Unit 8 -- Westward Expansion and the Development of Sectionaliam (1840 to 1853)
Westward Expansion -- "Manifest Destiny" to rule the continent
Texas -- independent after 1836
annexation on hold due to northern problems with the possibility of many slave states
Mexico threatens war with US over annexation of Texas
Will remain independent until 1845
Mormons in Utah by 1847
Term "Manifest Destiny" coined in 1845 by a New York newspaperman to justify and encourage white settlement of the continent -- becomes the catch phrase for the period
Westward expansion seen as inevitable and linked to Puritan mission -- God gave America to Americans
Oregon
-- territory held jointly with the British -- begins to experience a period of settlement via the "Oregon Trail" during the 1830s and 1840s -- used by the South as a way to combat northern opposition to Texas
Many American eyes on Mexican possessions after 1836 -- Texas just the first step
California
-- Mexican possession thinly settled along a series of 21 Missions along the coast (San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Santa Barbara, San Francisco and others)
Expansion questions will become a way for sectionalism to express itself -- gives each side a position
Whig Party
-- party formed by the late 1830s to oppose the Democrats -- led by Henry Clay and Daniel Webster -- stood for everything against Jackson -- favored Clay's American System
Election of 1836 -- Van Buren wins over a number of Whig candidates (the Whigs tried to throw the election into the House like 1824
Election of 1840
Democrats -- Van Buren (NY) -- 46.9% popular -- 60 electoral
Whigs -- William H. Harrison (Tippecanoe) -- 53.1% popular -- 234 electoral
runs with the Virginian John Tyler, a slaveholder, to balance the ticket
Whigs don't really favor anything
Formula for success: run a war hero and make the campaign about personalities and catchy slogans
Clay and Webster were supposed to run the presidency from behind the scenes
William Henry Harrison
-- serves shortest presidency -- his inaugural address is over two hours in a cold rain. He catches a cold. Nineteenth century medicine being what it was, his cold soon turns into pneumonia. He dies exactly 1 month after taking office (04 Apr 1841)
Eerie "coincidence"
-- supposedly an Indian captured after Tippecanoe put a hex on Harrison -- battle was in 1812 -- curse supposedly for 120 years (10 times the battle's date) -- Harrison would become a "great chief", but would die in office. Every "great chief" who followed him in electoral history would die in office as well -- all presidents elected in a year ending in "0" died in office from 1840 to 1960 (120 years)
1840 -- Harrison (died 1841)
1860 -- Lincoln (died 1865)
1880 -- Garfield (died 1881)
1900 -- McKinley (died 1901)
1920 -- Harding (died 1923)
1940 -- Franklin D. Roosevelt (died 1945)
1960 -- John F. Kennedy (died 1963)
John Tyler
first VP to succeed on the death of a president
slave holder from Virginia
anti-Jackson stance on the Nullification issue makes him a Whig
strong states-rights stance
doesn't like Clay or the American System
When Harrison was elected in 1840, it was with the understanding that Clay and Webster would be able to control the presidency
Tyler, however, wants no part of the deal -- He's his own man.
Clay, now a senator from Kentucky, guided piece after piece of legislation through Congress, only to have it vetoed by Tyler
The final straw was the new national bank that Clay wanted -- when Tyler vetoed that bill as well, the break with Clay was complete
In 1844 the Whigs will run Clay for the Presidency
Tyler was a man without a party
1844 brought Texas back into the National consciousness
1836 to 1844 -- Texas wants annexation, but is given the cold shoulder by America
By 1844, however, the Texans found an American president who needed an issue to run behind
Tyler, shut out of his own party, looks to the Democrats for support
The Democratic Party is run by southern slave owners
They want Texas annexed -- Tyler agrees and pushes hard for annexation
1844 -- after secret meetings between the US and Texas, a treaty of annexation is brought before the Senate (must approve all treaties)
Northerners were outraged. The treaty was rejected by the Senate
Tyler was rejected by the Democrats -- he carried too much hatred to be reelected
Election of 1844 -- Texas the only real issue -- Democrats linked Texas to Oregon in an attempt to help sway northern voters
Democrats -- James K. Polk (TN) -- "darkhorse" candidate -- 49.6% popular -- 170 electoral
Whigs -- Henry Clay (KY) -- 48.1% popular -- 105 electoral
Liberty -- first anti-slavery candidate for president -- James Birney -- 2.3% popular -- 0 electoral
Birney took 15,000 votes in New York (35 electoral votes)
E) Clay lost New York to Polk by 5000 votes
Birney's votes cost Clay the election
Ironic twist -- Birney's votes were for anti-slavery, but he ended up driving the nation into annexation of Texas and war with Mexico (will end up helping to split the nation)
Tyler will annex Texas on 01 Mar 1845 -- three days before Polk takes office -- Tyler sees Polk's win as a mandate for Texas
War With Mexico
Polk needed and wanted war
Some Northern Whigs saw the war as a war to expand slavery (they're right)
Border dispute between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande
Mexico claims the Nueces as the boundary -- US (Texas) claims the Rio Grande
Spring 1846 -- Polk Orders General Zachary Taylor to the Rio Grande, trying to provoke a war
Mexico has to respond or surrender
25 Apr 1846 -- Mexican Calvary attack a skirmish party of Taylor's army. There is a small battle. Some Americans are killed. The Mexican Army then crosses the Rio Grande.
