Unit 7 notes
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Territorial growth (339)
o Nationalism was a way of helping to keep the US together
o Nationalism was also producing the desire for territorial expansion that would tear the
nation apart
o As expansion began to happen a question arose: what would be the status of slavery in
the territories?
 The Missouri compromise failed to provide an acceptable basis for compromise
o 1850 and 1854 two compromise was proposed
 Many people disagreed
 When the election of Abraham Lincoln started in 1860 the nation
started to break apart
 Start of the civil war
Manifest destiny
o Manifest destiny reflected pride that characterized nationalism and the idealistic vision
of social perfection
o Rested on the idea that America was destined by god and by history to expand its
boundaries over a vast area
Racial justification
o Throughout the 1840 many people supported westward expansion because they
believed in the superiority of the American race
o Believed that western regions were racially unfit to be part of an American community
o Advocates of man. Dest. Didn’t know how far and by what by what means the nation
should expand
Opposition to further expansion
o Many prominent politicians feared that man. Dest. Would threaten the stability of the
union
o Until the 1830s Texas was the part of the rep. of Mexico
 In the early 1820s Mexico launched an ill-advised experiment that would lose
Mexico’s northern boundaries
 Encourage American immigration to Texas
 They convinced themselves that settlers in Texas would be a buffer against US
expansion
 They thought they would be loyal to the Mexican gov.
o An 1824 colonization law designed to attract American settlers
 Promised the settlers for cheap land
 Thousands of Americans took to the opportunity of rich soil in Texas
Stephan Austin
o Stephan Austin- established first legal American settlement in Texas in 1822
 Created center of power that competed with the Mexican gov.
 1826 led a revolt for Texas to be an independent nation
 Quickly crushed the revolt
 4 years later, banned American immigration
Unit 7 notes
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 Americans keep on flowing into the region
 1833 Mexico dropped ban
Tensions between the US and Mexico
o 1830: made it illegal to have slaves
o Austin wanted a peaceful settlement that would give Texas more autonomy within the
Mexican gov.
o General Antonio Lopez seized power as dictator in the mid -1830s
 Created new law that instilled power on the national gov. at the expense of
state gov.
 Americans thought Lopez was aiming specifically at them.
 Austin got arrested
 Sporadic fighting between began in 1835
o Escalated as Mexican gov. sent more troops into the territory
 1836 American settlers declare independence from Mexico
 Lopez led a large army into Texas
 Patriots tried to defend in san Antonio but was useless
o Among the patriots was davy crocket
San Jacinto
o General Sam Houston managed to keep a small force and in 1836 at the battle of san
Jacinto he defeated the Mexican army and took Lopez prisoner
o Lopez signed a treaty giving Texas independence
o Mexican gov. repudiated the treaty
Opposition of annexation
o Sam Houston: president of Texas sent a delegate to Washington with an offer to join the
union
 Many northerners opposed acquiring a large new slave territory
 Expansionists encouraged the idea
 Jackson did not support it
o Texas cast out on its own and its leaders sought money and support from Europe
 Some wanted to create a vast south western nation that would compete with
the US
o Applied for statehood in 1844
 The US had opposing thoughts
 Calhoun presented an annexation treaty to congress
 Northerners didn’t want to extend slavery
 The Texas question became the central issue in the election of 1844
Disputed claims
o Oregon country- half a million square miles
 Included Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, parts of Montana, and Wyoming, and
half of British Columbia.
 Both Britain and the US claimed sovereignty
 Agreed in the 1818 treaty to allow citizens of each country equal access to the
territory
 was known as the joint occupation, continued for 20 years
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white settlement consisted largely of American and Canadian fur traders
 established by john Jacob Astor’s company at Astoria
o American interest in Oregon grew substantially in the 1820s and 1830s
 Missionaries thought the territory was an attractive target for evangelical
efforts
 Motivated to counter the catholic missionaries from Canada
Conflict between settlers and Indians
o Significant number of white Americans began emigrating to Oregon in the 1840s
o Devasted much of the Indian population
 Measle epidemic spread
 1847 Indians attacked whites and killed 13 white men
The westward migration
o 1840 and 1860 whites hundreds of thousands of whites and blacks migrated to Texas
and Oregon
o Most traveled in family groups until the early 1850s
 Great gold rush attracted many single men
o All migrants were in search for a new life
Oregon trails
o Migrants go usually to major depots in Iowa and Missouri
 Joined a wagon train led by hired guilds
 The major route west was the 2000 mile Oregon trail
 Migrants moved north to Oregon or south to the northern California coast
o Faced considerable hardships
o Year before the civil war 400 migrants died in conflicts with the tribes
Life on the trail
o Very difficult from life on a farm or in a town
o Society of the trail recreated many of the patterns of conventional American society
o Women generally worked more than the men
James k Polk
o Represented Tennessee for 14 years in the house of representatives
o Believed that the re-occupation of Oregon and the re-annexation of Texas at the earliest
practicable period are great American measures
o By combining the Oregon and Texas question, they hoped to satisfy everyone
o In feb 1845 Texas became a state.
