immigration, expansion, and sectional conflict 1840-1848 chapter 13
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Introduction (cont.)
In the 1840’s, many American believed it was the “manifest destiny” of the U.S.A. to possess North America from coast to coast
Acting on that belief, the administration of James K. Polk between 1845 and 1849: Annexed Texas Divided the Oregon Territory with GB Fought the Mexican War
Resulting in the conquest of CA and NM
Introduction (cont.)
Also in the 1840’s and 1850’s a rising tide of new immigrants entered the country
Expansion and immigration were linkedThe overwhelming Democratic Party leaders
saw the acquisition of more land and a return to a republic of self-sufficient farmers A way of relieving growing class, ethnic, and
sectional conflicts Adding OR would please the North Adding TX would please the South
Introduction (cont.)
In fact, westward expansion had the opposite effect
It sharpened sectional strifeSplit the Democratic PartySet the nation on the path to the Civil War
Introduction (cont.)
1.) How did immigration in the 1840’s influence the balance of power between the Whig and Democratic Parties
2.) What economic and political forces fed westward expansion during the 1840’s
3.) How did westward expansion threaten war with Britain and Mexico
4.) How did the outcome of the Mexican-American War intensify intersectional conflict?
Newcomers and Natives
IntroductionBetween 1840 and 1860
4.2 million immigrants entered the U.S.A.
2 biggest groups came from Ireland and the German states
Expectations and Realities (cont.)
By 1860Irish and Germans accounted for about 50%
of the populations in the following cities: St. Louis New York Chicago Cincinnati Milwaukee Detroit San Francisco
The Irish
Between 1815 and 1844 almost 1 million Irish entered the U.S.A. Most were Catholic, poor, and seeking greater
economic opportunityFrom 1845-1855
Roughly 2 million arrived Overwhelming Catholic Fleeing from the potato famine in Ireland
They usually entered the urban work force at the bottom Competed for jobs with equally poor blacks
The Irish (cont.)
The competition for jobs between the Irish and poor blacks led to animosity between the 2 groups Made most Irish hostile to abolition and
abolitionistsThose Irish who rose to the level of
skilled and semi-skilled workers competed against native-born, white, Protestant mechanics Caused another level of hostilities Ethnic and religious
Anti-Catholicism, Nativism, and Labor Protest
Know-Nothing Party A.k.a. American Party
Mostly white, Protestant, native-born workers
anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant Ohio History link on Know Nothing Party Played a significant political role in the
1850’s
Immigrant Politics
Almost all Irish and German immigrants became supporters of the Democratic Party
Antiprivilege partyMore sympathetic to the common man than
the WhigsThey also resented Whig connections with
the temperance movement and nativismThe Irish suspected the northern Whigs of
antislavery views Irish feared economic competition from
emancipated slaves They wanted no part of abolitionism
The American Settlement of Texas to 1835
In the 1820’s the Mexican govt. gave generous land grants to Americans encouraged their settlement in TX
a way to guard against Indian attacks hasten the economic development of the
provinceMany Americans came
Mostly from southern statesIn the 1830’s, Mexican govt. attempted to
end American immigration and prohibit slavery in TX
The American Settlement of Texas to 1835 (cont.)
Its efforts antagonized the Americans but failed to stop the flood of immigrants
By 1836 the American population in TX was 30,000 free and 5,000 slaves
The American Settlement of Texas to 1835 (cont.)
Santa Anna New president-
dictator of Mexico 1834 Started to tighten his
hold on TX The Americans in the
province rebelled
The Texas Revolution, 1836
Fall of 1835Santa Anna led an
army into TX to suppress the uprising
The Mexicans defeated the Americans at the Alamo and at Goliad
The Texas Revolution, 1836 (cont.)
In April 1836Sam Houston
Led the American route against the Mexicans at San Jacinto
Took Santa Anna prisoner Forced him to sign a treaty
granting TX independence The Mexican govt. later
refused to ratify the treaty But TX remained independent
American Settlements in CA, NM, and OR (cont.)
