Manifest DestinyManifest Destiny

By 1820, the US was expanding west of the Mississippi› Aided by the Louisiana Purchase and the

War of 1812 Referred to the belief that Americans

had a God-given right to the American territories

Western settlement was difficult

Tens of thousands of Americans migrated to Texas› Mexican government enticed settlers to

move into Texas with liberal land policies› Settlers promised to become Mexican

citizens Ignored Mexican law and practiced slavery

› Mexico attempted to regain control in Texas Settlers rebelled and declared independence

“The Republic of Texas” was created as an independent country

› Texas didn’t become a state until 1845 because of slavery

Thousands of Americans also moved into the Oregon Territory in the 1840s› Traveled for months on the Oregon Trail› Caused conflict with Native Americans,

British, and Russians Polk administration signed a treaty with

Britain that allowed American settlers to remain

Discovery of gold led to a flood of immigration to California in 1848› 100,000 people migrated in two years› Most settlers didn’t discover gold but

began farming in the area

Frontier boundaries changed constantly› 1800—Frontier was east of the Mississippi› 1820—Nearly all of the east was comprised

of states and the frontier was the Louisiana Purchase

› 1830s-1840s—Settlers moved to Texas, Mexico, and the Pacific Northwest

› 1848—Gold Rush drew settlers to California

US government encouraged settlers to move west› Gave away or sold cheap land to veterans› Loaned money at reduced rates to civilians› Squatters sometimes settled on land

without buying it

Settlers in the Ohio Valley and west found that the area was conducive to grain production and dairy farming› Midwest became known as the “nation’s

breadbasket” Fur trading was a common frontier

enterprise› Often the first pioneers in a region› Hunted beaver nearly to extinction

Cattle ranchers and miners also moved west

Frontier life was difficult› Settlers had to deal with the climate, the

land, and the Native Americans Frontier offered opportunities like

wealth, freedom, and social advancement› Women cooked and did laundry and

eventually ran boardinghouses and hotels The West came to symbolize freedom

and equality to Americans

After the Revolutionary War, America needed more land for a growing population and the expansion of agriculture

New lands were taken through treaties or by force

Individual states made treaties or fought Native Americans for land without federal approval

Westward expansion caused varying reactions among Native Americans› Accommodationists tried to adopt

European ways and coexist peacefully› Traditionalists wanted to maintain their

culture and avoid Americans Included Tecumseh and the Prophet

North South West

Focus Industrialization and banking

Agriculture Varied interests

Farming Not as important as in other areas

Focused on cash crop

Commercial farming, trapping, and real-estate speculation

Slavery Became uncommon

Crucial to the economy, wanted in new territories to provide political power

Wanted to avoid the issue because it seemed irrelevant to them

Important Characteristics

Communications, transportation, industry, and banking innovations

Intensive agriculture required westward expansion

Distrusted the North because of the banks, disliked the rigid hierarchy of the South

The cotton gin was invented in 1793 and revolutionized Southern agriculture› Made it easier to remove seeds from

cotton plants› Made it easier and cheaper to use cotton

for textiles Demand for cotton grew rapidly

Cotton production increased drastically in the South, which intensified slave labor

Although manufacturing spread quickly, farming was the most common source of livelihood in the first half of the 19th century

Mechanization revolutionized farming Market economy changed farming

› By 1860, 2/3 of the crops produced in the US were sold

In the South, plantations were crucial to agriculture› Deep South plantations focused on cotton› Upper South plantations focused on

tobacco The majority of southern farmers

owned small farms and did not own slaves› In 1860, 25% of white southern families

owned slaves

Development in the South

There were few urban centers› Family was most important, followed by

the church› South lacked centers of commerce

Canals, railroads, and highways weren’t built like they were in the North

› New Orleans was the biggest city and relied on water transportation

› South did not develop a strong market economy

South developed a rigid social structure› Planter aristocracy › Small white farmers› Poor whites› Free blacks› Slaves

