Transcript Chapter 12 Revised

Chapter 12 Revised
American System
• Mechanization allowed manufacturers to produce more
with less labor; practice of manufacturing and then
assembling interchangeable parts became known as the
American system; allowed manufacturers to employ
unskilled workers who were cheaper and more readily
available than skilled craftsmen.
Railroads
• Increasing Mileage—Railroads captured the imagination of Americans
and in 1850, trains steamed along 9,000 miles of tracks
• By 1860, it increased to 30,000 miles of tracks, about as much as the
rest of the world combined.
• Railroads propelled the growth of iron and communications; by 1861,
more than 50,000 miles of Samuel F.B. Morse’s telegraph stretched
across the continent, often alongside railroad tracks.
• Almost all railroads were built and owned by private companies
rather than the federal government; the government supported these
investors, especially with federal and grants.
Immigrants and free labor
• Uncertainties of free labor did not deter immigration
• Almost 4.5 million immigrants arrived between 1840 and 1860
• Nearly three out of every four immigrants who arrived between 1840
and 1860 came from either Germany or Ireland.
• Irish Immigrants experienced ethnic discrimination—Most entered at
the bottom of the free-labor ladder and had difficulty climbing up
• Roughly three out of four worked as laborers or domestic servants
and faced widespread prejudice -“No Irish Need Apply” .
Manifest Destiny- “God given right to spread
across the continent”
Americans, stirred by their hunger for land and the ideology of
“Manifest Destiny,” flocked to the new frontiers.
Manifest Destiny means an “obvious fate” of the Untied States to
grow and become powerful regardless of who or what was in their
way – Indians, buffalo, Mexicans
Conflicts between American settlers and Indian nations in the
Southeast and the old Northwest resulted in the relocation of many
Indians to reservations.
Impact on the American Indians
During this period of westward expansion, the settlers repeated wanted
Indian land – leading to fights and wars
The American Indians were repeatedly defeated in violent conflicts with
settlers and soldiers and removed from their lands.
Many atrocities occurred toward the Native Americans living on the lands the
settlers demand for their use.
Trail of Tears
One of most famous is the Trail of Tears
Cherokees and other tribes were removed from their homes in winter and
forced to march far away from their homes to Oklahoma
Many died – old people, women, children
Came through Missouri
Many of us have Cherokee blood from those abandoned here
Reservations
Many other tribes forced to reservations – land supposed to be set aside for
Indians.
Generally poor land, no hunting, not good for crops.
Indians often starved and died of disease.
Westward Expansion
American migration into Texas led to an armed revolt against Mexican
rule and a famous battle at the Alamo, in which a band of Texans
fought to the last man against a vastly superior force. The Texans’
eventual victory over Mexican forces subsequently brought Texas into
the Union.
Americans in Texas
• Began quietly, with Anglo-American trappers, traders, and settlers drifting
into Mexico’s far northern provinces .
• Mexican government wanted to populate and develop the northern
territory.
• Mexico granted Stephen F. Austin a huge grant of land
• Thousands of Americans arrived in Texas, and they brought their slaves
with them and established plantation economy by the 1830s.
• In 1830, the Mexican government began to fear it would lose Texas to the
new arrivals; banned further immigration from the United States and
outlawed the introduction of additional slaves.
• https://youtu.be/caJx90o36Ks 18:19
Texas Independence
• Texans Revolt—In 1830, the Mexican government began to fear it
would lose Texas to the new arrivals
• Banned further immigration from the United States and outlawed the
introduction of additional slaves
• Settlers rebelled and fought several violent battles against Mexican
General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.
• In 1836, Sam Houston’s army crushed Santa Anna and declared the
independent republic of Texas, with the United states recognizing its
independence the following year.
The problem with Texas
• Texans sought admission to the Union as soon as winning their
independence from Mexico, but Mexico never relinquished its claim .
