The Mexican War and
Sectionalism
How manifest destiny led to the
Civil War
Texas Controversy
• Texas wanted to be annexed
by the United States after
they won their independence
• The U.S. did not annex
Texas right away because it
would cause tension
between the North and South
states and because Mexico
threatened to go to war with
the U.S. (They still thought
TX was theirs.)
Election of 1844
(The Manifest Destiny Election)
• James K. Polk won this
election by promising to:
– Annex our part of Oregon
– Annex Texas
– Annex California
– Lower the Tariff
This expansionist platform helped
him to defeat Henry Clay (the
Whig candidate).
How did he do?
1. Oregon was divided along the 49th parallel by the
Oregon Treaty of 1846 and shared with Britain.
2. Texas was annexed in 1845 by John Tyler after
the people elected Polk. TX had to wait 9 years for
this.
3. The tariff was substantially lowered early in Polk’s
presidency.
Pres. John Tyler
And California?
• California was more of a
challenge because we had
no real claims to it.
• Polk sent John Slidell to offer
to buy it but Mexico refused
(but still wanted to sell it to
someone else).
• Polk decided to take
California in a war with
Mexico, but wanted them to
start the actual fighting.
Boundary Dispute Leads to War
• Polk sent Gen. Zachary Taylor and
his troops to the Rio Grande River
to provoke Mexico to attack the U.S.
• Mexico believed the southern
boundary of Texas was the Nueces
River and that made Gen. Taylor an
invader of their land.
• They attacked Taylor finally and
Polk asked Congress to declare
war.
• Congress did declare war but there
was a lot of controversy over the
decision.
Mexican American War
• Gen. Zachary Taylor was
popular and his greatest victory
was at Buena Vista.
• Gen. Stephen Kearny was sent
to take California, but found
that John C. Fremont had
already declared its
independence from Mexico
(est. the Bear Flag Republic).
• Gen. Winfield Scott was
allowed to take Mexico City
which led to the end of the war.
Gen. Zachary Taylor
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
• Texas independence was
officially recognized and the
boundary set at the Rio
Grande
• The U.S. also acquired the
Mexican Cession (that
included CA). It makes up the
southwestern part of the U.S.
and was almost half of the
entire country of Mexico.
• The U.S. agreed to pay $15
million for CA and excused
the Mexican debt to the U.S.
(about $3 million).
Wilmot Proviso
• Free states in the North were
concerned about the new
territory because it was
located below the Missouri
Compromise line (therefore,
open to slavery).
• Several Congressmen tried to
prohibit slavery in this area
with the Wilmot Proviso to be
added to the treaty
• It would have prohibited
slavery in any territory
acquired from Mexico but it
failed to pass in the House of
Representatives.
Rep. David Wilmot (D-PA)
Slavery Controversy
• More tensions developed
between free and slave
states over whether the
land would be free or slave
states.
• Congress felt we would
have adequate time to
work out the details of
admission to the
satisfaction of both sides.
• The California Gold Rush
changed all that.
CA Gold Rush
• In 1848, gold was discovered on John Sutter’s
property in CA
• In 1849, the gold speculators (called 49’ers) came
to CA in huge numbers.
• While not many of them made it rich, CA met the
population
requirements for
statehood in record
time and was ready for
admission as a free
state in 1850
More Controversy
• Abolitionists from the
north supported CA’s
admission, but southern
states opposed it
• Southern states wanted a
slave state added at the
same time (just like the
Missouri Compromise)
• There was no other
western state ready to be
admitted
• Henry Clay had to come
up with a compromise
Compromise of 1850
• California would be admitted as a
free state
• Popular sovereignty would be used
to determine slavery in the rest of
the western territories
• The slave trade (but not slavery)
would be prohibited in Washington,
D.C.
• A stricter Fugitive Slave Law would
be passed (law that required return
of runaway slaves)
• The land along the TX and NM
border would be given to NM to
form the territory
Popular Sovereignty
• The concept of allowing the settlers in an area to
vote to decide whether to allow slavery or not
The Compromise of 1850 Passed
• Zachary Taylor (elected
president in 1848) died
suddenly in 1850 and the
Compromise was pushed
through and signed into
law by Millard Fillmore.
