Horace Greeley: “Go West, young
man, go west.”
Belief: U. S. was ordained to expand
to the Pacific Ocean & into Mexican
and Native Amer. territory.
Manifest = obvious and inevitable.
Also cited the supriority of the
American race
People went west
searching for
land.
Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851)
Native Amer.
control of
400-mile-wide
slice east of Rockies
and from Arkansas River to Can.
NA would not attack settlers &
let Army build forts for annual
payments.
Henry Clay:
Feared that territorial
expansion would reopen
the painful controversy
over slavery and threaten the
stability of the Union
Texas Independence
Mexican
Independence
from Spain
1821
Mexican
settlers in
Texas: Tejanos
Texan Independence
1820s—Mexico encouraged
American immigration to Texas
Hoped to strengthen economy
Increase tax revenues
Create a buffer from Native
Americans
American settlers soon outnumbered Tejanos in Texas
Who were the people who
immigrated to Texas?
Much of the available
land was suitable for
cotton
Great majority were
southerners, many of whom brought
slaves with them.
Texan Independence
Stephen F. Austin—
established a colony
of Americans.
Each received:
177 acres of farmland
4,428 acres of grazing land
10 year tax exemption
Texas Independence
Cultural differences arose
between Anglos and Mexicans
Southerners brought slaves—
Mexico outlawed slavery 1829
1830—Mexico closed borders
to immigration from U.S. and
placed a heavy tax on imported
U.S. goods
Texas Independence
Despite restrictions—more
Americans came to Texas
1833—Mexico repealed
prohibition of immigration
1835—1000 new U. S.
settlers each month.
Led to the Texas Revolution
Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna
Seized power due to
instability in Mexico
Conservative and
autocratic regime
Increased powers of national
government at expense of state and
territorial governments; Affront to
Texans
Texas Independence
Austin unsuccessfully argued
with President Santa Anna for
Texas independence.
Texas in revolt
Santa Anna marched
on San Antonio with
4,000 soldiers
Texan Independence
Feb. 23-Mar. 6, 1836: siege
of the Alamo
This here story is sacred to all of
us Texans. So please pay
attention to my good friend,
Mr. Simoncini.
Texas Independence
Feb. 23-Mar. 6, 1836: siege
of the Alamo
All 187
defenders
(Texans &
Tenn. volunteers) and 1,500
Mexicans killed.
Texas Independence
March 2, 1836—Texas declared
independence
Late March, Santa Anna
executes 445 rebels at
Golidad
Sam Houston named Texas’
military commander-in-chief
Texas Independence
April, 1836, Battle of San
Jacinto
Houston and troops wipe out
630 Mexican troops in 15
min. and capture Santa Anna
Santa Anna released after
signing Treaty of Velasco,
granting Texas independence
Jackson Van Buren Harrison Tyler
Feared annexation might cause a
dangerous sectional controversy and
even a war with Mexico
20 Years of joint
occupation
Trails West
Santa Fe Trail: 780 miles
1821-1848—wagon trains
of 100 wagons
Oregon Trail: Begun 1836
Marcus & Narcissa Whitman
Prairie schooners
Trails
West
Yakima
Oregon Trail
CA Trail
Mormon Trail Nauvoo
SLC
Old Span.
St. Louis
Independence
Santa Fe
Butterfield Overland Mail
Trails West
Mormon Trail
Followed part of Oregon Trail
Escaping religious persecution
Joseph Smith—founded 1827
Smith murdered
Brigham Young new leader
Settled edge of Great Salt Lake
Selected for its isolation
Well I don’t know, pilgrims; but life on
the trail was hard. How long did
journeys last?
My butt hurts!
I’m so bored!!!
5-6 months; 12-15 miles a day.
My life is sooooo
hard! I haven’t
shaved in days.
Life on the trail
was hard.
That’s good, ya little nippers. Did
many people die on the trail?
Dead on the trail
I’m NOT side
saddle!
That’s pretty good, pilgrim. Ya sure ain’t
side saddle students like those kids up in
Sonora. OK. Now, about how many
settlers were killed by Native Americans?