In the 1830’s, American missionaries entered Oregon’s Willamette Valley to attempt to convert the Indians there
The missionaries’ glowing reports of the territory’s climate and resources aroused keen interest back in the U.S.A.
The Overland Trails
In the 1840’s, 14,000 Americans joined wagon trains on the overland trails (or the OR and CA trails)
Headed for OR or CAProblems:
Faulty maps and guidebooks Fears of Indian attacks
The Politics of Expansion, 1840-1846
Introduction At the start of 1840’s, western expansion
was not an important political issue Only after politicians failed to deal
effectively with troubling economic issues did some of these leaders seize on expansion as a primary goal
The Whig AscendancyThe Whig Party won the
election of 1840 William Henry Harrison
The Party planned to enact Clay’s American system of a new national bank, protective tariffs, and federal aid for internal improvements
The Whig Ascendancy (cont.)
Harrison died after only 1 month in the White House VP was John Tyler
Tyler was a states’ rights VirginianVetoed all the economic measures Congress
passedCreated tension in the Whig party
Tyler and the Annexation of Texas
Tyler supported the U.S. annexation of Texas
Appointed John C. Calhoun as his secretary of state
Draw up a treaty with Mexico to annex TX
Tyler and the Annexation of Texas (cont.)
Calhoun wrote undiplomatically that one reason for annexation was to provide more territory for the expansion and protection of slavery This added fuel to already existing northern
suspicions that acquiring TX was part of a southern conspiracy to expand slavery
The Senate rejected Tyler and Calhoun’s annexation treaty
The Election of 1844
Whigs nominated Henry Clay
Democrats nominated James Polk
Major issue of annexation of TX
The Election of 1844 (cont.)
Henry Clay waved on annexation First opposed it as sectionally divisive His shifts lost southern votes to Democrats and
northern antislavery votes to the LibertyJames Polk
Expansionist Called for admitting TX immediately
Many Irish and other recent immigrants voted for Polk They disliked the Whigs’ association with
nativism, temperance, and anti-CatholicismPolk won in a close election
Manifest Destiny, 1845
Expansionism had become a popular cause by the 1840’s
Many expansionists said it was “manifest destiny” to the U.S.A. to spread its experiment in liberty and self-govt. from coast to coast John L. O’Sullivan developed the phrase of
“manifest destiny”Expansionists eyed the excellent harbors of
CA and OR Natural outlets for American trade with Asia
Manifest Destiny, 1845 (cont.)
Expansionists argued that acquiring additional fertile soil would safeguard the U.S. future as a democratic republic of self-sufficient farmers Combat the social stratification and class strife that
accompanied industrialization and urbanization
These ideas, carried in the penny press, strongly appealed to struggling immigrants in the cities
Polk and Oregon
Polk wanted OR during the 1844 campaignManifest Destiny placed OR in its sightsNeither GB or U.S.A. wanted a war over OR
They settled for a compromise treaty Split OR at the 49th parallel
Senate ratified the treaty in 1846
The Mexican-American War and Its Aftermath, 1846-1848
The Origins of the Mexican-American War In Feb. 1845, Congress passed a joint
resolution to annex TX Mexico never recognized the
independence of TX TX claimed that its southern boundary was
the Rio Grande Mexico contented that it was the Nueces
River (100 miles to the northeast) Polk’s support encouraged Texas to accept
annexation on July 4, 1845
The Origins of the Mexican-American War (cont.)
Polk also wanted to gain CA and NM
He sent John Slidell to Mexico with an offer to buy them for $25 million
Mexico refused
The Origins of the Mexican-American War (cont.)
Polk ordered American troops into the disputed region south of the Nueces River
Led by Zachary Taylor
Polk hoped to provoke a war that would give the U.S. a chance to seize CA and NM
The Origins of the Mexican-American War (cont.)
When Mexican troops clashed with Taylor’s, Polk told Congress that Mexico had forced war with the U.S.
