Western Expansion and Southern SecessionChapter 13

John L. O’Sullivan“Our manifest destiny, is to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions. “ 1845

Most of the western pioneers during the 2nd quarter of the 19th century where white Americans from the Upper South and the Midwest.

Causes of westward migration: population growth in the east and hunger for land.

Between 1841 – 1867: 350,000 people made the trek to California or Oregon. Hundreds of thousands settled along the way.

Native Americans• Plains Indians

– 325,000 Native Americans inhabited the Southwest; Great Plains; California and Pacific Northwest in 1840.

– Divided into more than 200 nations.• Each had own language, religion, cultural traditions and system of governance• Native American life on the Plains depended on the buffalo, migrations of white

settlers and hunters posted a direct threat to Native American survival

Spanish-speaking Peoples• American migrants from the east did not approve of Spanish-speaking

peoples, whether Mexicans or Spanish-speaking settlers who had lived in the territories for generations.

• Senator Lewis Cass of Michigan (Presidential Candidate in election of 1848) said, “We do not want the people of Mexico, either as citizens or as subjects. All we want is their …territory.”

Oregon Fever• “A woman who cannot endure almost as much as a horse has no

business here.”

• Oregon had little available to settlers because it was so far away from supplies.

California• Spanish Missions

– Native American population declined from 72,000 in 1769 to 18,000 by 1821.

• California remained thinly populated into the 19th century

• Distance between Mexico City and California created a certain independence-mindedness among California residents– Between Mexican Independence in 1821 and 1841, Californians staged 10

revolts against Mexico City– Californios—California residents of Spanish and Mexican descent– Rancheros—granted large acreage ranches following Mexican

independence. Also coveted lands belonging to Spanish Missions– American migrants to California

• John Sutter

Sutter’s Fort• Junction of Sacramento and American Rivers

• New Helvetia (Sutter was Swiss) or Sutter’s Fort protected settlers and shops completed in 1843 stood at the end of the California Trail.

• 800 Americans in California in 1843 compared with 10,000 Californios

William Henry Harrison

9th PresidentFirst President to die in officeJohn Tyler: Vice President

Virginia planter and slave-ownerJeffersonian Democrat

strict constructionopposed economic nationalismbroke with Jackson over nullificationadded to Whig ticket to obtain votes in South with no expectation of political power

John Tyler

Following death of Harrison: Constitutional crisis over successionTyler immediately moved into White HouseTook oath of office assumed Presidential powersTyler opposed Whig platform most of Harrison’s cabinet resignedDubbed “His Accidency”Kicked out of Whig Party

James K. Polk

President from 1844-1849Threatened war with Britain over territory in

CanadaMexican WarSecured passage of Walker tariff (low rate pleased South)Polk’s treasury system lasted till 1913

Polk’s Goals• Bought in to Manifest Destiny: Gain more territory

– Reduce tariff’s on imports– Re-establish an independent treasury (no national banks)– Sett;le the Oregon Boundary with Great Britain– Acquire California from Mexico by any means necessary

Westward Migration• Texas Republic

– 1821 Mexico gains independence from Spain– Southern Migration to Texas

• Grow cotton and rice in Texas• Took slaves with them• Avoid Bankruptcy

– Mexican government• Opposed slavery• Forbade further migration in 1836

– American immigrants• Declared Texas Independence in 1836

Westward Migration• Remember the Alamo

– Texas Independence became a popular cause after the Alamo– Battle of San Jacinto: Mexican government recognized Texas Independence

• Texans clamored for annexation• Northern Abolitionists opposed adding another slave state to union• Texas was independent for almost a decade

Westward Migration• Mexican War

– Joint resolution of Congress in 1845 annexed Texas to United States– James K. Polk sought to acquire California, New Mexico and Texas through

negotiations– Stand off along Rio Grande– American Army insulted Mexican soldiers – Mexican Army crossed Rio Grande and U.S declared war

Westward Migration• Results of Mexican War

– 1848: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo• Mexico ceded California, New Mexico to U.S. and gave up claims to all land North

of Rio Grande• Vast new territory incited fierce debate over slavery in the new territories

– Legacy of Westward Expansion

Slavery in the Territories• The Wilmot Proviso

– Slavery issue intensified after Mexican American War– Wilmot Proviso: slavery prohibited in all territories acquired rom Mexico– Wilmot Proviso never passed

• Popular sovereignty– Settlers of new territories should decide issue of slavery for that territory

Slavery in the Territories• The free-soil Coalition

– Northern Democrats– Anti-slavery Whigs– Liberty Part

• The California Gold Rush– Gold discovered in 1848– California had enough people to petition for admittance to Union– Slave state or free state? How to decide?

Slavery in the Territories• California & New Mexico statehood

– Both territories forbade slavery within their borders even though they were south of the Missouri Compromise line

– President Zachary Taylor supported their admission regardless of their status on slavery

– California Gold Rush– Between 1851 & 1855:

• California produced almost ½ of world’s • gold

The Compromise of 1850• The return of Henry Clay

– Returned to Senate in 1850

• Great Debate– 8 Resolutions

• California admitted as a free state• New Mexico and Utah are territories without slaves• Texas claims to land in New Mexico are not recognized• Slavery legal in Washington D.C.• Slave trade is illegal in D.C.• Fugitive slave act enforceable• Congress may not interfere with interstate slave trade

The Compromise of 1850• The Fugitive Slave Act

– Required slaves who had crossed into free territory to be returned to their slave-holders

– Dramatic reversal of previous law which granted slaves freedom once they reached free soil.