• The southern states began
to feel that the government
was not representing them
equally with the north and
these feelings led to Civil
War.
Pres. Millard Fillmore
States’ Rights
• Southern states began to support the states’ rights
theory.
• This was the belief that the states could nullify (or
reject) laws passed by the federal government that
they thought were unconstitutional.
• This idea began with the Virginia and Kentucky
Resolutions (of Jefferson and Madison)
Nullification
Crisis (1832)
• Another example of the states’ rights theory was the
Nullification Crisis which almost resulted in Civil War
in 1832
• South Carolina did not like the Tariff of
Abominations that had been passed under Andrew
Jackson. This was a high tax on imported goods that
hurt southerners and helped northerners.
• With the support of John C. Calhoun (who believed
in states’ rights), South Carolina threatened to nullify
the tariff.
President Andrew Jackson
• Jackson informed SC they
could not nullify the Tariff of
Abominations
• SC said that they would
secede (separate) from the
U.S. if they were not allowed
to nullify it
• Jackson threatened to send
the U.S. troops
• SC met to discuss secession
(the rest of the south did not)
• Jackson pushed a force bill
through Congress
• SC accepted Henry Clay’s
Compromise Tariff of 1833
and war was avoided
John C. Calhoun
• John Calhoun who was
Jackson’s Vice President at
the time resigned to lead SC
and other southern states in
their effort to protest the
tariff.
• Calhoun championed the
idea of states’ rights with his
loyalty to the interests of the
southern region and led to
intense sectionalism prior to
the Civil War
John Calhoun
States’ Rights
• The idea that all states have
certain rights and political
powers (including
nullification) that the federal
government could not violate
• Support came mostly from
southerners who feared
Congress ending their
plantation system
• Opponents feared that if
states could nullify federal
laws, sectional tension and
even warfare could result
Abolitionist Movement
• The movement was led by
northerners and southerners who
wanted to abolish slavery
immediately with no financial
compensation to owners
• It was supported by African
Americans, whites, men, and
women
• The movement rapidly gained
support throughout the early 1800’s
• This led to growing hostility
between southern and northern
states.
Notable Abolitionists
• William Lloyd Garrison
– Newspaper writer and
editor
– Published the
antislavery newspaper
called “The Liberator”
that included graphic
stories of the horrors of
slavery
– Started several
antislavery organizations
including the American
Antislavery Society
• Frederick Douglass
– A former slave who
escaped to the north
– Self-taught (helped by
owner’s wife)
– Worked for Garrison and
traveled widely with the
American Antislavery Society
– Became the key speaker for the society and gave
eloquent speeches supporting equality for African
Americans, women, Native Americans, and
immigrants
– Published several biographies and his own
antislavery newspaper called “The North Star”
• The Grimke Sisters (Sarah
and Angelina)
– Southern women who
lectured publicly in the
North about the evils of
slavery
– They had grown up on a
plantation and had
witnessed slavery first hand
– Their efforts to end slavery
began when Garrison
published a letter from
Angelina in his newspaper
Missouri Compromise (1820)
• Missouri wanted to be admitted as a slave
state but it would have upset the equal
balance of slave states and free states in the
U.S. Senate
• Northern states protested the admission of
Missouri for this reason
• The issue was resolved when Congress
passed the Missouri Compromise (largely the
work of Henry Clay) that provided for the
admission of Missouri as a slave state and the
admission of Maine (formerly part of MA) as a
free state
• It also established the Missouri Compromise line
at the 36 30 line of latitude above which slavery
would not be permitted in the LA Territory except
in Missouri
Nat Turner
• African American preacher who
believed his mission was to free
the slaves
• After viewing a solar eclipse in
1831, he thought this was his
sign from above to lead a slave
rebellion in Virginia
• Four Virginia plantations were
attacked and about 60 whites
were killed
• Turner was captured, tried, and
executed
• New laws were passed to limit
the activities of slaves because
southerners feared similar
rebellions
Abolitionist Movement Grows
• Dred Scott Decision –
– He was a slave in Missouri
whose owner took him into
the free state of Illinois.
– He claimed that he should
be freed because slavery
could not legally exist in IL.
– The Supreme court heard his case and ruled that
Scott was not a citizen and therefore they could
not officially decide the case.
– They went on to say that Dred Scott’s freedom
would have been denied.
