APUSH Study Session #5

1. APUSH Study Session #5 South and Slavery, Manifest Destiny, Sectional Struggles, and Drifting Toward Disunion(1793-1861) Chapters 16-19

2. Manifest Destiny • By 1820, the US was expanding west of the Mississippi • Aided by the Louisiana Purchase and the War of 1812 • Referred to the belief that Americans had a God-given right to the American territories • Western settlement was difficult

3. Tens of thousands of Americans migrated to Texas Mexican government enticed settlers to move into Texas with liberal land policies Settlers promised to become Mexican citizens Ignored Mexican law and practiced slavery

4. Mexico attempted to regain control in Texas Settlers rebelled and declared independence “The Republic of Texas” was created as an independent country Texas didn’t become a state until 1845 because of slavery

5. Thousands of Americans also moved into the Oregon Territory in the 1840s Traveled for months on the Oregon Trail Caused conflict with Native Americans, British, and Russians Polk administration signed a treaty with Britain that allowed American settlers to remain

6. Discovery of gold led to a flood of immigration to California in 1848 100,000 people migrated in two years Most settlers didn’t discover gold but began farming in the area

7. The West and Frontier Living • Frontier boundaries changed constantly • 1800—Frontier was east of the Mississippi • 1820—Nearly all of the east was comprised of states and the frontier was the Louisiana Purchase • 1830s-1840s—Settlers moved to Texas, Mexico, and the Pacific Northwest • 1848—Gold Rush drew settlers to California

8. US government encouraged settlers to move west • Gave away or sold cheap land to veterans • Loaned money at reduced rates to civilians • Squatters sometimes settled on land without buying it

9. Settlers in the Ohio Valley and west found that the area was conducive to grain production and dairy farming • Midwest became known as the “nation’s breadbasket” • Fur trading was a common frontier enterprise • Often the first pioneers in a region • Hunted beaver nearly to extinction

10. Cattle ranchers and miners also moved west • Frontier life was difficult • Settlers had to deal with the climate, the land, and the Native Americans • Frontier offered opportunities like wealth, freedom, and social advancement • Women cooked and did laundry and eventually ran boardinghouses and hotels • The West came to symbolize freedom and equality to Americans

11. Native American Resistance to Westward Expansion • After the Revolutionary War, America needed more land for a growing population and the expansion of agriculture • New lands were taken through treaties or by force • Individual states made treaties or fought Native Americans for land without federal approval

12. Westward expansion caused varying reactions among Native Americans • Accommodationists tried to adopt European ways and coexist peacefully • Traditionalists wanted to maintain their culture and avoid Americans • Included Tecumseh and the Prophet

13. Regional Economic Differences

14. Eli Whitney • The cotton gin was invented in 1793 and revolutionized Southern agriculture • Made it easier to remove seeds from cotton plants • Made it easier and cheaper to use cotton for textiles • Demand for cotton grew rapidly • Cotton production increased drastically in the South, which intensified slave labor

15. Agriculture and the South • Although manufacturing spread quickly, farming was the most common source of livelihood in the first half of the 19th century • Mechanization revolutionized farming • Market economy changed farming • By 1860, 2/3 of the crops produced in the US were sold

16. In the South, plantations were crucial to agriculture • Deep South plantations focused on cotton • Upper South plantations focused on tobacco • The majority of southern farmers owned small farms and did not own slaves • In 1860, 25% of white southern families owned slaves

17. Development in the South There were few urban centers Family was most important, followed by the church South lacked centers of commerce Canals, railroads, and highways weren’t built like they were in the North New Orleans was the biggest city and relied on water transportation South did not develop a strong market economy

18. South developed a rigid social structure Planter aristocracy Small white farmers Poor whites Free blacks Slaves

19. Planter aristocracy Dominated politics, economics, and society Only 10% of the white slaveholding population had 20 or more slaves Grew cotton in the Deep South and tobacco in the Upper South Justified slavery with Southern paternalism Attitude that everyone benefited from slavery Converted slaves to Christianity Incorporated into slaves’ native religions and cultures