Unh—Me answer that one,
Duke. Less than 400
migrants—1/10 of 1
percent—killed by my
people. Most die from
cholera, snake bite and
other diseases. Actually, my
people more helpful than
harmful to migrants—often
we serve as guides and
trade with people on wagon
trains.
1844 Election
Henry Clay, Whig
James K. Polk
Democrat
First Dark Horse
December 29, 1845, under
President James K. Polk, Texas
enters the union as a slave
state.
Polk desired war
with Mexico—bring
New Mexico
and California to
union.
Fifty-four forty or fight
Polk ordered General
Zachary Taylor to
march to the Nueces
line to protect against
a Mexican incursion.
Southerners
supported Polk—
saw war with Mexico as chance
to expand slavery and more
pro-Southern votes in Congress
Opponents of slavery opposed
the possible war.
Meanwhile: John C. Fremont
led a U. S. military
exploration party
into California,
further violating
Mexican lands.
California
7000 Mexicans
700 U. S. citizens in
Sacramento River
Valley
Began thinking
about joining U. S.
Polk quietly informed
them that the U. S.
would be
sympathetic to a
revolt against Mex.
authority in CA
Polk ordered Taylor
South to Rio Grande
Taylor expedition prompted
Mexico to
send troops
across the
Rio Grande.
Congress
declared
war but
some objected. War unpopular.
Colonel Stephen
Kearny moved
from Fort
Leavenworth, KS
to Santa Fe, NM.
Most Mexicans in
NM wanted to join
U.S.—NM fell to
U.S.: without a
shot being fired.
Fremont seizes
Sonoma, June
1846.
Local rebels
proclaim the
Bear Flag
Republic
Mexican forces
quickly give way
and depart.
Sep. 1846, Taylor
Captures Monterrey; lets
Mexican troops escape
Mar. 1847, Gen. Winfield
Scott takes Veracruz
Sep. 1847, Scott takes
Mexico City
Total casualties: Mexico—50,000 men;
about 50% of land; U.S.—13,000 men;
11,000 from diseases.
U. S. War with Mexico
Ended Feb. 2, 1848—Treaty of
Guadalupe Hidalgo
For $15 million, U. S.
got California (CA),
Nevada (NV), New
Mexico (NM), Utah
(UT), most of Arizona
(AZ) and parts
of Colorado (CO)
Wilmot Proviso
David Wilmot
Amendment to Mexican War appropriations
bill that would have prohibited slavery in any
territory annexed from MX. Passed in House;
failed in Senate
Southern counter: all Americans had equal
rights, including right to move slaves anywhere
Polk: simply extend Missouri Compromise line
Polk’s proposal
Extend Missouri Compromise
line to Pacific Coast
Squatter
Sovereignty
People of
ea. territory,
thru legis.,
decide on
slavery
Election of 1848
Polk: ailing Lewis Cass,
MI, Dem
health;
refused to
run.
Zach. Taylor,
Whig
M. Van Buren
Free Soil
Beginning of the end of the second party
system
Jan. 24, 1848,
Gold discovered
at Sutter’s Mill
Began California
Gold Rush;
San Francisco
becomes a
major city
Zachary Taylor
Southerner & slaveholder
National outlook
Statehood could become the
solution to the issue of
slavery in the territories
Let states settle slavery question for themselves
Federal government settle issue in territories
Because CA adopted an anti-slave constitution,
admit as a free state
Personal liberty laws
Northern states; barred courts
and police officers from helping
to return runaway slaves
Congressional southerners
demanded national
fugitive slave law
Clay’s Compromise of 1850
An omnibus law
1. CA admitted as free state
2. Rest of lands acquired from
Mexico—territorial govts
formed w/o restrictions on
slavery
3. TX yield in boundary dispute with NM
4. Slave trade, but not slavery abolished in D.C.
5. New & more effective fugitive slave law
Greybeards—dominant in Phase I
New Leaders in Phase II
Wm. Seward
Opposed
Abolitionist
J. Davis
Rep of
New South
S. Douglas
Sectionalist
Advocate for RR
Millard Fillmore
Succeeded Taylor
Understood the
political importance of
flexibility
How was the original Clay
proposal resolved?
