1840-1860
Chapter 12
 The westward movement allowed people to arrive
on the prairie, and did not have to clear forests to
farm
 Federal land policy made land available to
millions of ordinary people, increasing agricultural
productivity
 Government land policy also enriched speculators
who bought up large tracts and resold at a markup
 Invention of implements
 Manufacturers could produce more with less labor
 “American System” of manufacturing and
assembling interchangeable parts spread from
gun-making to other enterprises
 Standardized parts allowed manufacturers to
employ unskilled labor who were cheaper and
more plentiful that other skilled craftsmen
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Manufacturing and Agriculture meshed into a
dynamic national economy,
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New England focused on manufacturing mostly for
domestic markets
Southern and Western states growing and producing
wheat, port, whiskey, tobacco, and cotton
 By 1850, 9,000 miles of track, mostly in New
England and mid-Atlantic states
 Railroads demanded
and grew coal and
iron industries
 Stimulated the
telegraph industry:
by 1861, 50,000 miles
of wire along the
tracks
 Almost all railroads
were owned and built
by private
corporations,
although aided by
large federal land
grants
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The railroad boom of the 1850s
and growing industrial might of
the American economy linking
farms and cities, the expanding
populations moved westward.
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Free labor ideal emphasizes hard work, selfreliance, and independence
Many people left out
Millions of immigrants entered the US in the
1840s and 1850s (Germany and Ireland)
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Manifest Destiny: term coined in 1845 by New York
journalist John L. O’Sullivan
Most Americans believed the superiority of their
institutions and white culture bestowed on them a
God-given right to spread their civilization across
the continent
A combination of national pride, racial arrogance,
and economic gain
 Both Britain and the US claimed the Oregon territory
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but beginning in 1818, the two agreed to leave the
territory open to settlers from both in ‘joint occupation’
Emigrants encountered both agricultural Indians, and
nomadic warrior tribes, these contributed to the image
of ‘savage Indian’
Emigrants on the trails west insisted on federal
government protection on the trail
In 1851, the government adopted a new policy of
Indian concentration and persuaded chiefs to sign
agreements to clear a wide corridor for the wagon
trains
Difficulties for women on the trail and upon arrival
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New York to Ohio to Nauvoo, Illinois
1844 mob kills founder Joseph Smith and his
brother
Brigham Young leads the Mormons from
Illinois to the Great Salt Lake
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In 1850 the Mormon Kingdom is annexed by
the US as the Utah territory
Federal troops invade Salt Lake City to
eradicate polygamy

The Mexican
government wanted
to populate and
develop its northern
territory and granted
the American Stephen
F. Austin a huge tract
of land in Texas
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Thousands of
Americans poured
into Texas bringing
cotton and slaves with
them
1830, Mexican
government sought to
halt further
immigration by
outlawing slavery

Anglo settlers felt
Santa Anna
tyrannized them

Texas settlers,
including David
Crockett and
James Bowie took
refuge in an old
Franciscan
mission, the
Alamo. All 187
rebels were killed
by Santa Anna’s
troops numbering
about 2,000.
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1836, Sam Houston’s
army crushed Santa
Anna’s troops and
declared an
independent republic
the following year, the
US recognized Texas’
independence from
Mexico

1845, Texas admitted, after fierce debate as the
fifteenth slave state

Hero of the Mexican
War, nominated for
President over
incumbant Millard
Fillmore in 1852. He
lost to Franklin Pierce.
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Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Discovery of Gold in California
Oneida Community organized
Seneca Falls Women’s Rights Convention
Fox Sisters
US Presidential Election (Zachary Taylor)

believed that individuals should conform
neither to the materialistic world nor to the
dogma of formal religion; people should look
within themselves for truth and guidance

Onieda Community
(New York) believed
in economic and
sexual communalism,
and were ostracized
by mainstream but
lasted until long after
the Civil War

1848, 100 reformers led by Elizabeth Cady
Stanton and Lucretia Mott gathered at Seneca
Falls, New York for the first national women’s
rights convention in the US

Bill of women’s rights
as written at the first
women’s rights
convention in US
history.
FREDERICK DOUGLAS