The Mexican-American War
Feb. 1847Taylor defeated a Mexican army at the Battle
of Buena VistaColonel Stephen Kearny
took NMCommodores John D. Sloat and David
Stockon and army officers Kearny and John C. Fremont Took CA combined naval and land assaults
The Mexican-American War (cont.)
General Winfield Scott Captured Mexico City
Mexico surrendered Sept. 1847Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Mexico accepted the Rio Grande boundary Mexico Ceded to U.S.A. almost all of the present-
day U.S. southwest region U.S.A. paid $15 million U.S.A. promised to pay claims of U.S. citizens
against Mexico
The War’s Effects on Sectional Conflict
Patriotism was generated by the warSectional conflict grew though between 1846
and 1848The Polk administration angered the North
and West by lowering tariffs and vetoing federal aid for internal improvements
The War’s Effects on Sectional Conflict (cont.)
Most important, arguments began over the expansion of slavery in the Mexican cessionNorthern Democrats worried that
the western expansion of slavery would close out opportunities for free laborers in the West and worsen class antagonism in the East
The Wilmot Proviso
1846David Wilmot
Northern DemocraticTacked on an appropriations bill an
amendment that would bar slavery from the new territory acquired from Mexico
Passed the House but not the SenateExtremist southerners led by Calhoun
claimed it was unconstitutional for Congress to forbid slavery in any territory
The Election of 1848
Whigs nominated Zachary Taylor
Democrats nominated Lewis Cass Tried to solve the
sectional controversy by proposing popular sovereignty which would give settlers who lived in a territory the right to decide whether to permit slavery
The Election of 1848 (cont.)
Free-Soil Party A faction of Democrats
called Barnburners joined antislavery “conscience” Whigs and Liberty Party abolitionists
Nominated Martin Van Buren
Opposed to any further spread of slavery
The Election of 1848 (cont.)
Taylor won the election A military hero position on slavery was unknown
The good showing of the Free-Soilers in the North demonstrated the popular appeal of keeping slavery out of the West and using it as a place of opportunity for poor white men
The California Gold Rush
Just before the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, an American carpenter living in CA discovered gold near Sacramento The news quickly reached the east Produced a rush of prospectors
CA’s population surgedThe weak military govt. proved unequal to
containing the violence and disorder of the gold fields and mining boomtowns
Californians demanded a civilian state govt.This brought to a head the issue of slavery in
CA and the rest of the Mexican cession
Conclusion
Polk during his one term, nearly led the U.S.A. into a war against Britain and did fight Mexico.
The issue of the spread of slavery into the territories taken from Mexico fanned sectional strife and split the Democrats
Many northern Democrats joined others in 1848 to create the Free-Soil Party
The Compromise of 1850
Introduction When the treaty ending the Mexican War was signed
in 1848, a delicate balance existed between free and slave states 15 of each
All the proposed solutions for handling slavery in the Mexican cession were controversial Whether to prohibit it Open the whole area to slaveholders Extend the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific Or apply popular sovereignty
Other issues also divided the North and South CA and UT asked Congress for admission to the Union
as free states
* people in UT and NM used popular sovereignty to decide on the slavery issue
Compromise of 1850
I. California became a free state.
II. The rest of the Mexican Cession was divided into two parts; Utah (UT) and New Mexico (NM).
III. The slave trade ended in Washington, D.C.
IV. The Fugitive Slave Law was passed.
• You could be fined and/or imprisoned for helping a runaway slave.
Cazenovia, MA, Fugitive Slave Law Convention held on 21 and 22 August 1850; Frederick Douglass is seated at the right side of the table.
The Fugitive Slave Law
• All Americans, by law, were required to help catch runaway slaves.
• This law infuriated northerners!
Kansas-Nebraska Act
I. The Nebraska Territory was divided into two parts: Nebraska (NE) and Kansas (KS).
Kansas-Nebraska Act
II. The people of each territory voted on whether or not to allow slavery. (popular sovereignty)
Kansas-Nebraska Act
* The Kansas-Nebraska Act violated the Missouri Compromise. Both territories were north of 36,30’N and should NOT have been allowed to have slaves!
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