20. Small white farmers Owned fewer than five slaves and often worked alongside them in the fields Comprised the majority of southern farmers Owned small tracts of land Were often subsistence farmers Could only afford the most basic comforts Poorly educated Yeoman farmers owned no slaves and worked small tracts of land with their families

21. Poor whites Often called “landless whites” Owned no slaves 75% of white southerners didn’t own slaves Farmed as tenants or hired themselves out as manual laborers Had very little social mobility

22. Free blacks 250,000 lived in the South Descendants of slaves freed by their owners or for having fought in the Revolutionary War Black codes prevented them from owning guns, drinking, and assembling in groups of more than three Some owned land or worked at a trade Most were tenant farmers or day laborers Some were mulattoes who had luxurious and refined lives, especially around New Orleans

23. Slaves Lived in a state of subsistence poverty Lived in one-room cabins with their families and one or two others Conditions were overcrowded and unsanitary Worked long hours at difficult jobs Conditions were worst in the Deep South Many were abused Developed a unique culture that blended native African cultures and beliefs with Christianity Carried out subtle acts of resistance

24. Abolitionism • Before the 1830s, few people advocated abolition • Most early support was from free blacks • Abolition associations formed in every large black community • To assist fugitive slaves • To publicize the attack against slavery • Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and Sojourner Truth were prominent black abolitionists • Harriet Tubman helped at least 300 slaves escape to freedom via the Underground Railroad

25. White abolitionists could be divided into two groups: • Immediatists like the Quakers argued for immediate abolition • Included William Lloyd Garrison who published the Liberator • Other groups supported gradual abolition • Some abolitionists supported the return of blacks to Liberia

26. When the issue became too heated in Congress, they adopted a gag rule (1836-1844) • Automatically suppressed discussion of the slavery issue • Prevented Congress from enacting new legislation pertaining to slavery

27. Determination of the abolitionists and the South’s inflexibility made abolition an important political issue • Westward expansion fueled the fire • These issues helped lead to the Civil War

28. President Polk • Election of 1844 featured James Polk vs. Henry Clay • As an expansionist, Polk wanted to extend north into Canada and south into Mexico • In his last days of office, President Tyler proposed that Texas be annexed by the US • Congressional approval made war with Mexico likely

29. US couldn’t fight Britain and Mexico simultaneously • US and Britain signed the Oregon Treaty • Negotiated a reasonable northern American border in the area • Gave the US Oregon and Washington and parts of Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana

30. US tried to buy lands in the southwest from Mexico • Mexico refused and was still bitter about the US annexation of Texas • Eventually, Mexico attacked American troops under provocation • Polk asked Congress to declare war in 1846

31. Mexican-American War (1846-1848) • Didn’t have universal support of the American people • Abolitionists feared that new states in the West would become slave states, giving the South a congressional advantage • Wilmot Proviso was defeated in Congress in 1846 • Would have prohibited slavery in any lands gained from Mexico

32. War went well for the US • Soldiers pushed across the SW and into CA • US pushed south as far as Mexico City • Ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) • US received the Mexican Cession (Arizona, New Mexico, California, Nevada, and Utah) in exchange for $15 million

33. Issues introduced by the Mexican Cession: • Could potentially increase American wealth • Whether the new states would be free or slave • Popular sovereignty was introduced as a solution • New territories would get to decide whether they would be free or slave states • Neither the Democrats nor the Whigs would oppose slavery • Caused a split in the Whig party as antislavery Whigs joined the new Free-Soil Party

34. Death of the Whig Party • Zachary Taylor was the last Whig to win an election (1848) • Slavery issue caused an irreparable split within the party • Died out by 1856 • Led to the emergence of the new Republican party