• Annexing Texas raised the question of adding ANOTHER SLAVE STATE
to the Union. ; inflamed sectional tension.
• The Whigs nominated Henry Clay, an opponent of annexation and the
Democrats chose expansionist James K. Polk, who promised to deliver
Texas and Oregon to the United States.
• Polk won the election on a campaign based on manifest destiny.
Manifest Destiny: Mexican American War
The United States fought Mexico in the Mexican-American War in the
1840s
This was due in large part for the desire of Mexican held lands
The American victory in the war led to the addition of an enormous
territory that included the present-day states of California, Nevada,
Utah, Arizona, and parts of Colorado, and New Mexico.
 https://youtu.be/78ESGUxlBKQ (9:21)
Mexican American War Causes
• The desire for westward expansion or Manifest Destiny- Polk’s Desire for
Land
• Texas Revolution
• Boundary dispute the 2 rivers
• Divisive War—President Polk ordered General Zachary Taylor to march his
4,000-man army from its position on the Nueces River, the southern
boundary of Texas according to the Mexicans.
• At the banks of the Rio Grande 150 miles south, the boundary claimed by
Texas; on April 25, 1846, Mexican cavalry attacked American soldiers;
Congress passed a declaration of war and began raising an army.
The Mexican American War and President
Polk
• Polk’s Plan—He envisioned a quick war. He underestimated the resolve of
the Mexican armies.
• American armies would occupy Mexico’s northern provinces and defeat
the Mexican army in a decisive battle or two.
• Mexico would then sue for peace and the United States would keep
occupied territory.
• Mexican Persistence—Despite heavy losses on the battlefield, Mexico
refused to trade land for peace.
• Polk sent General Winfield Scott 250 miles inland to Mexico City, while
Taylor’s troops still occupied the North; Scott won Mexico City on
September 14, 1847.
Mexican American War 6-9 min clips
• *Part 1 https://youtu.be/HjUEBDOOSDM (repeat slide 16)
• Part 2 https://youtu.be/6hIlePIdYo4
• Part 3 https://youtu.be/G2px-vmZCmQ
• Part 4 https://youtu.be/eL7KIMwWKic
• Part 5 https://youtu.be/p3_l4bnikB4
• Part 6 https://youtu.be/DWHfJSTNFME
• https://youtu.be/6olifItvePo (view on your own)
Treaty of Guadalupe Hildalgo
• https://youtu.be/xAq12waiK2Q (music with the talking can be distracting)
• https://youtu.be/MaCSfk464vI (3:21)***
• The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo—Signed February 2, 1848.
• Mexico agreed to give up all claims to Texas north of the Rio Grande and to
cede the provinces of New Mexico and California—more than 500,000 square
miles—to the United States.
• The United States agreed to pay Mexico $15 million and to assume $3.25
million in claims that American citizens had against Mexico.
• The United States achieved the coast to coast expansion.
Golden California
• The GOLD is discovered in the American River in the foothills of the
Sierra Nevada in January 1848;
• Led to the California gold rush between 1849 and 1852, more than
250,000 forty-niners entered California, hoping to strike it rich.
• Effects on Native American Population—The gold rush devastated
Indians.
• California’s Indian population dropped from 150,000 in 1848 to
25,000 in 1854; starvation, disease, and a declining birthrate took a
heavy toll.
The institution of Slavery continues to divide
the nation.
• Tactics and Response—Abolitionists published newspapers, held
conventions, and petitioned Congress, but never attracted a mass
following among white Americans
• many white Northerners became convinced slavery was wrong, but
they still believed blacks were inferior yet many others believed
slavery was civilizing to the slaves themselves.
• The Underground Railroad—Organized by escaped slave Harriet
Tubman, who repeatedly risked her life to return to the South to
export slaves to freedom; free blacks provided fugitive slaves with
food, a safe place to rest, and a helping hand; this “underground
railroad” ran mainly through black neighborhoods, black churches,
and black homes.