Compromise over Oregon
o Polk offered the boundary to be at the 49th parallel
 British ministers rejected it
o People thought that they were going to fight
o None of the countries wanted to fight
o In the end Britain accepted the offer on June 15 1846
Texas boundary in dispute
o Mexico declared war on America when Texas was admitted as a state in 1845
o Relations between Mexico and America became worse when they had a dispute about
the boundaries of Texas and Mexico
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Mexico wanted the boundaries to be from Nueces river to the rio Grande
 Polk agreed
 1845 sent troops to Mexico to protect from possible Mexico invasion
o New Mexico was a multiracial society
 1820s Mexican gov. invited American traders
 New Mexico became more American
American interests in California
o California had several Indian tribes and 7000 Mexicans
o Gradually white Americans began to arrive
 Were traders and captains
 They stopped barter goods or buy supplies
 Merchants established stores, imported merchandise and developed a
profitable trade with Mexicans and Indians
 New settler began to dreaming of bringing California into the US
o President Polk sent secret instructions to the commander of pacific naval to seize
California ports if Mexico declared war
Failure of the Slidell mission
o Polk sent john Slidell to try to buy off the Mexicans
 Mexican leaders rejected Slidell’s offer to purchase the disputed territories
o Jan 13 1846 Polk ordered Taylor’s army to move across the Nueces river
 Mexican troops crossed the rio Grande and attacked unit of American soldiers
 Attacked a unit of American soldiers
 Polk told congress war exists between the Mexico
 Congress declared war by a vote of 40 to 2
Opposition to the war
o Polk deliberately maneuvered the country into conflict and staged the border incident
o Hostilities with Mexico was draining resources
o Opposition intensified as the war continued
 Public became aware of casualties and expense
o Polk ordered Taylor to cross rio Grande and seize parts of northeastern mex.
Bear flag revolution
o Summer of 1846 colonel Stephen w Kearny captured santé fe with no opposition
o US now controlled the two territories for which it had gone to war
o In the end they seized the Mexican capital
o The new Mexican gov. took power and announced its willingness to negotiate a peace
treaty
Treaty of Guadalupe hidalgo
o Polk sent a Nicholas trist to negotiate a settlement
o On feb 2, 1848 he reached agreement with the new Mexican government on the treaty
of Guadalupe Hidalgo
 Mexico agreed to cede California and New Mexico to the US
 US agreed to assume any financial claims its new citizens had against Mexico
 And to pay $15 million
o Polk wanted to acquire Mexico itself
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 He soon realized that trist had no choice but to accept the treaty to silence
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Wilmot proviso
o In august 1846 Polk asked congress to give to appropriate $2 mill for purchasing peace
to Mexico
o Representative David Wilmot introduced an amendment to the appropriation bill,
prohibiting slavery in the acquired land from Mexico
o Known as the Wilmot proviso
 Passes the house and failed in the senate
 Would be discussed many times in the future
Competing plans
o Polk supported a proposal to extend the Missouri compromise line to the new
territories
 Banning slavery north of the line and and permitting it south of the line
o Others supported a plan known as “squatter sovereignty” or “popular sovereignty”
 Allowed the people of each territory to decide the status of slavery there
o These issues were still around when pol left office in 1849
o Presidential campaign of 1848- both parties, the democrats and the whigs avoided the
slavery question
 Opponents of slavery found the choice for candidacy unsatisfying
 Out of their discontent emerged the free soil party
 Endorsed the wilmot proviso
Free-soil party
o Taylor won the presedential election of 1848
o Free soilers elected 10 members to congress
 Free soil party signed the inability of the existing parties
 Led to the collapse of the second party system in 1850
The California gold rush
o James marshall founded traces of gold in sierra Nevada
o Tried to contain the news
 Fear of gold rush would destroy his own substantial empire
o Word got out by late summer
o Many people came
Forty niners
o California migrants threw caution to the winds
 Abandoned farms, jobs, homes, and families
o Majority of the forty niners were men
o The gold rush attracted some of the first Chinese migrants to the western US
o News of the discoveries created great excitement in china
Indian slavery
o Gold rush created a serious labor shortage in California
 Shortage created opportunities for many people who needed work
 Led to an overt exploitation of Indians that resembled slavery
o Indian hunters killed Indians
Unit 7 notes
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State law permitted the arrest of loitering or orphaned Indians and their assignment to a
term of indentured labor
Rising sectional tensions
