Westward Expansion 1783 – 1853

1. Westward Expansion1783 – 1853 Overview for “Ordeal by Fire” (Causes of the Civil War)

2. 1783-1853: Continental U.S. Obtained

3. The Two (or three) Biggest Acquisitions: Louisiana Purchase (1803) and Mexican Cession (1848) Texas Annexed in 1845

4. Other Acquisitions • 1783: Treaty of Paris grants U.S. territory westward to Mississippi River • 1803: Louisiana Purchase • 1810-1820: From Spain we obtain . . . • Florida • Parts of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana • 1820s and 1840s: From Great Britain border with p.d. Canada is fixed (affecting Maine, Minnesota, and Dakotas)

5. Other Acquisitions (cont’d) • 1845: Annexation of Texas • 1846: Treaty establishes p.d. Washington and Oregon as U.S. Territory • 1848: Mexican Cession • 1853: Gadsden Purchase brings in southern portions of Arizona and New Mexico

6. Persistent Theme #1: Expansion Accomplished through Diplomacy • Most American acquisition of land came through negotiated treaties, not through warfare (or threat thereof) • Often land was purchased: for example, from France, from Spain, from Mexico • Notable exception: Mexican War (1848) • Another exception: failed conquest of Canada in War of 1812 • One of the most pressing issues facing Articles of Confederation Congress

7. Persistent Theme #2: America’s Population Expands Westward Relentlessly • Issue of expansion a cause for rebellion (remember, Quebec Act) • Facts speaking to the rapidity. By 1840 . . . • All land east of Miss. River occupied and organized • Nine states west of Appalachians admitted • Majority of population lived west of original 13 states

8. Persistent Theme #3: West’s Economic Value Often Overestimated • Fur trade the original draw to the West (French, then British, then Americans) • By mid-19th century: “Great American Desert” • Mechanization and Homestead boom – trying to farm the marginally farmable • 100th degree longitude heuristic

11. Persistent Theme #4: Federal Government Guides Exploration and Development of West • Organization and territory-statehood process determined early (1780s) • Precedent: federal gov’t and cheap(?) sale of land • Several government-financed, quasi-military expeditions • Lewis and Clark (1803-06) • Zebulon Pike (1806-07) • Stephen Long (1819-20) • John C. Fremont (1843-44) • Transcontinental railroad: first difficulties federal government encounters in development of West

12. Figuring Out What’s Out There

13. Persistent Theme #5:Policies toward Native Americans Narrow Scope of Indians’ Domain • Treaties and military conflict squeezes Indians from original 13 states, old northwest, and old southwest • Lands west of Miss. R. intended to be Indians’ domain, but . . . • Settlement pressures force government to renegotiate: Indians forced to cede claims in p.d. KS and NB in 1854 (civilized tribes) • Nomadic tribes on Great Plains and further west pose a dilemma for middle decades of 19th century

14. By 1835

15. The Westward Expansion Dilemma for the Mid Nineteenth Century • Relentless Surge of Settlers continues • Slavery’s destiny and west linked in American consciousness and in politics • South frightened by expansion westward