Clay left Washington for the summer
Douglas broke the 5-piece bill
into smaller bills
By mid-September, Congress
had passed all of the
components
President signed
The Election of 1852
Franklin Pierce
Democrat
Winfield Scott
Whig
John P. Hale
Free-Soil
Many Whig defections: Free Soilers and
Conscience Whigs
Fugitive Slave Act
Part of Compromise
of 1850
The Young America
Movement
Democratic Party
Expansion of American
democracy throughout
world would divert
attention from slavery
controversies
Dream: republican
Europe & into Pacific and West. Hemis.
The Ostend Manifesto
Pursue purchasing
Cuba (Pierce)
Manifesto: take by force
Antislavery northerners
were angered—said
Pierce was conspiring
to add a new slave
state to the Union
South opposed all efforts to acquire new
territory that would not support slavery
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Virtually destroyed the Whig
Party
Divided Northern Democrats
Spurred the creation of the
Republican Party
Douglas
Bleeding Kansas
Thousands of border crossers from MO
Swelled KS population from 1,500 to >6,000
Border crossers voted illegally
Bleeding Kansas
Result: pro-slavery majority in territorial legislature
Immediately legalized slavery
Outraged free-staters elected own delegates
Constitutional convention in Topeka
Enacted constitution excluding slavery
President Pierce denounced as traitors
Free-Soil Ideology
Free-soil = free labor
Most white northerners came to believe that the
existence of slavery was dangerous not because of
what it did to blacks but because of what it
threatened to do to whites
Heart of democracy: the right of all citizens to own
property, to control their own labor and have
access to opportunities for advancement
Therefore, the South was the antithesis of
democracy
Slave-Power Conspiracy
Free-Soil Ideology
Slavery could eventually threaten white
jobs in North
Conspiracy:
Extend slavery throughout the nation and
destroy the openness of northern
capitalism and replace it with the closed,
aristocratic system of the South
Heart of new Republican Party
Counter Southern Ideology—Causes
Nat Turner Rebellion (1831)
Expansion of cotton economy to Deep South
Growth of Garrisonian
Abolitionist movement
Southerners
should stop
apologizing for
slavery as a
necessary evil
and defend it
Thomas Dew
as a positive
good
Slavery was good
for the entire
country
Slavery: basis of the southern way of life
A way of life superior to any other in the U. S. or
world
North: greed, debauchery, destructiveness
Factory system; crowded, pestilential cities filled
with unruly immigrants
South: orderly, stable society operating at a slow
and human pace
Secondly: biological inferiority of African Americans;
felt unfit to care for themselves, let alone exercise
the rights of citizenship
Election of 1856
James
Buchanan
Democrat
John C.
Fremont
Republican
Millard
Fillmore
Native Amer.
Dred Scott v. Sandford (Sanford)
Fifth Amendment
forbade Congress
from taking
property without
due process
The Taney
Court
Thus, Congress
had no authority
to pass a law
depriving
persons of slave
property in
territories
Made Missouri
Compromise
unconstitutional
Deadlock over Kansas
Buchanan supported KS
admission as slave state
Pro-slavery legislature called
a constitutional convention
in Lecompton
Free staters refused to attend
Pro-slavery majority created Lecompton Constitution
allowing slavery
Election for new legislature under the Lecomption
Constitution, antislavery groups turned out and
created an antislavery majority
Called for vote on Lecompton Constitution
Deadlock over Kansas
Lecompton constitution was
rejected by >10,000 votes
Clear that the majority of
people in Kansas rejected
slavery
Buchanan pressured
Congress to admit KS under Lecompton Constitution
Died in the House
April 1858, Lecompton Constitution again submitted
to voters in Kansas
Voters again rejected the Lecompton Constitution
KS entered as free state in 1861
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Douglas: no moral position on slavery
Lincoln: slavery, if unchecked, could lead to
denial of rights of others as well
John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry, VA
No other single event had as
much influence as the Harper’s
Ferry raid in convincing white
southerners that
they could not live safely in the Union
Election of 1860
Lincoln
Douglas
Breckenridge
Bell