o Zachery taylor believed statehood could become the solution to the issue of slavery
o At taylor’s urging, California quickly adopted a constitution that prohibited slavery
o 1849 taylor asked asked if California could be a free state
o Southerners demanded a stringent law that would require northern states to return
fugitive slaves
o Biggest obstacle the presidential program was the white south’s fear was the two new
free states
Clay’s proposed solution
o Henry clay believed that no compromise could last unless it settled all the issues in
dispute between the sections
 Took several measures that had been proposed separately, combine them and
presented it to the senate on jan. 29 1850
o in the first phase of the debate, the dominant voices in congress was the people who
argued for or against the compromise on the basis of broad ideal
o clay appealed to share national sentiments of nationalism
o Calhoun insisted that the north grant the south equal rights
New leadership
o William h. seward
 Opposed of the compromise
o Jefferson davis
 Believed that slavery issue was less one of principles and ideals than one of
economic self-interest
o Stephen a douglass
 open spokesmen for the economic needs of his section
o they produced a compromise
 disappearance of the most powerful obstacle to it- the president zachery taylor
temporary compromise
o Douglas’s first step was to break up the omnibus bill that clay had envisioned as a great,
comprehensive solution
o Instead introduced a series of separate measures to be voted on
o The compromise of 1850 was not a product of widespread agreement on common
national ideals
o For a few years the sectional conflict seemed to be forgotten
o Conflict between north and south remained
 Crisis continued until in 1854
The uneasy truth
o Both parties chose endorsed the compromise of 1850 in 1852
o Democrats chose franklin pierce
o Whigs chose Winfield scott
o Many flocked to the free-soil party
 Candidate was john p hales
Unit 7 notes
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o Repudiated the compromise of 1850
o Division among the whigs helped produce a victory for the democrats in 1852
Opposition to the fugitive slave act
o Franklin pierce attempted to maintain party and national harmony
o Northern disagreement to the fugitive slave act intensified in 1850
 Southerners began appearing occasionally in northern states to pursue escaped
slaves
 Mobs formed in northern cities to prevent enforcement of the law
Young America
o One way franklin pierce hoped to dampen sectional controversy was through the
“young America”
 Support of a movement in the democratic party
o Saw the expansion of American democracy as a way to divert attention from slavery
Ostend manifesto
o Pierce attempted to buy cuba from spain 1848
o 1854 a group of his envoys sent him a private document from Ostend making the case
for seizing cuba by force
o Enraged many antislavery northerners when the Ostend manifesto was leaked to the
public
o South opposed of gaining new territories if it would not support the slave system
o Kingdom of Hawaii agreed to join the US in 1854
 Treaty died when it contained a clause prohibiting slavery in the islands
Transcontinental railroad and slavery
o Communication between the older states and the areas west of the Mississippi river
became critical
 Broad support began to emerge for building a transcontinental railroad
o Had many problems about the railroad
 Where to locate the railroads eastern terminus
 Where the line could connect with the existing railroad
Gadsden purchase
o In 1853 Davis sent james gidsden to mexico
 Persuaded Mexican gov. to accept $10 mill in exchange for a strip of land
o Gadsden purchase accentuated the sectional rival
Kansas Nebraska act
o Douglas, senator of Illinois
 He introduced a bill in 1854 to organize a huge new territory known as Nebraska
o He knew the south would oppose his bill
 Was a free state
o Douglas inserted a provision that the status of slavery would be determined by the
territorial legislature
o South wanted more
 Douglas wanted to repeal the Missouri compromise
o Agreed to divide the area into two new territories, Nebraska and Kansas
o Second territory would become a slave state
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o President pierce supported the bill and became law in 1854
Birth of the republican party
o The legislation divided and destroyed the whig party
 Disappeared in 1856
o Divided the northern democrats
 Drove many of them from the party
o Spurred the creating of a new party
 People who opposed douglas’s bill
 First called themselves anti Nebraska democrats and anti Nebraska whigs
 They formed and called themselves republicans
Pottawatomie massacre
o John brown fiercely commited zealot
o Moved to Kansas with his sons so that they can make it a free state
o After the event in lawrence, he gathered 6 followers and murdered 5 pro slavery settlers
o Was known as the Pottawatomie massacre
 Led to more civil strife in Kansas
 Guerrilla warfare conducted by armed bands
o In may 1856 charles sumner of mass. Rose to give a speech on “the crime against
Kansas”
