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John L. O’ Sullivan of the Democratic Review coined the term in 1845
It was the divine right of the US to expand westward and conquer the entire continent |
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Claimed by both Britain and America
Interest in Oregon rose in the early 1840s, and settlers took the Oregon Trail from Independence, Missouri across the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains to Oregon |
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| Mexican province; took the Oregon Trail to get there, and settled in the Sacramento River Valley |
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Northerners wanted Oregon and southerners wanted Texas
James Polk: Democrat, Tennessee governor, fine with slavery, very pro expansion
James K. Polk won by a narrow margin, and quickly Texas was admitted as the 28th state in December of 1845 |
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After Mexican independence in 1821, the government took over the Franciscan-run missions and freed the 20,000 Indians who had been forced to work on them
Many Mexicans became land ranchers as a result of government land grants |
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When its former province of Texas voted to join America in July 1845, Mexico broke off diplomatic relations with America
Polk began to try to acquire California by encouraging Californians to seek independence, and also by seizing San Francisco Bay and other coastal towns in case of war
Polk sent forces led by General Zachary Taylor near the Rio Grande, and the armies clashed in May 1846; Congress then voted to go to war
Santa Anna nearly defeated Taylor’s army in the Battle of Buena Vista in February 1847
General Winfield Scott and his army seized Mexico City in September of 1847, which cost Santa Anna his presidency, and the new Mexican government made peace with America |
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| Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and its political consequences in the US |
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Polk signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in February 1848
America agreed to pay Mexico $15 million in return for more than 1/3 of its territory
The same year, Congress created the Oregon Territory, and in 1850 it enacted the Oregon Donation Land Claim Act, which granted settlers who came before 1854 farm-sized plots of free land |
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Maine admitted as a free state and Missouri admitted as a slave state
They did this so that one side wouldn’t gain an advantage |
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Fugitive Slave Act
California comes in as a free state
Utah and New Mexico come in with popular sovereignty
Popular sovereignty postponed political confrontation |
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1849
No territories gained from the Mexican War can gave slaves
Proposed, but never passed in Congress |
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| End of the Second Party System |
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Whig Party split into the Free-Soil, Republican, and American Parties
With the splintering of the American Party, the Republicans had replaced the Whigs as the second major party
Democratic Party: the only national party |
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Federal authorities in the north determined the status of alleged runaway slaves
Denied a jury trial to the accused blacks and the right to testify
In 1859, Chief Justice Taney led a unanimous Supreme Court in affirming the superiority of federal courts and upheld the constitutionality of the act |
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| Kansas-Nebraska Act and its consequences |
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Repealed the Missouri Compromise
Formed two territories: Nebraska and Kansas
Finished off the Whig Party and nearly destroyed the Democrats |
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Created by northern Whigs, anti-Nebraska Democrats, Free-Soilers, and abolitionists
Rejected slavery because it degraded the dignity of manual labor drove down the wages of free white workers |
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When faced with questions from outsiders, the secrecy-conscious members often replied, “I know nothing”
Also known as the Know-Nothing Party
Strong competitors to the Republican Party |
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Popular sovereignty was put to the test because there were lots of people who wanted slavery and lots of people who didn’t
In 1856, these groups began fighting, and Horace Greeley of the New York Tribune labeled the territory “Bleeding Kansas” |
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Republicans won the votes of many Know-Nothing workingmen by demanding a ban of foreign immigrants and high tariffs on foreign manufactures
Democrats reaffirmed their support for popular sovereignty and the Kansas-Nebraska, and nominated James Buchanan
James Buchanan was elected |
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Dred Scott v. Sandford was a Supreme Court case in 1856
Said that Congress had no authority to prohibit slavery in federal territories because slaves were personal property
Chief Justice Roger Taney wrote the most influential opinion that said both free and enslaved blacks couldn’t be citizens of the United States
Taney in essence declared the Republicans’ stance against the expansion of slavery to be unconstitutional |
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- Enshrined slavery in the territory of Kansas, and protected the rights of slaveholders
- Allowed voters the chance of allowing in more slaves to the territory |
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1858; series of 7 debates
Douglas was very pro-white and pro-slavery, and Lincoln was firmly opposed to it
Douglas was narrowly reelected |
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| - Abraham Lincoln won as a Republican, running against Stephen Douglas |
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South Carolina was the first state to secede on December 20, 1860
Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas all withdrew from the Union in early 1860
President Buchanan declared secession illegal but claimed that the federal government lacked authority to restore the Union by force |
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| Confederate States of America |
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In February of 1860, secessionists met in Montgomery, Alabama to proclaim a new nation: the Confederate States of America
They adopted a provisional constitution, and named Jefferson Davis president and Alexander Stephens vice president |
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Promised to safeguard slavery where it existed but vowed to prevent its expansion
Declared the secession of the Confederate states was illegal |
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The South decided to seize Fort Sumter when Lincoln dispatched an unarmed ship to resupply it
They attacked on April 12, and two days later the Union stopped fighting
On April 15, Lincoln called 75,000 state militiamen into federal service for ninety days |
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| Lincoln's reaction to head off secession in the Border South |
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Lincoln ordered General George McClellan to take control of northwestern Virginia, and in October 1861, they named that territory West Virginia, and it was admitted to the Union in 1863
He ordered an invasion of Maryland and arrested Confederate sympathizers when secessionists started destroying railroad bridges and telegraph lines
He gained control of Missouri and Kentucky
He managed to keep four border states (Delaware, Maryland, Missouri, and Kentucky), plus the northwestern portion of Virginia in the Union |
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| All resources are at issue: strong central government (organizes economic resources, draft); attack resources (Sherman in Georgia) |
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1862: Confederates make the first American draft (ages 18-35, and you had t serve for 3 years)
You were exempt from the draft as a white man if you had over 20 slaves or could pay $300 in gold for a substitute |
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| Lead-up to the Emancipation Proclamation |
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Confiscation Act in August 1861: authorized the seizure of property, including slave property, used to support the rebellion
In April 1862, radical Republicans persuaded Congress to end slavery in DC by providing compensation for owners, and in June, Congress outlawed slavery in the federal territories (enacting the Wilmot Proviso of 1846)
Congress passed a second Confiscation Act in July 1862 which overrode the property rights of Confederate planters by declaring “forever free” the thousands of fugitive slaves and all slaves captured by the Union army |
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| Emancipation Proclamation |
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1863
Emancipated only slaves who had escaped to the North; only contraband |
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To attract border-state and Democratic voters, the Republicans took a new name, the National Union party, and chose Andrew John as Lincoln’s running mate
The Democrats nominated George McClellan for president; Democrats split into War Democrats and Peace Democrats
Lincoln destroyed McClellan in the election |
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January 1865
Officially ended slavery |
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| Sherman's March to the Sea |
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After capturing Atlanta, Sherman persuaded Lincoln and Grant to approve his plan of a 300-mile march to the sea
During the march, his army destroyed everything in sight
When Sherman reached Savannah, the city’s 10,000 defenders left without a fight
Special Field Order No. 15: set aside 400,000 acres of rice-growing land for the exclusive use of freed black men |
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