The Territorial Expansion of the United States 1830’s-1850’s

1. The Territorial Expansion of the United States1830’s-1850’s

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. “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”

6. Indian Policy and Expansion • Encroachment on the new Indian Territory was not long in coming • The Santa Fe Trail& Overland Trailscrossed IndianTerritory • The gov’t pushedfor further landconcessions fromthe western tribes • The tribes in whatis now Oklahomamanaged to holdonto their landsuntil after the CivilWar

7. 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

8. 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 • “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.

9. 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 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 & mealpreparation • Trip through the plains was relativelysimple • But, the Rocky Mountains causedcountless 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

10. Oregon continued… • Convention of 1818: Britain and United 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’

11. Oregon continued… • June 1846: US and Britain concluded the 49th Parallel would become the US- Canada border (Webster-Ashburton 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

12. 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

13. 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: • Extension of settlement in MS & LA • Came to grow cotton in their self-containedenclaves • Americans would soon outnumber theTejanos • For a time, all three groups lived withoutmajor conflict: • Tejanos maintained ranches & missions in the south • Americans farmed the eastern & south central sections • Comanches held their northwestern hunting grounds

14. The Texas Revolt • 1828: the balance between Comanche, American and Tejano (person of 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.

15. 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.

16. James Polk #11 • VP – George Dallas • Sec of State – James Buchanan • Youngest man to be elected to the presidency so far in history • 49 years old • Former Speaker of the House • 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

17. 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

18. Mexican- American War: During & End • The war was politically divisive, 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

19. The Wilmot Proviso • In August of 1846, Wilmot proposed 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.

20. 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 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.

21. THE CONFLICT OVER SLAVERY CONTINUES … • As a result ofthe Mexican“cession” • The idea of“PopularSovereignty”develops: • The voters in aterritory decide whether or not slavery will be allowed in that territory

22. 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.

23. Zachary Taylor #12 • VP – Millard Fillmore • Before running for president, Taylor had never even voted in a presidential election • 1st president to possess no knowledge of the political process • Soldier through & through • 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 • Davis would later become his son-in-law • Would die in office of cholera • 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 • Shocked his system & organs; contracted Cholera; will die on July 9th

24. The Gold Rush • Gold discovered at Sutter’s Mill in 1848 • Thousands of people nicknamed “forty-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.

25. The End!!! 