 He was a opponent to slavery
 Gave particular attention to senator Andrew p. butler of south Carolina
 Andrew was a defender of slavery
Preston brooks and Charles sumner
o Sumner’s speech enrarged preston brooks
 Member of the house of representatives
o Brooks went to Sumner and beat him with a cane
o Injuries were so severe that he couldn’t return to the senate
 Throughout the north he was a hero
Free soil ideology
o in the north assumptions about the structure of society came to center on the belief in
free soil and free labor
o most northerners came to believe that the existence of slavery was dangerous
 threatened whites
slave power conspiracy
o south was antithesis of democracy
o while the north was growing the south was stagnating and rejecting the idea of
individualism
o south engaged in a conspiracy to extend slavery throughout the nation
 will destroy the openness of northern capitalism
 replace it with closed aristocratic system of the south
o free- labor ideology strengthened the commitment of republicans to the union
the pro slavery argument
o in the south a very different ideology was emerging
 was a result of many things
Unit 7 notes
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nat turner upring in 1831 which made them more determined to than ever to
make slavery secure
 the expansion of the cotton economy
 growth of the garrisonian abolitionist movement
the pro slavery argument
o 1832 southerners produced a new intellectual defense of slavery
o Southern apologists argued that slavery was good because it served as the basis for the
southern way of life
o Southerners looking at the north saw a spirit of greed, and destructiveness
o South believed they were a safe, stable, orderly society operating at a slow human pace
o The defense of slavery also talked about the biological inferiority of African Americans
Election of 1856
o Democratic party supported james Buchanan
o Republicans denounced the Kansas Nebraska act and the expansion of slavery
o Republicans supported the john c. Fremont
o Know-nothing party was breaking apart but nominated millard filmore
o Buchanan won a narrow victory over Fremont and filmore
o At the inauguration Buchanan was at age 56
o In the year Buchanan took office, a financial panic struck the country
The dred scott decision
o On march 6, 1857 the supreme court of the US projected itself into the sectional
controversy with one of the most controversial and notorious decisions in its history
o The case of dred scott v. sandford was handed down two days after Buchanan wa
inaugurated.
 Dred scott was a Missouri slave, once owned by an army surgeon
 Taken him to into Illinois and Wisconsin, where slavery was forbidden
o In 1846 scott sued his master’s widow for freedom on the grounds
Taney’s sweeping opinion
o The supreme court was so divided that it was unable to issue a single ruling on the case
o The thrust of the various rulings was a stunning defeat for the antislavery movement
o Declared that scott could not bring a suit in the federal court because he was not a
citizen
o The rulings did nothing to challenge the right of an individual state to prohibit slavery
within its boundaries
Deadlock over Kansas
o President Buchanan tried to resolve the controversy over Kansas by supporting its
admission to the union as a slave state
 Pro-slavery territ. Legislature called for a constitutional convention
 Free slave residents refused to participate
 Legislature had discriminated against them in drawing district lines
 Pro slavery course won control of the convention
o Met in 1857 at Lecompton
o Framed a const. legalizing slavery
 Antislavery group won for election for a new territorial legislature
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New legislature promptly submitted the Lecompton constitution to the voters
 Rejected it by more than 10000 votes
Lecompton constitution rejected
o Both sides resorted to fraud and violence
o Was clear that people of Kansas opposed slavery
o Buchanan pressured congress to admit Kansas under the Lecompton constitution
 Democrats refused to support Buchanan’s proposal
o April 1858- congress approved a compromise
 Lecompton const. would be submitted to the voters of Kansas again
 If it was approved Kansas would be admitted to the union
 If it was rejected, statehood would reject the Lecompton act
 Kansas rejected it
Lincoln- douglas debate
o Lincoln was a successful lawyer who had long been involved in state politics
 Served several terms in the Illinois legislature and one undistinguished term in
congress
 He was not a national figure like douglas
 So he engaged douglas in a series of debates
 Attracted enormous crowds
 Received wide attention
 By the time they ended Lincoln was nationally prominent
o Heart of the debate was about the issues on slavery
 Douglas had no moral position on the issue
 Lincoln didn’t care
Lincoln’s position
o Lincoln believed slavery was morally wrong
 Not an abolitionist
 Could not envision an easy alternative to slavery in the areas where it already
existed
 Shared view among northern whites
 The black race was not prepared to live on equal terms with whites.