Planter aristocracy› Dominated politics, economics, and society› Only 10% of the white slaveholding

population had 20 or more slaves› Grew cotton in the Deep South and tobacco

in the Upper South› Justified slavery with Southern paternalism

Attitude that everyone benefited from slavery Converted slaves to Christianity

Incorporated into slaves’ native religions and cultures

Small white farmers› Owned fewer than five slaves and often

worked alongside them in the fields› Comprised the majority of southern

farmers› Owned small tracts of land› Were often subsistence farmers› Could only afford the most basic comforts› Poorly educated› Yeoman farmers owned no slaves and

worked small tracts of land with their families

Poor whites› Often called “landless whites”› Owned no slaves

75% of white southerners didn’t own slaves

› Farmed as tenants or hired themselves out as manual laborers

› Had very little social mobility

Free blacks› 250,000 lived in the South› Descendants of slaves freed by their

owners or for having fought in the Revolutionary War

› Black codes prevented them from owning guns, drinking, and assembling in groups of more than three

› Some owned land or worked at a trade Most were tenant farmers or day laborers

› Some were mulattoes who had luxurious and refined lives, especially around New Orleans

Slaves› Lived in a state of subsistence poverty› Lived in one-room cabins with their

families and one or two others Conditions were overcrowded and unsanitary

› Worked long hours at difficult jobs Conditions were worst in the Deep South

› Many were abused› Developed a unique culture that blended

native African cultures and beliefs with Christianity

› Carried out subtle acts of resistance

Before the 1830s, few people advocated abolition› Most early support was from free blacks› Abolition associations formed in every

large black community To assist fugitive slaves To publicize the attack against slavery

› Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and Sojourner Truth were prominent black abolitionists Harriet Tubman helped at least 300 slaves

escape to freedom via the Underground Railroad

› White abolitionists could be divided into two groups: Immediatists like the Quakers argued for

immediate abolition Included William Lloyd Garrison who published the

Liberator

Other groups supported gradual abolition

Some abolitionists supported the return of blacks to Liberia

When the issue became too heated in Congress, they adopted a gag rule (1836-1844)› Automatically suppressed discussion of the

slavery issue› Prevented Congress from enacting new

legislation pertaining to slavery›

Determination of the abolitionists and the South’s inflexibility made abolition an important political issue› Westward expansion fueled the fire› These issues helped lead to the Civil War

Election of 1844 featured James Polk vs. Henry Clay

As an expansionist, Polk wanted to extend north into Canada and south into Mexico› In his last days of office, President Tyler

proposed that Texas be annexed by the US Congressional approval made war with

Mexico likely

US couldn’t fight Britain and Mexico simultaneously› US and Britain signed the Oregon Treaty

Negotiated a reasonable northern American border in the area

Gave the US Oregon and Washington and parts of Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana

› US tried to buy lands in the southwest from Mexico Mexico refused and was still bitter about the

US annexation of Texas Eventually, Mexico attacked American troops under

provocation Polk asked Congress to declare war in 1846

Didn’t have universal support of the American people› Abolitionists feared that new states in the

West would become slave states, giving the South a congressional advantage

Wilmot Proviso was defeated in Congress in 1846› Would have prohibited slavery in any lands

gained from Mexico

War went well for the US› Soldiers pushed across the SW and into CA› US pushed south as far as Mexico City

Ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848)› US received the Mexican Cession (Arizona,

New Mexico, California, Nevada, and Utah) in exchange for $15 million

Issues introduced by the Mexican Cession:› Could potentially increase American wealth› Whether the new states would be free or

slave Popular sovereignty was introduced as a

solution New territories would get to decide whether they

would be free or slave states

› Neither the Democrats nor the Whigs would oppose slavery Caused a split in the Whig party as

antislavery Whigs joined the new Free-Soil Party

Zachary Taylor was the last Whig to win an election (1848)

