The Impending Crisis

1. The Impending Crisis Chapter 13

2. Territorial Growth • An uneasy peace in the sectional conflict between the South and the North held until the 1840swhen western expansion and slavery intersected • The nationalism that helped unify the country also inspired territorial growth, and that ultimately tore the nation apart

3. Questions to Consider • How did the idea of Manifest Destiny influence the settlement of the West? • For what reasons did pioneers travel to the West?

4. Looking Westward • Westward expansion characterized settlement since America’s very beginnings • In the 1840s, that movement gained momentum and adopted an ideological justification, known as Manifest Destiny • This vision of a territorial empire embodied pride in the American democratic experiment and ideals of social perfection, while it overlooked the displacement and genocide of Native Americans

5. “American Progress” By John Gast

6. Manifest Destiny • In 1845, editor John L. O’Sullivan called the movement to gain new territory Manifest Destiny, and imbued it with a religious sanction; others pointed to the burden of the “American race” to fulfill the democratic promise • The movement grew in the 1840s, partly fueled by the new “penny press” • Others, such as Henry Clay, feared its consequences because the slavery question would be reopened

7. Question to Consider • How did American settlement of the Southwest causes tensions with Mexico?

8. Americans in Texas • Americans moved into Texas in the 1820s, encouraged by the Mexican government (who had won its independence from Spain in 1821) and lured by fertile lands suitable for cotton cultivation • In 1830 there were twice as many Americans as Mexicans in Texas • Missourian Stephen F. Austin established the first legal settlement in 1822, and by 1835 there were over 30,000 Americans in Texas • Settlers were exempt from paying taxes for 10 years with a requirement to become Mexican citizens, abide by Mexican law, & convert to Roman Catholicism.

9. Question to Consider • How did Texas gain its independence?

10. San Jacinto • Many of the American settlers were dissatisfied with Mexican rule, and the discontent grew after General Santa Anna seized power and attempted to exert more autocratic control over the Mexican provinces • Increasing conflict led American settlers living in Texas to declare independence from Mexico in 1836 • The Mexican forces were ruthless in subduing the rebellion and had several military successes including the Alamo (RP) • However, a force led by General Sam Houston captured Santa Anna, defeated his army at the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836, and forced Santa Anna to accept an independent Texas

11. Primary Source

12. “America’s Forgotten War”

13. Debate & Discussion Click here & select TIMELINEMAP to checkout a very cool interactive.

14. Opposition to Annexation • Houston sought annexation by the United States, but Northern politicians, as well as President Andrew Jackson, fearing sectional calamity with the addition of more slave territory, opposed the plan • Texas would remain the independent Lone Star Republic until alliances between Texas and European nations spurred Americans to reopen the question in 1844

15. Oregon • The Oregon Territory, a vast territory including parts of present‐day British Colombia, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana, had been jointly administered by both the United States and Great Britain since the 1818 Transcontinental Treaty • Until 1820 there was little interest in the area except among fur traders such as John Jacob Astor

16. Oregon Territory

17. Settler/Indian Conflict • However, efforts to convert the Indians and counteract Canada’s Catholic influence attracted American evangelicals • Two of the most famous missionaries were Narcissaand Marcus Whitman, whose efforts were largely unsuccessful; they were killed by hostile Indians in 1847 • By the 1840s numerous settlements had been established and many urged America to take possession of Oregon

18. Westward Migration • Migration happened in waves and generally in times of economic prosperity • Settlers moved west for a variety of reasons, but many hoped for economic advancement • Southerners went to Texas, but most western migrants came from the Old Northwest, and some had moved several times before settling permanently in the West

19. Oregon Trail • The main westward route was the 2,000‐mile Oregon Trail from Independence, Missouri, to either California or the Oregon coast • Over 300,000 traveled the trails between 1840 and 1860. A typical trip took about 6 months. • Contrary to myth and belief, Indians were more helpful than harmful to those on the trail, and despite its hardships, the death rate was not much higher than in the United States as a whole

20. Trails West

21. Life on the Trail • Most migrated in family groups and attempted to re‐create patterns of life that they left on the trail • Women not only walked much of the day, they also were responsible for domestic tasks when the travel day ended • Overland travel was a collective experience, with families and often communities moving together

22. Life on the Trail

23. Election of 1844 • Pressure from the increasing number of white settlers west of the Mississippi eventually pushed America to war with Mexico • The main issue of the election of 1844 was expansion, and Democrat James K. Polk ran on that platform against Whig Henry Clay • By combining the annexation of Texas and Oregon under one umbrella, Polk hoped to attract both Northerners and Southerners, and he won the election

24. President James K. Polk

25. Compromise over Oregon • By the time Polk took office Congress had already approved the annexation of Texas • Polk proposed that Oregon be annexed at 54 40’ north latitude • When Britain rejected his offer America considered a military solution as expressed in the slogan “Fifty‐four forty or fight!” • Neither country wanted war, so Britain accepted Polk’s terms in 1846

26. Oregon Treaty (1846)

27. Question to Consider • What resulted from the annexation of Texas & the war with Mexico?

28. Texas Boundary in Dispute • Tensions were developing over the boundary with Mexico in the wake of the Texas annexation • Mexico had broken diplomatic ties with Washington after annexation and claimed the Nueces River as the boundary of Texas • America claimed more territory with Rio Grande as the boundary