Reaction to the Dred Scott
Decision
• Southern states were happy with
the decision, northern states were
furious.
• The Supreme Court’s decision
held that slavery could exist
anywhere in the U.S. even in the
free states.
• The decision also made the
Missouri Compromise and popular
sovereignty unconstitutional
• Many northerners joined the
abolitionist movement
John Brown’s Raid
• Brown was a radical
abolitionist who also
believed he was chosen to
end slavery in the U.S.
• He was very active in
Kansas during the civil war
there and then moved east
• He believed that violence
was necessary to end
slavery
• He planned to arm the
slaves for a massive slave
rebellion in VA
Harper’s Ferry, VA
• John Brown and a few supporters
raided a federal arsenal (storage
for weapons) to obtain guns to
give to the slaves for their
rebellion; killed seven people
• Brown was captured (by Robert E.
Lee), tried, and executed for
treason
• Brown became a martyr (someone
who dies for their beliefs) for the
abolitionist cause (Hero)
• This inspired many people to join
the abolitionist movement
The Failure of Popular Sovereignty
• Kansas-Nebraska Act –
allowed popular
sovereignty in the
territories of KS and
Nebraska
• The Missouri Compromise
was repealed (voided)
• Kansas would supposedly
be a slave state and
Nebraska a free state
Stephen
Douglas
proposed
the KansasNebraska
Act
Kansas Competition
• Southern and northern supporters sent many settlers
to live in KS. Some never intended to stay, just to
vote.
• Both sides tried to sway the vote in their favor
• Kansas voted to become a slave state in the election
(with the help of several illegal voters from Missouri)
• Proslavery voters elected a
legislature and began drawing
up a constitution that would
have allowed slavery; their
capital was Shawnee Mission
• Free-soilers protested the
election and started their own
government with an antislavery
constitution and established a
capital at Topeka; they began
raising an army
• Proslavery settlers in Kansas
responded by raising their own
military force
President Franklin Pierce
• The House of Representatives
(with more northern members
than southern ones) supported
the free-soiler government in
Kansas
• President Franklin Pierce and
the Senate supported the
proslavery government in
Kansas
• Violence erupted when the
proslavery settlers destroyed
property in the free-soil
settlement of Lawrence (called
the “sack of Lawrence”)
Pottawatomie Creek Massacre
• John Brown and his sons
(living in KS at the time)
attacked the proslavery
town of Pottawatomie
Creek and killed 5 men
• They had heard that 5
were killed at Lawrence
but it was not true
• This began a civil war in
KS called “Bleeding
Kansas”
• Kansas was finally
admitted as a free state
after the Civil War began
Election of 1860
• The new free-soil Republican
Party ran on the platform of
keeping slavery out of the
western territories
• Their candidate, Abraham
Lincoln, won the presidential
election
• South Carolina immediately
voted to secede from the Union
• When Pres. Buchanan did
nothing about it, six other
southern states did the same
thing (MS, FL, AL, GA, LA, and
TX)
Lincoln’s Inaugural Address
• Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address
– Promised to prevent the spread
of slavery but accept it where it
already existed
– Refused to recognize the South
as a separate nation claiming
they had no legal right to
secede from the Union
– Refused to remove federal
troops from the south in order
to stop the rebellion
Lincoln’s Beliefs
• Preservation of the United
States was his most important
task
• Southern states did not have the
legal right to secede from the
Union
• Southern states were not
another country but just in
rebellion
• Wanted to stop the spread of
slavery (changed to abolishing
slavery later in the war)
The Confederacy
• Southern states started their
own government they
named the Confederate
States of America
• Capital was placed at
Montgomery, AL (later
changed to Richmond, VA
after the state seceded)
• Jefferson Davis became the
president of the Confederacy
• Their constitution protected
states’ rights and permitted
slavery (drawn up in 3 days)
Fort Sumter
• Confederates attacked this Union fort in Charleston
harbor after Lincoln refused to remove his troops by their
deadline
• First battle of the Civil War (April 12, 1861)
• South won the battle and the Union troops were allowed
to sail north (one fatality was a horse)
• Lincoln called for a large number of volunteers and they
answered
• Four more southern states seceded (VA, KY, TN, and
AR) making the total number 11