Transcript Chapter 14: The Territorial Expansion of the United States

The Territorial Expansion of
the United States
1830’s-1850’s
Exploring the West
 American expansion was so rapid that, within 60
years of independence, more American lived west of
the original 13 states than lived in them
 The fur trade was a great spur to exploration in
N.America
 The federal gov’t promoted western expansion by
sending out exploratory & scientific expeditions
 Gov’t policy looked upon the West as a refuge for
eastern Indians who were removed
The Fur Trade
 In the 1670’s, the British Hudson’s Bay Colony and
Montreal’s North West Company, began exploring beyond
the Great Lakes
 In 1821 the British Hudson’s Bay colony took over and
ran the fur trade from trading posts in the far Canadian
north
 They also explored the Canadian West and the Oregon
Country
 Not until the 1820s could American companies challenge
the British
 1824, William Henry Ashley, instituted the “rendezvous”
system
 There, they traded traps, guns, ammunition, tobacco,
beads, fabrics, and alcohol
 “Mountain Men” – lived in the mountains trapping beavers
and developing a relationship with the Indian people
 By the 1840s, however, the beaver was virtually trapped
out
Exploration…
 1806-1807: Lieutenant Zebulon Pike led an
expedition to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado
 1819- 1820: Major Stephen Long made an
exploration in which he mapped the Great Plains
 1843- 1844: John C. Frémont mapped the overland
trails to Oregon and California.
 1869: Major John Wesley Powell made an
expedition of the Grand Canyon
-------------------------------------------------------------- After all of these explorations, the government
published their geological surveys, complete with
maps, illustrations and photographs
 Landscape artists include, Karl Bodmer, Thomas
Moran, Albert Bierstadt, and others
 American pride and self-image began to increase
“The Great American Desert”
 1819, explorers
nicknamed the West
the “Great American
Desert”
 Thought it was
“wholly unfit for
cultivation”
 We now call it the
“Great Plains”
Indian Policy and Expansion
 Encroachment on the new Indian Territory was not long in coming
 The Santa Fe Trail
& Overland Trails
crossed Indian
Territory
 The gov’t pushed
for further land
concessions from
the western tribes
 The tribes in what
is now Oklahoma
managed to hold
onto their lands
until after the Civil
War
Indian Policy and Expansion
 “Indian Territory”- a region west of Arkansas, Missouri, and Iowa, on the
Eastern edge of the Great Plains
 1854: the government abolished the
northern half of the territory,
establishing the Kansas and
Nebraska Territories in its place;
opening them to white settlers
(Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854)
 People in the Southern part of the
Indian Territory got along better
than the rest, creating new
communities (Cherokees,
Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks and
Seminoles)
 These Indian groups created self-governing nations with their own schools
and churches
Manifest Destiny and Expansionism
 In 1845 John O’ Sullivan coined the phrase to imply that Americans had a
God-given right to spread across the continent & conquer whomever
stood in their way
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“our Manifest Destiny is to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free
development of our yearly multiplying millions.”
 Would enable whites to “civilize” the Indians
 Thomas Hart Benton and others believed that the economic future for the
United States depended on trade with Asia.
 Most Democrats supported expansionism, while most Whigs opposed it.
Traveling the Overland Trails to Oregon
 The trip west was a long, expensive & hazardous journey
 Pioneers were attracted to the promise of economic opportunity, the chance for
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adventure, or the chance to build a new home
Often traveled in groups and hired a pilot who knew the terrain
Men – took care of the wagons & animals
Women – took care of children & meal
preparation
Trip through the plains was relatively
simple
But, the Rocky Mountains caused
countless problems due to lack of food
& difficult terrain
Indian attacks were few
Throughout the journey, disease plagued the pioneers
By 1860, almost 300,000 people had traveled the Oregon & Californa trails
Oregon continued…
 Convention of 1818: Britain and United
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States jointly occupied Oregon
First permanent European settlers were
retired fur trappers. Next, was a mix of
Americans, British, French Canadians,
Indians and Métis people, followed by the
Protestants.
Next, the Midwest farmers came. They
would soon represent the majority of the
settlers in Oregon, and carried out “Oregon
fever.”
People met in 1843 to try and draft their
own constitution. (Banned African
Americans/ slavery)
“54-40 or fight”- suggested that the US
would go to war if it didn’t get control of
the territory south of 54°40’
Oregon continued…
 June 1846: US and Britain
concluded the 49th Parallel
would become the USCanada border (WebsterAshburton Treaty 1842
and the Oregon Treaty
1846)
 Oregon’s Donation Land
Claim Act of 1850, codified
the practice of giving 320
acres to each white male
age 18+ and 640 acres to
each married couple.
 Kinship was very
important
The Santa Fe Trail
 Spain had resisted American penetration of NM
 But after Mexican independence, NM welcomed American trade along the
Santa Fe Trail
 Though the trail was hard, arduous, and dangerous, profits were high
 American trappers & traders assimilated to the local population
Texas & Its Inhabitants
 1821, Mexico gained independence from Spain
 Main inhabitants of TX were Tejanos and nomadic Comanches
 Mexican authorities sought American settlement as a way of providing a
buffer between its heartland and the Comanches
 Americans view of TX:
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Extension of settlement in MS & LA
Came to grow cotton in their self-contained
enclaves
 Americans would soon outnumber the
Tejanos
 For a time, all three groups lived without
major conflict:
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Tejanos maintained ranches & missions in the south
Americans farmed the eastern & south central sections
Comanches held their northwestern hunting grounds
The Texas Revolt
 1828: the balance between Comanche, American and Tejano (person of
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Spanish or Mexican descent) was broken.
