Chapter 9 Expansion and Migration

End of The War of 1812-The peace created by the end of the War of 1812 allowed Americans to expand

-Rush-Bagot Agreement (1817) limited the U.S. and British naval forces on the Great Lakes

-This made America safe and Canada secure

-1818 the Canadian border was established all the way to Washington state at the 49th parallel by the Anglo-American Convention

Louisiana-The Mississippi Valley had been mostly settled by French plantation owners

-With the end of the war Americans were eager to settle the lands and take control of the Mississippi for transportation

-New Orleans was also essential to successful trade from the Mississippi to Europe

Florida-The U.S. wanted Florida

-President James Monroe and Secretary of State John Quincy Adams made it their mission to acquire it from Spain

-General Andrew Jackson helped the process by taking U.S. troops into Florida pursuing Seminole Indians

-This sparked the First Seminole War, which the public supported

-Adams convinced Spain to give up Florida in the Adams-Onis Treaty (1819)

Texas-Spain was more concerned with keeping their holdings in Texas

-In exchange for giving up the areas north of California the Spanish ambassador and Adams agreed on a new northern border of Texas

-This allowed Spain to maintain their holdings in Texas and California

-Allowed the United States to settle all gap areas along the Pacific Coast between California and Washington

Expanding West-Interests in expanding the borders of the United States continued

-The fur trade expanded into the Rocky Mountains from St. Louis

-They began by trading with the tribes of the West but slowly the trade was taken over by the Americans

-Eventually fur traders called “mountain men” lived and trapped furs in the West and would trade furs for money and goods through “rendezvous”

The Cherokee-The “Five Civilized Tribes” of the South began to assimilate into white society

-The largest of the tribes were the Cherokee and they established an agricultural economy, a republican form of government, and they instituted a system of slavery for labor

-Tribal member Sequoyah created a written version of the Cherokee language and the tribe began to print their own newspaper, The Cherokee Phoenix

The Seminole-The Seminole Nation in Florida was formed out of the remains of many nations

-Spain had granted runaway slaves from the South asylum in Florida and made an alliance with the Seminole to protect these people from slave catchers

-This alliance led to intermarriage between African Americans and Seminole creating “estulusti” - mixed blood

-Their version of slavery included slaves living in their own communities and paid a tribute to their “masters” every year

Ohio Valley Tribes-The end of the War of 1812 saw the forcing of many tribes to the west of the Mississippi

-The territorial governments and the federal government both helped these moves

-Chief Black Hawk and a confederation of Sac and Fox Indians were the last fight to try to stop this forced migration

-They were unsuccessful and were almost wiped out

-The American public was supportive of forcing all Natives west of the Mississippi

Mississippi Valley Settlement-While Natives were being forced off their lands white settlers were moving in and setting up agriculturally based territories

-Mid western territories gained the populations needed to reach statehood

-Several new territories and states were created

-Land speculation and squatting were the most common ways for land to be purchased and deeds acquired

The People of the West-Most farmers came from the east coast who wanted to migrate for various reasons

-They tended to move in family units and desired to live as they did in the east

-Tended to settle and farm lands that they were familiar with and were not very willing to take chances

-The first homesteads were isolated and had to be self-sufficient

Labor in the West-These farmers were not capable of doing all of the work necessary just through family labor

-Those who did not bring slaves with them relied on mutual aid - farmers helped each other plow, plant, and harvest each others fields

-They also helped build homes and barnes, as well as create clothing and bedding

-These became social events as well as created a sense of community