The Compromise of 1850

• Uncle Tom’s Cabin– Bestselling novel focused on plight of the slaves– Morality of slavery brought to popular discourse in

North and West

• The election of 1852– Franklin Pierce – Attempted to appease both sides

Who Won?

North Gets South Gets

California admitted as a free state No slavery restrictions in Utah or New Mexico territories

Slave trade prohibited in Washington D.C.

Slaveholding permitted in Washington D.C.

Texas loses boundary dispute with New Mexico Texas gets $10 million

  Fugitive Slave Law

Foreign Adventures

• Cuba– U.S. wanted Cuba as a possession– 1854: U.S. attempts to buy Cuba from Spain but is refused– Ostend Memo: if Spain did not sell Cuba, U.S. should take it by force– U.S. forced to disavow

• Diplomatic gains in Asia– 1850’s Negotiated 4 pots in China to U.S. shipping– 1853 Perry negotiates treaty to open Japanese ports to U.S. shipping

The Kansas-Nebraska Crisis

• Gadsden Purchase 1853– National RR transportation system necessary to ship goods coast to

coast now that trading opportunity for U.S. existed in Asia

• Douglas’s proposal– Path to West begins in Chicago– RR cut through Louisiana Territory– Encourage settlement of Kansas– Missouri Compromise amended to permit popular sovereignty to

decide issue of slavery for territories south of Missouri

Kansas Nebraska Act http://www.ushistory.org/us/31a.asp

Who were the Kansas Settlers?

• Border Ruffians "are determined to repel this Northern invasion, and make Kansas a Slave State; though our rivers should be covered with the blood of their victims, and the carcasses of the Abolitionists should be so numerous in the territory as to breed disease and sickness, we will not be deterred from our purpose“- John H. Stringfellow, Atchison Squatter Sovereign

• Free Staters – New England Emigrant Co. – John Brown and his sons

The Kansas-Nebraska Crisis

• The emergence of the Republican Party– Whig Party destroyed over the Kansas Nebraska Act

• Bleeding Kansas– Each territory swamped with pro-slavery and anti-

slavery “settlers”– Voter fraud: who were real “settlers”?– John Brown’s Pottawatomie Massacre: 5 pro-slavery

settlers killed

The Kansas-Nebraska Crisis

• Violence in the U.S. Senate– Senator Charles Sumter speech, “The Crime Against Kansas”

singling out Senator Andrew Butler of South Carolina as an example of an evil slave holder.

– Congressman Preston Books, Butler’s nephew, beat Sumter almost to death on the Senate floor.

Sumner’s Speech May 19-20, 1856

"Not in any common lust for power did this uncommon tragedy have its origin. It is the rape of a virgin Territory, compelling it to the hateful embrace of slavery; and it may be clearly traced to a depraved desire for a new Slave State, hideous offspring of such a crime, in the hope of adding to the power of slavery in the National Government.” …“The senator from South Carolina has read many books of chivalry, and believes himself a chivalrous knight with sentiments of honor and courage. Of course he has chosen a mistress to whom he has made his vows, and who, though ugly to others, is always lovely to him; though polluted in the sight of the world, is chaste in his sight -- I mean the harlot, slavery. For her his tongue is always profuse in words. Let her be impeached in character, or any proposition made to shut her out from the extension of her wantonness, and no extravagance of manner or hardihood of assertion is then too great for this senator."

Sumner Butler Brooks

The Deepening Sectional Crisis

• The Dred Scott case– Decided by U.S. Supreme Court– Roger B. Taney, a slaveholder, was Chief

Justice– Dred Scott had been take to a free territory

and after many years returned to Louisiana. – Sued when his master’s wife refused to

permit him to purchase his freedom– Taney: slaves had no rights, would never

have rights, and any law that said otherwise was unconstitutional and illegal

Lecompton Constitution• Drafted by Kansas Territory Legislature (mostly pro-slavery) 1857

– Permitted slavery– Free state settlers (majority of population) boycotted the vote– Widespread election fraud– Territorial governor (pro-slavery) resigned rather than implement– Stephen Douglas (pro-slavery) broke with Democratic Party– Lecompton Constitution endorsed by President Buchanan (pro-slavery) – Defeated in House of Representatives in 1858

The Deepening Sectional Crisis

• The Panic of 1857– Banks overextend loans to RR companies– Banks overextend loans to Western farmers– Banks overextend loans to Western Merchants– S.S. Central America sinks in hurricane

• 30,000 lbs. of Gold• 500 lives

• The revival of 1857–1859– Focused on “spiritual renewal” rather than society

The Deepening Sectional Crisis

• Douglas versus Lincoln– 1858 Illinois Senate Election– Debates

• John Brown’s raid– Attempt to seize federal arsenal– Intended to arm slaves for uprising– Both of Brown’s sons died– Robert E. Lee captured John

Brown

The Center Comes Apart• The Democrats divide

– 1860 election Dems nominate Stephen Douglas– Southern Dems chose John C. Breckenridge

• Lincoln’s election– Republican Candidate:

• Campaigned on making slavery illegal in the territories• Did not propose to outlaw slavery in the states where it was already legal

America, 8th EditionCopyright © 2010 W.W. Norton & Company

The Election of 1860

The Center Comes Apart

• Secession of the Deep South– South Carolina vowed to secede if Lincoln was elected– Lincoln elected in November, 1860; South Carolina seceded

December 20, 1860– Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas seceded soon after – Confederate States of America: Jefferson Davis, President

• President Buchanan, a pro-slavery Southerner, did nothing to keep South Carolina or other secessionist states in the Union

• Washington Peace Conference of 1861– Delegates from 21 states– Republicans and Democrats– No compromise