11 May 1846 -- Polk addresses Congress and asks for a declaration of war, saying that US troops had been killed on American soil and the war existed because of Mexico and her aggression.
US military far superior to the Mexican Army
Battle of Buena Vista -- Northern Mexico -- Feb 1847 -- Taylor defeats Santa Anna -- Northern Mexico secure
John C. Fremont -- Western Army colonel -- occupied California by Jan 1847
General Winfield Scott -- Southern Mexico -- occupied Mexico City by Sep 1847
Polk sent a representative to Mexico to negotiate a peace treaty
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo -- Feb 1848
US (Texas) border is the Rio Grande
Mexican Cession -- immense land acquisition by the United States -- California, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, parts of Colorado and Nevada
US to pay Mexico $15 million for land
question now arises -- What to do with the new lands acquired from Mexico
Even before the war ended, politicians on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line faced a tough decision on what to do with any newly won territories and the issue of Slavery
Wilmot Proviso
David Wilmot, a young Pennsylvania representative comes up with a plan to forever bar slavery from any new territories, under the idea that Mexico had outlawed slavery in 1830
Taps into northern sentiment against the expansion of slavery -- regardless of party affiliation (Wilmot is a Democrat)
Threatens to redraw the political maps along sectional lines -- the proviso becomes a test for northern loyalty
Proviso will never pass, but issue of slavery in the new territories almost splits the country
Southern Response to Wilmot
Southerners, especially J. C. Calhoun, were outraged at the proviso. Some even threatened disunion if Congress tried to outlaw slavery in the new territories.
What Calhoun is worried about is the very future of the South's peculiar institution. If Congress can outlaw slavery in the new territories, then Slavery has reached its limits and can not expand. If slavery can not expand, then eventually the Senate will have an overwhelming number of free states (eventually the non-slave territories will have enough settlement to apply for statehood)
As soon as the free states have enough votes, they'll pass a constitutional amendment outlawing slavery in the country
Thus Calhoun's objection to Wilmot was less about New Mexico and Arizona than about South Carolina. The North (free states) could essentially subvert the Constitution. If they could do that, then perhaps it was time to leave the Union.
Southern strength in the Senate prevents the proviso from passing, but it becomes the litmus test for all politicians. One could not avoid the issue without committing political suicide
When Wilmot's proviso came out, it was more theory than substance, something for politicians to debate. After Feb 1848, however, theory became reality, as the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo brought the Mexican Cession and thus the question of what to do with the new western lands
1848 -- Election Year -- Politicians like to talk big, but usually won't do too much that could possible be used against them in the election -- very little action regarding the Mexican Cession
Election of 1848
Democrats -- Lewis Cass (Michigan) -- "Popular Sovereignty" in the Territories -- let the people decide
Whigs -- Zachary Taylor (Louisiana) -- Hero of Buena Vista -- once again turn to a military hero -- no stance at all on the territories, but rather running Taylor on popularity (similar stance to 1840)
Free Soil Party -- Combination of the Liberty Party and others opposed to slavery in the territories (Northern Democrats opposed to Popular Sovereignty and "Conscience Whigs" opposed to Zachary Taylor's slaveholding status) -- Martin Van Buren
Election Results
Taylor (W) -- 47.3% popular -- 163 electoral
Cass (D) -- 42.5% popular -- 127 electoral
Van Buren (FS) -- 10.1% popular -- 0 electoral
Van Buren doesn't throw the election to Taylor, but rather his candidacy shows the growing strength of the anti-slavery presence in the North. Van Buren doesn't even appear on the ballot in most southern counties
California Gold Rush
gold discovered in California in Jan 1848
word spread quickly east
December 1848 -- Polk, in his last address to the nation, confirmed the discovery
1849 -- 80,000 settlers head to California (not really traditional settlers, but rather miners)
California quickly set up a free state constitution -- settled overwhelmingly by northerners
Dec 1849 -- California applies for statehood as a free state
No one in Washington DC expected it so quickly. It was one thing to talk about the western lands in theory and long term projections, but suddenly Congress faced a problem in reality
The House, with its free state majority, went to approve California's application quickly
The Senate, with its numbers divided, was where the great debate will take place in 1850. The old three stalwarts stepped up to offer speeches
Henry Clay
-- now 73 years old and faltering in speech -- Jan 1850 -- offers a multi-part bill to solve the country's ills -- Clay sees himself as the "Great Compromiser" from 1820, and this bill in 1850 will be the crowning jewel of his distinguished career
Admit California as a free state
Popular Sovereignty in the rest of the Mexican Cession
Fix the bounday of Texas and New Mexico by taking land away from Texas
Compensate Texas by paying off her debt
Uphold slavery in Washington DC
Abolish the Slave Trade in Washington DC
Adopt a tough Fugitive Slave Law
John C. Calhoun
-- sick and dying from tuberculosis -- too weak to speak -- his words will be read by a junior representative from South Carolina, Preston Brooks, (remember to Calhoun has almost God-like status by now) -- calls for the western territories and California to be open to slavery -- Slavery must be able to expand. If the free states do not open the west to slavery, then the South must leave the Union, if for no other reason than to protect its own existance.
