Unit VPart 41820-1861

The War with Mexicoand Sectionalism

Background to Mexican-American War

Natives in California had staged four separate rebellions against the disorganized government of Mexico

Britain and France were lusting after harbors

Polk tried invoking the Monroe Doctrine against Brits and French…they were not impressed

Background to the Mexican-American War

Polk tried to buy California from Mexico

Mexico not interested in selling

Polk got creative… He will end up handling the details

of the war himself (he had good military sense) after he started the war…

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The Boundary

The boundary between Texas (now part of the U.S.) and Mexico had not been established formally (by a treaty)

The United States believed that the boundary was the Rio Grande

But Mexico believed it to be the Nunces River (north and parallel to the Rio Grande)

The War

Polk KNEW that Mexico believed that the Nunces River was the boundary but he sent American troops to line up along the Rio Grande BETWEEN the two rivers

Mexico believed that the U.S. had invaded its territory (Polk knew that they would)

April 1846 Mexico crossed the Rio Grande and attacked!

Polk ran screaming like a girl to Congress

Polk claimed that the Mexicans crossed the river and attacked U.S. and that it was an unprovoked act of war

May 1846 Congress declared war on Mexico

Will end with the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo in 1848

The Mexican-American War

It was a quick war BUT proportionally had the highest (proportional) death rate of any U.S. war in history:

104,556 fought 13,768 died

The Important Generals

Were both Whigs Polk couldn’t find a better Democrat to

take charge so he sent spies to their camps

Zackary Taylor (Old Rough and Ready) Winfield Scott (Old Fuss and Feathers)

All important military figures of the Civil War were here.

Opposition to the War

Many saw it as an immoral land grab (Maybe because it was)

Lincoln spoke out against it (who was HE?)

The Whigs were against it but were outnumbered

The Transcendentalists were against it

The Army

Congress did not enlarge or improve the army until after this war

Most U.S. troops were volunteers (undisciplined)

Officers from West Point (established in 1778)

Mexico had a big war budget but Generals were corrupt and soldiers undersupplied

The War

1847 troops commanded by Winfield Scott captured Mexico City

Many in the U.S. urged the annexation of ALL of Mexico

We only took 1/2

1848 The Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo

U.S. gained California, New Mexico Territory

Boundary between Texas and Mexico: the Rio Grande

U.S. promised to assume claims that American citizens had against Mexico ($3,250,000)

U.S gave $15,000,000 to Mexico (Polk angry at American Diplomat: Trist)

New land means more fights over slavery in the

territories The slavery issue was put aside with the

Gag rule in Congress and the Missouri Compromise

In 1846…the year the war started…Americans just assumed that we would win and that we would get more land…we did.

The Wilmot Proviso (1846) broke the Gag rule and created 4 years of heated debates in congress

The Wilmot Proviso

David Wilmot (Penn) suggested that all land that the U.S. would get from Mexico should be free of slavery

Naturally, the South objected

Passed in the House Caused a four-year debate in the

Senate

The South

Tried to organize against Oregon’s statehood (was going to be a free state)

Calhoun: insisted that slavery should be protected in federal territories

Polk suggested extending the 36-30 line

Folks started to bring pistols to the Senate!

Election of 1848

Whigs: Zachary Taylor (slave owner) 163

Hero of the Mexican War

Democrats: Lewis Cass (Michigan) Popular Sovereignty: People who

live in a territory should decide if it would be slave or free

Election 1848

Both parties avoided the Slavery issue

The Free-Soil Party (3rd Party): Van Buren: Was made up of the Liberty Party and anti-slavery wings of the Whig and Democratic Parties.

Van Buren took 10% of the popular vote

1848 California Gold Rush

January 1848 James Marshall found traces of gold at Sutter’s Mill

Word Spread Population exploded from 14,000 in 1848

to 220,000 in 1852

The 49ers left their jobs to find their fortune

Caused labor shortages elsewhere filled by Chinese

The Native Americans

Indian Hunters Native American population declined

from 150,000 to 30,000 between 1850 and 1870

Mining Camps: Rooms (one night!) $1,000 One dozen eggs…$10.00

Zackary Taylor

Without consulting Congress, Taylor urged California and New Mexico to draw up contstitution

They did …both banned slavery

South even more furious

Trouble

1849 California applied for statehood (as a free state)

Huge debate in congress…weapons were carried

Protestant churches split over slavery Every Northern state legislature but one

passed resolutions in support of the Wilmot Proviso

South threatened Succession!

Heavens to Betsy!What Shall We Do?

Henry Clay to the Rescue (My Hero! Swoon)

aka the Great Compromiser

Came up with the Compromise of 1850: dealt with the land from Mexico and boundary dispute between Texas and NM Territory

DO NOT mix this up with the Compromise of 1820 (aka the Missouri Compromise): dealt with the Louisiana Purchase

The Compromise of 1850

California should be admitted as a free state

All other land from Mexico should be organized without restrictions on slavery

A new and improved Fugitive Slave Law The Slave TRADE (not slavery) should

end in Washington D.C. Texas should yield land involved in a

boundary dispute with New Mexico territory and the Federal Government would pay off the Texas state debt

The Compromise of 1850 Many Southerners supported it because of

the New Fugitive Slave Law

Webster was attacked by New England abolitionists for supporting the Compromise of 1850 BECAUSE of the Fugitive Slave Law. They thought he was a traitor

Remember : the Whigs were willing to compromise on slavery…that is why the Liberty and (later) the Free Soil Parties stole votes from Whigs (who would not take a stand against slavery)

In the Meantime

Taylor did not favor the compromise while his VP (Fillmore) did.

Taylor died suddenly (and mysteriously) and the different parts of the Compromise of 1850 became law

Also

The Great Triumvirate: Clay, Calhoun, and Webster were old as dirt and failing in health

Three New Rising Stars helped to push the compromise through:

William Seward (New York) Stephen Douglass (Illinois) Jefferson Davis (Mississippi)

The New Fugitive Slave Act

Remember …The South supported the compromise because of the new FSA

It said the same thing as the old one (all citizens must aid in the capture and return of runaway slaves) but the new one had stiffer fines and penalties for non-compliance

The South decided to give the North another chance on this issue….

But then…

The North proved that they could not be trusted

Many Northern states passed Personal Liberty Laws: Citizens could not be compelled to follow the FSA

The South was bitter The above was proof that the North

could not be trusted

Think About It

The South was forced to follow Federal Law (the tariff) even though it caused them hardship but the North seemed to be able to pick and choose

There WAS a double standard

The FSA was the only reason the South agreed to the compromise

A Question…

How did territorial expansion impact American unity to 1860?

Think…How was the “Slavery in the Territories” problem dealt with after the Louisiana Purchase?

Think…How was the “Slavery in the Territories” issue dealt with after the U.S. gained land from Mexico?

If we needed to compromise…

Doesn’t that mean adding land caused conflict and DISunity?