) Texas Declaration of Independence • Texas declares independence on March 2, 1836 • Leader of Mexico: Santa Anna • Leader of the Texans: Sam Houston The Fight • The Alamo – Texas rebels fight Santa Anna – Texans lose, more than 180 of 200 dead – Including: Davy Crockett, William Travis, James Bowie • Battle of San Jacinto – Sam Houston and troops defeat Santa Anna, win the revolution Republic of Texas • Texas becomes independent republic • Sam Houston is President • Slavery is legal • 6 Flags of Texas – – – – – – Spain France Mexico Republic of Texas Confederate States of America U.S. Politics, Expansion, and War • The Mexican War – President James K. Polk was an expansionist. He compromised with Britain, signing a treaty to resolve issues over Oregon. – The annexation of Texas (1845) prompted Mexico to sever diplomatic ties with the United States. – A border dispute led to the Mexican War, which ended in military victory. – In the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico ceded its claim to the current southwestern states of the United States. In return, U.S. paid $15 million 54’40 or Fight!! The Mexican Cession