Daniel Webster
-- "I speak today not as a Massachusetts man, not as a northern man, but as an American." The Union must be preserved at all costs, even if that means an agreement to extend slavery.
Unfortunately for Webster, the time for American Unionism had passed
. Sectionalism on both sides threatened to tear the country apart over the issue of slavery's expansion. Taylor refuses to support Clay's bill and threatens to use the Army to keep the Union together
Then something unexpected happened -- 04 Jul 1850 -- Taylor is stricken with a stomach virus. He dies on 09 Jul 1850
Millard Fillmore of New York became president -- Fillmore supports compromise -- it's sort of an odd irony -- Taylor was a slaveholder, but refused to allow slavery to expand, while Fillmore was from upstate New York and wanted to compromise
At this point, a young Senator form Illinois stepped up to say the day, sort of like a young Henry Clay did in 1820.
Stephen A. Douglas -- rising star in the Democratic Party with future presidential ambitions -- sees Clay's bill as a great idea, but needs to be passed as a series of bills. Douglas reasons (correctly) that he can put together enough of a coalition to pas each section of the bill.
Compromise of 1850
California admitted as a free state
Territories of New Mexico and Utah organized under popular sovereignty
Texas border with New Mexico fixed, with Texas losing some land (see present boundary). In return, the US will assume her old debt from the Republic of Texas
Slave trade, but not slavery itself, banned from Washington DC
New Tough Fugitive Slave Law -- Federal jurisdiction over the capture of runaways -- North must cooperate with federal Marshals and even help (will be a real problem)
In the end, the Compromise of 1850 was passed. Neither side was satisfied. Civil War had been avoided, at least temporarily, but it appeared around every corner. The sides were now irreconcilable. They could live together, but not for long.
This unit (1840 to 1860) could really be divided into two units. To put things in perspective, think of the 1840s as a decade of westward expansion and a war with Mexico. The 1850s, on the other hand, saw two nations under one flag. Each side galvanized during the period. By 1860, moderates on both sides stood by while radicals tore the country in half.
Uncle Tom's Cabin
by Harriet Beecher Stowe, member of both the Beecher and Stowe families in New England (leading radical abolitionists)
first published in 1851 in weekly newspaper installments (in an abolitionist newspaper) -- very unusual for a woman to publish anything at the time. Her family name had a lot to do with it
Book form appeared in 1852
By 1860, over 3 million copies sold
Story revolves around an old black slave named Tom who is sold by a kind master to pay off debts.
Tom is a saint who endured terrible hardships and eventually was beaten to death, but not before he forgave his masters.
Stowe attacks the slave system for its brutality and cruelty, both physical and mental
Interestingly, Tom's last and most brutal master, on a Louisiana sugar plantation, was a transplanted Yankee.
In the North, Stowe's work helps put a face on slavery to many who had never been south of the Mason-Dixon Line
In the South, Stowe is characterized as a liar. He book was banned all over the South.
Northern readers accepted the story as truth. Southerners counterattacked with ever stronger defenses of the "peculiar institution"
Stowe's book, a purely fictional account by a woman who had herself never traveled south of Cincinnati, came at a time when sectional tensions were beginning to really flare up. Her book only served to throw gasoline on a quickly spreading fire.
Election of 1852
Democrats -- Franklin Pierce (NH) -- 50.9% popular / 254 electoral
Whigs -- Winfield Scott (VA) -- 44.1% popular / 42 electoral
Free Soil -- John Hale (NY) -- 5.0% popular / 0 electoral
what does the election of 1852 tell historians?
"Doughface" politicians (northern Democrats who supported Southern causes) only way for the Democrats to win
Whigs in disarray between "Conscience" (Northern) and "Cotton" (Southern) factions -- they couldn't even elect a popular general
Free Soil party losing some support after the Compromise of 1850
1850s -- period of weak Democratic presidents under the control of Congressional leaders -- president will be from the North, but the policies of the Democratic Party will be solidly behind the South.
Gadsden Purchase (1853)
Treaty with Mexico for Southern Arizona and New Mexico (see maps)
James Gadsden -- envoy sent by Pierce to Mexico on behalf of the US
$15 million to Mexico
land was supposed to be for a transcontinental railroad from New Orleans to California