Slavery issue caused an irreparable split within the party› Died out by 1856

Led to the emergence of the new Republican party

California statehood divided the country› Its constitution prohibited slavery, so the

South opposed its admission to the US South proposed that California should be

forced to accept slavery in accordance with the boundary established by the Compromise of 1820

› Stephen Douglas and Henry Clay created the Compromise of 1850 to deal with this issue

Included the following provisions:› CA would be admitted as a free state› Stronger fugitive slave law was enacted› UT and NM were created as territories with

popular sovereignty› Abolished the slave TRADE in Washington

DC

Grew stronger in the North when Uncle Tom’s Cabin was published in 1852› Harriet Beecher Stowe criticized slavery

and plantation life› Very important piece of propaganda

o Settlers poured into Kansas and Nebraskao Areas lacked governments so the slavery

issue had not yet been decidedo Congress wanted to build railroads in the

areao Stephen Douglas issued the Kansas-

Nebraska Act to address slavery hereo Supported popular sovereignty

Caused violence in the territories› Abolitionists and proslavery groups moved in

and tried to gain a numerical advantage Border Ruffians helped Kansas create a

pro-slavery state› Abolitionists set up a rival anti-slavery

government› Proslavery mob destroyed the abolitionist city

of Lawrence John Brown’s raid against proslavery forces

killed five

Violence increased in “Bleeding Kansas”› More than 200 people were killed in

altercations based on the slavery issue› These events polarized the nation

Preston Brooks attacked Senator Charles Sumner

Anti-slavery Whigs joined Northern Democrats and former Free-Soilers to create the new Republican party› Republicans wanted to keep slavery out of

the territories› New party grew quickly in the North

Nativist Know-Nothing party also formed› Anti-foreign party that self-destructed

because of the slavery issue

Voting was sectional› James Buchanan (D) won by carrying the

South› John Fremont carried the North› Last major election for the Know-Nothings,

who ran Millard Fillmore President Buchanan tried to maintain the

status quo› Enforced fugitive slave act› Opposed abolitionism in the South and West

Supreme Court escalated the slavery crisis with this decision› Chief Justice Roger Taney stated that

slaves were property, not citizens Stated that no black person could ever be a

US citizen, so they could never sue in a court of law

Ruled that Congress couldn’t regulate slavery in the territories Nullified the Missouri Compromise, Kansas-

Nebraska Act, and Wilmot Proviso

Basically said that slavery could extend anywhere

This was a major victory for the South Democratic party divided along

regional lines

Occurred as the two men were running for a seat in the Illinois Senate› Republicans Lincoln vs. Democrat Douglas

Gave voice to the issues that divided the country› Lincoln gave his “house divided” speech› Douglas defended popular sovereignty as

part of the Freeport Doctrine Lincoln lost but gained crucial national

exposure

Further inflamed sectional tensions Brown raided Harper’s Ferry in an effort

to spark a slave revolt› It failed and he was executed

He became a martyr for the North and abolition

› Rumor had it that he had received financial backing from the North

Republicans selected Abraham Lincoln Democrats were divided

› Northern Democrats wanted Douglas› Southern Democrats wanted John

Breckinridge Third Constitutional Union party

nominated John Bell Lincoln received 40% of the popular

votes and more than 50% of the electoral vote

South had threatened to secede if Lincoln was elected› Crittendon Compromise was created by

Southern leaders who wanted to maintain the Union Lincoln refused to drop his Republican

demand that all territories be declared free

South Carolina seceded within three months› 7 additional states joined shortly thereafter

Southern states created the Confederate States of America› Jefferson Davis was chosen as President

Lincoln chose to maintain control of federal forts in the South› Was waiting for the Confederacy to make a

move Confederates attacked Fort Sumter

(SC) on April 12, 1861 No one died, but this is considered to

be the first battle of the Civil War