The Mexican government restricted American immigration, outlawed
slavery, levied customs duties and taxes, and planned other matters.
In fall of 1835 a war broke out. The Americans thought they had won, and
were surprised by a Mexican counterattack led by Antonio Lopez de Santa
Anna.
Santa Anna was defeated and on May 14, 1836, Santa Anna signed a treaty
fixing the southern boundary of the new “Republic of Texas”
In 1837, Texas applied for admission to the Union, but was denied.
Election of 1844
 James K. Polk (Democrat) v. Henry Clay (Whig)
 Polk favored annexation of Texas & Manifest Destiny
 Clay avoided commitment on this issue
 Polk won the election by a margin of 40,000 popular votes.
 Texas entered the Union in December 1845, as the 28th state, and the
15th slave state.
James Polk
#11
 VP – George Dallas
 Sec of State – James Buchanan
 Youngest man to be elected to the presidency so
far in history
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49 years old
 Former Speaker of the House
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First to move to the executive mansion
 Graduated from University of North Carolina
 Went on to study law
 “Young Hickory”
 Coined the slogan “Fifty-four Forty or Fight!”
 Freed himself to be an effective president very
early on by pledging not to run for reelection
 Committed to expanding US territory; which
during his presidency increased by nearly 70%
 Died 3 months after leaving office
Mexican- American War: The Beginning
 Although Polk settled the Oregon controversy
peacefully, he did not hesitate to use force to settle the
border dispute with Mexico
 Polk wanted to extend US territory to the Pacific &
encouraged a takeover of California
 When Mexico refused to receive the envoy who was
bringing an offer to buy the disputed Texas territory,
Polk ordered troops into that territory
 A brief skirmish broke out – Polk will use this to
justify declaring war on Mexico
Mexican- American War: During & End
 The war was politically divisive,
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particularly among Whigs & Northerners
Polk sent troops to northern provinces of
Mexico
 Conquered NM & CA
Victories in Mexico came hard
War ended when General Scott captured
Mexico City
Although Polk had ambitions of taking
additional territory, he accepted the
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
 Ceded CA & NM
 Accepted the Rio Grande River as
Mexico’s northern border
The Wilmot Proviso
 In August of 1846, Wilmot proposed
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that slavery be banned in all the
territories acquired by Mexico.
Southern Whigs joined the southern
Democrats to vote against the measure.
Northerners of both parties supported
it.
Triggered the first breakdown in the
national party system and reopened the
slavery debate.
This posed a serious threat to party
unity.
Free-Soil Movement
 Liberty party was created by abolitionists and further, the free-soil party
 Free-soil movement shifted the idea of morality of slavery to the ways it
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affected expansion.
The Liberty party suggested that slave states should not be admitted to the
union
“Free-soilers” really meant, “antiblack” when they said “antislavery”
They proposed to ban all African Americans from new territories
William Lloyd Garrison denounced the free-soil doctrine as “whitemanism,” a
racist effort to make territories white.
THE CONFLICT OVER SLAVERY
CONTINUES …
 As a result of
the Mexican
“cession”
 The idea of
“Popular
Sovereignty”
develops:
 The voters in a
territory decide whether or not slavery will be
allowed in that territory
Election of 1848
 Lewis Cass of Michigan was the Democratic nominee for president.
 Zachary Taylor, war hero, was the Whig candidate.
 Cass argued that territorial residents should decide issue of slavery
 Taylor remained silent on slavery issue
 Zachary Taylor won the election with only 47% of the popular vote.
Zachary Taylor
#12
 VP – Millard Fillmore
 Before running for president, Taylor had never even voted in a
presidential election
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1st president to possess no knowledge of the political process
 Soldier through & through
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Father was an officer in the Revolutionary War
Served under Harrison during the War of 1812
Fought against the Seminoles in the battle of Lake Okeechobee
During the Mexican war, would lead Ulysses Grant & Jefferson
Davis
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Davis would later become his son-in-law
 Would die in office of cholera
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Contracted at a 4th of July celebration during which he had laid a
cornerstone for the Washington Monument
“Got too hot & died”: Wore a black high-collar suit, then preceded
to consume iced milk & cold cherries
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Shocked his system & organs; contracted Cholera; will die on July 9th
The Gold Rush
 Gold discovered at Sutter’s Mill in 1848
 Thousands of people nicknamed “forty-
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niners” left their farm and jobs and headed
west to make a fortune.
80% were Americans, while the rest were
from Mexico, Latin America, Asia and
Europe.
Many of the incoming forty-niners lived in
mines that were unsanitary.
Most miners were young men who were
unmarried and unsuccessful.
The majority of women in the early mining
camps were prostitutes.
After the Rush, California was left with a
booming, multi-cultural population and
mining industry.
The End!!!
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