35. The Compromise of 1850 • California statehood divided the country • Its constitution prohibited slavery, so the South opposed its admission to the US • South proposed that California should be forced to accept slavery in accordance with the boundary established by the Compromise of 1820 • Stephen Douglas and Henry Clay created the Compromise of 1850 to deal with this issue

36. Included the following provisions: • CA would be admitted as a free state • Stronger fugitive slave law was enacted • UT and NM were created as territories with popular sovereignty • Abolished the slave TRADE in Washington DC

37. Increase in Anti-Slavery Sentiment • Grew stronger in the North when Uncle Tom’s Cabin was published in 1852 • Harriet Beecher Stowe criticized slavery and plantation life • Very important piece of propaganda

38. Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) • Settlers poured into Kansas and Nebraska • Areas lacked governments so the slavery issue had not yet been decided • Congress wanted to build railroads in the area • Stephen Douglas issued the Kansas-Nebraska Act to address slavery here • Supported popular sovereignty

39. Caused violence in the territories • Abolitionists and proslavery groups moved in and tried to gain a numerical advantage • Border Ruffians helped Kansas create a pro-slavery state • Abolitionists set up a rival anti-slavery government • Proslavery mob destroyed the abolitionist city of Lawrence • John Brown’s raid against proslavery forces killed five

40. Violence increased in “Bleeding Kansas” • More than 200 people were killed in altercations based on the slavery issue • These events polarized the nation • Preston Brooks attacked Senator Charles Sumner

41. New Political Parties • Anti-slavery Whigs joined Northern Democrats and former Free-Soilers to create the new Republican party • Republicans wanted to keep slavery out of the territories • New party grew quickly in the North • Nativist Know-Nothing party also formed • Anti-foreign party that self-destructed because of the slavery issue

42. Election of 1856 • Voting was sectional • James Buchanan (D) won by carrying the South • John Fremont carried the North • Last major election for the Know-Nothings, who ran Millard Fillmore • President Buchanan tried to maintain the status quo • Enforced fugitive slave act • Opposed abolitionism in the South and West

43. Dred Scott Decision • Supreme Court escalated the slavery crisis with this decision • Chief Justice Roger Taney stated that slaves were property, not citizens • Stated that no black person could ever be a US citizen, so they could never sue in a court of law • Ruled that Congress couldn’t regulate slavery in the territories • Nullified the Missouri Compromise, Kansas-Nebraska Act, and Wilmot Proviso

44. Basically said that slavery could extend anywhere • This was a major victory for the South • Democratic party divided along regional lines

45. Lincoln-Douglas Debates (1858) • Occurred as the two men were running for a seat in the Illinois Senate • Republicans Lincoln vs. Democrat Douglas • Gave voice to the issues that divided the country • Lincoln gave his “house divided” speech • Douglas defended popular sovereignty as part of the Freeport Doctrine • Lincoln lost but gained crucial national exposure

46. John Brown’s Raid (1859) • Further inflamed sectional tensions • Brown raided Harper’s Ferry in an effort to spark a slave revolt • It failed and he was executed • He became a martyr for the North and abolition • Rumor had it that he had received financial backing from the North

47. Election of 1860 • Republicans selected Abraham Lincoln • Democrats were divided • Northern Democrats wanted Douglas • Southern Democrats wanted John Breckinridge • Third Constitutional Union party nominated John Bell • Lincoln received 40% of the popular votes and more than 50% of the electoral vote

48. South had threatened to secede if Lincoln was elected • Crittendon Compromise was created by Southern leaders who wanted to maintain the Union • Lincoln refused to drop his Republican demand that all territories be declared free

49. Secession (1860) • South Carolina seceded within three months • 7 additional states joined shortly thereafter • Southern states created the Confederate States of America • Jefferson Davis was chosen as President

50. Fort Sumter (April 1861) • Lincoln chose to maintain control of federal forts in the South • Was waiting for the Confederacy to make a move • Confederates attacked Fort Sumter (SC) on April 12, 1861 • No one died, but this is considered to be the first battle of the Civil War