o Douglas’s position satisfied his followers sufficiently to win him reelection to the senate
o Outside Illinois the election went heavily against democrats
o Party retained control in senate but lost majority in house
John brown’s raid
o Fall of 1859 john brown an antislavery zealot
 Actions in Kansas had inflamed the crisis there
 Staged an even more dramatic episode this time in the south
o October 16 he and a group of 18 followers seized control of a US arsenal in harpers
ferry, Virginia
Divided democrats
o Democratic party was divided by a battle by the south who demanded a strong
endorsement of slavery and westerners who supported popular sovereignty
o Democrats decided to endorse sovereignty
Unit 7 notes
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 8 states in the lower south walked out of the convention in april
o could not decide on a presidential candidate
 decided to adjourn the meeting until they meet in Baltimore in june
 nominated Stephan douglas for president
 southern democrats nominated john C. Breckinridge
disunion
o in the November election Lincoln won the presidency with a majority of the electoral
votes
o election of Lincoln was the final stage to many southerners that their position in the
union was hopeless
o process of disunion began
Crash course 17
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By 1860 nearly 300000 people had made the trip called Oregon trail
Oregon at the time was controlled by the us and Britain
Northern mexico included texas, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, new mexico, and California
When mexico beame independent, there were about 2000 Tejanos there
o Mexican gov. granted a huge tract of land to Moses Austin
o Ausin’s son started selling small portions of the land until there were 7000 americans
there
o Made mexico nervous so mexico annulled the land contracts
 banned further emigration into texas
Although slavery was abolished in mexico they allowed americans to bring slaves
Austin demanded greater autonomy and the right to use slave labor
o General Antonio lopez de santa ana decided to assert control over the restive territory
with an army
March 13, 1836 santa ana defeated the anerucab defenders of the Alamo
o Killing 187 americans
Americans defeated santa ana at the battle of san jacinto
Texas wanted to join the US
In 1837 texas’ congress called for union
o Texas wanted to be a slave state
o Adding another slave state would disrupt the balance in the senate
o Jackson and van buren ignored texas
o Congress annexed texas in march of 1845
Congress forged an agreement with Britain to divide Oregon at the 49th parallel
o Restored the slave state, free state balance
Polk wanted to aquire California from mexico
Tried to purchase from mexico
o They denied it
o Sent Zachary taylor into a disputed border region
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o Fighting broke out
o Polk wanted to declare war
o Majority supported the war
First war fought on foreign soil
Henry Thoreau thrown in jail for not paying taxes
Abraham Lincoln thought polk was gaining power
When American troops capture Mexico city in September the treaty of Guadalupe was signed in
1848
Mexico confirmed the annexation of texas and California
Paid mexico 15 million dollars
Mexicans still seemed inferior to anglo Saxons
Eastern part of US there was a rising tide of anti catholic anti immigrant sentiment called
nativism
New political party called the American party
o Dedicated entirely to such sentiment
o Referred to as the know nothings
o Gold was discovered in California in 1848
 Non indian population had skyrocketed
 Some were Chinese people who migrated to California
Ratio of men to women in California in 1860 was 3 to 1
California constitution of 1850 limited civil participation to whites
New free soil party formed in 1848 calling for the limiting of slavery’s expansion in the west
o Nominated van buren
o California was a free state
Compromise of 1850
o California as free state
o Slave trade outlawed in Washington d.c
o New fugitive slave law enacted
o Popular sovereignty
Crash course 18
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fugitive slave law
o new law was required to turn in anyone he or she knew to be a slave
western states were invidual whites can become self sufficient farmers
would these western territories have big slave-based plantations?
New republican part in 1856
o Lost to james Buchanan
Kansas was trying to become a state by holding election in 1854 and 1855
1856 pro slavery forces laid siege to anti slavery Lawrence, Kansas with cannons
In the end Kansas passed two constitutions
o Lecompton constitution was the first that went to the US congress and it was supported
by Stephan douglas
Unit 7 notes
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Congress delayed kansas’ entry into the union until another fairer referendum took
place
o Kansas eventually did join the US as a free state n 1861
Dred scott was a slave whose master had taken him to live in Illinois and Wisconsin, both were
free states
Scott sued them because if if Illinois was a free state then living in Illinois would cause him to
not be a slave
Eventually in 1857 chief justice taney said that scott was still a slave
Taney ruled that technically there was no such thing as a free state
In 1860 the republicans chose Abraham Lincoln
Debates against douglas made him famous
Democrats was a hot mess
o Northern wing of the party favored Stephan douglas
o Southern democrats nominated john c. Breckinridge
Lincoln received 0 votes in nine American states
Won 40 percent of the overall popular vote
Thereby winning the electoral college
Lincoln’s election led to a number of southern states seceding from the union
Lincoln hated slavery, but he repeatedly said that he would leave it along