29. Boundary Dispute

30. New Mexico & California • Polk sent a small army commanded by General Zachary Taylor to defend Texas • Polk was also interested in the Mexican provinces of New Mexico and California; both areas had substantial populations of white settlers • Polk sent secret instructions to seize those territories if war should break out

31. The Mexican War • Having made preparations for war, Polk sent envoy John Slidell to arrange for a purchase of the territories • When Mexico rejected the offer, Polk ordered troops across the Nueces River to the Rio Grande • Although it is not clear what actually happened, the United States claimed that Mexico attacked the American troops, and in 1846, Congress declared war • There was considerable opposition to the war, which mounted alongside costs and casualties

32. Mexican-American War

33. Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo • An American force under General Winfield Scott captured Mexico City, the government fell, and a new government expressed a willingness to negotiate • In New Mexico Stephen W. Kearny captured Santa Fe and California • In 1848 Congress ratified the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in which Mexico ceded California and New Mexico to the United States and accepted the Rio Grande as the border of Texas • The United States agreed to pay Mexico $15 million and accept any financial claims settlers held against the Mexican government • The vast new territory held great promise but also created some troubling issues for the United States

34. American Southwest

35. Questions to Consider • The idea of Manifest Destiny was realized as a result of the war with Mexico. What new problem did the additional territories cause for the United States? • How did western expansion cause the North & South to confront the issue of slavery?

36. Wilmot Proviso • Polk accomplished his goals of expanding United States territoryhowever, each section of the country came to believe he did so to its detriment • In 1846, with the Mexican War raging, Pennsylvanian David Wilmot proposed the prohibition of slavery from any territory that was acquired from Mexico • The Wilmot Proviso was countered by other proposals regarding slavery, such as extending the Missouri Compromise Line to the West Coast or squatter or popular sovereignty(A plan to allow the residents of each territory to decide for themselves the issue of slavery)

37. Election of 1848 • The election of 1848 produced the Free Soil Party, which supported the Wilmot Proviso. • Some Free-Soilers condemned slavery as immoral, but many wanted to preserve the western territories for white farmers. • Military hero and Whig Zachary Taylor won a narrow victory, but the existence of this new party signaled the inability of the existing party system to deal with the issue of slavery

38. President Zachary Taylor

39. The California Gold Rush

40. The California Gold Rush • The discovery of gold in California at Sutter’s Mill in 1848 started a migration that increased California’s population from 14,000 to over 220,000 in slightly less than four years • Overwhelmingly male and ambitious, the 49ers created a volatile society • The lure of gold drew people form China, Europe, South America, and Mexico to California • Although relatively few found fortunes in the gold fields, many remained in California on farms and in cities, and this sharpened the national crisis over slavery

41. 49ers

42. Question to Consider • How did the Gold Rush affect the issue of slavery?

43. Rising Sectional Tensions • President Taylor saw statehood as the answer to the question of slavery in the territories and pushed for California to be admitted to the Union as a free state in 1849; he also suggested that New Mexico also should decide its status and become a state • At the same time other sectional issues clouded the horizon • Antislavery efforts to abolish slavery in Washington D.C. as well as Northern personal liberty laws prompted opposition from slavery forces, which called for stricter legal guarantees for the return of fugitive slaves • Southern fears about the growing number of free states creating an imbalance in the Senate were foremost, and some Southern leaders began to consider secession as a solution

44. Clay’s Proposed Solution • National leaders worked to craft a compromise to address several issues arising from the bid for California’s statehood in 1849 and 1850 • Henry Clay proposed an bill that included: • admission of California as a free state • creation of territorial governments in the other lands acquired from Mexico with no restrictions on slavery • abolition of the slave trade—but not slavery—in Washington • a more stringent fugitive slave law • A prolonged debate followed, ending with the defeat of the bill

45. Compromise of 1850 • New leaders stepped in, and employing both pragmatism and self‐interest were able to achieve a compromise • Upon the death of President Taylor, who opposed the measures, Senator Stephen A. Douglas from Illinois proposed each of Clay’s measures separately and crafted a series of deals that secured passage of each • Unlike the Missouri Compromise twenty years earlier, the Compromise of 1850 was not based on common national ideals, but in sectional self-interest, and was therefore not long‐lived

46. Compromise of 1850

47. Question to Consider • What was the Fugitive Slave Act? • What were the results of the Fugitive Slave Act in the Northern states? • The Fugitive Slave Act was meant to satisfy southerners in the slavery debate. What was an unintended consequence of the Fugitive Slave Act?

48. Election of 1852 • An uneasy sectional truce amid economic prosperity descended upon the nation after 1850, but conflict emerged again in the 1852 election • Democrat Franklin Pierce won mainly because antislavery Whigs defected to the Free Soil Party • In office, Pierce stood aside and avoided the slavery issue while Northerners attempted to prevent the enforcement of the fugitive slave law. • Alarmed Southerners saw their position in the Compromise of 1850 erode

49. President Franklin Pierce

50. Ostend Manifesto • Hoping to divert attention from domestic controversy, Pierce looked to expand American ideals and influence abroad • A proposal to annex Cuba by force outlined in the Ostend Manifesto and an attempt to annex Hawaii both fell to defeat at the hands of antislavery and proslavery forces in 1854