Immigration, Expansion, and Sectional Conflict, 1840-1848 AP US History East High School Mr. Peterson Spring 2011.

Immigration, Expansion, Immigration, Expansion, and Sectional Conflict, and Sectional Conflict,

1840-18481840-1848

AP US HistoryAP US HistoryEast High SchoolEast High School

Mr. PetersonMr. PetersonSpring 2011Spring 2011

Focus QuestionsFocus Questions

• How did immigration in the 1840s influence the balance of power between the Whig and Democratic parties?

• What economic and political forces fed westward expansion during the 1840s?

• How did westward expansion threaten war with Britain and Mexico?

• How did the outcome of the Mexican-American War intensify intersectional conflict?

Newcomers and NativesNewcomers and Natives

Expectations and Realities Expectations and Realities

• Religious freedom

• Economic opportunity

• Reality conflicted with expectations

• Concentrated by ethnicity– Urban settlement– German and Irish immigrants

The GermansThe Germans

• Wide spectrum – Classes – Occupations– Most were farmers– Levi Strauss

• Common language

• Self-reliant

The IrishThe Irish

• Through mid 1820s, mostly Protestants

• Potato famine (1845-1850s)– 1 million dead, 2 million emigrated– Mostly poor and Catholic

• Harsh existence– Factory work, labor– Conflict with blacks

p. 373

Anti-Catholicism, Nativism, and Anti-Catholicism, Nativism, and Labor ProtestLabor Protest

• Anti-Catholic fever

• Nativism

• Rise in labor unions– Commonwealth v. Hunt (1842)

• labor unions not illegal monopolies that restrained trade

• Friction between native born and immigrants

Immigrant PoliticsImmigrant Politics

• Political upheaval in Austria and other German states– “Forty-Eighters”

• Concern about jobs– Attracted to Democratic Party– Feared abolition

The West and BeyondThe West and Beyond

The Far West The Far West

• Oregon Country– OR, WA, ID, parts of WY, MT, and Canada– Spain and Russia abandon claims – Joint occupation with Britain– 42° to 54°40´ N

Far Western TradeFar Western Trade

• Trade created little friction with Californios

• Santa Fe Trail

• Beaver trade in Rockies

• Americans move to eastern Texas

Santa Fe Trail - Highway to the Southwest

p. 377

Mexican Government in the Far WestMexican Government in the Far West

• Decline of mission system after 1820s– Secularization by Mexican government

• Americans encouraged to settle in eastern Texas– Agents-empresarios

• Stephen F. Austin

– Conflict over slavery– American immigration closed in 1830

• Instability in Mexico– Santa Anna takes over and restricts states

Texas Revolution, 1836Texas Revolution, 1836

• Rebellion in 1835– Santa Anna brings Mexican army to Texas

• Texans lose at the Alamo – “remember the Alamo” becomes battle cry

• Sam Houston and Texas army defeats Santa Anna Mexicans– Battle of San Jacinto– Texas independent republic

".........waving his hat and shouting "San Jacinto! San Jacinto! The Mexicans are whipped and Santa Anna a prisoner." The scene that followed beggars description. People embraced, laughed and wept and prayed, all in one breath. As the moon rose over the vast flower-decked prairie, the soft southern wind carried peace to tired hearts and grateful slumber. As battles go, San Jacinto was but a skirmish; but with what mighty consequences! The lives and the liberty of a few hundred pioneers at stake and an empire won! Look to it, you Texans of today, with happy homes, mid fields of smiling plenty, that the blood of the Alamo, Goliad, and San Jacinto sealed forever .  Texas, one and indivisible!--Ms. Kate Scurry Terrell describing the scene among refugee families on the Sabine River.

Map 13-2, p. 379

American Settlements in California, American Settlements in California, New Mexico, and OregonNew Mexico, and Oregon

• Few hundred Americans in NM by 1840– 400 in CA– Americans stream into Sacramento Valley in

1840s

• Americans move into Willamette Valley in OR beginning in 1830s– 500 by 1840

The Overland TrailsThe Overland Trails

• Part of westward migration– 300,000 migrants between 1840 and 1860– 2,000 miles

• Started in Missouri or Iowa• North into Oregon or south into

California– Oregon Trail– California Trail

p. 380

Life on the trailLife on the trail

• Difficult and different• Society of the trail• Walked most of the time• Death rate only slightly higher than American

population as a whole– Fewer than 400 (less than 1/10 of 1%) died in

conflicts with Indians– Indians generally helpful

The Politics of Expansion, The Politics of Expansion, 1840-18461840-1846

The Whig AscendancyThe Whig Ascendancy

• William Henry Harrison dies in April 1840– John Tyler becomes president– Vetoed Whig proposals, esp. tariff

• Lost control of House in 1842 election

Tyler and the Annexation of TexasTyler and the Annexation of Texas

• Boundary bet. Canada and US settled– Webster-Ashburton Treaty

• Slavery clouds issue– Tyler supports annexation– Calhoun becomes Sec. of State– Annexation defeated

The Election of 1844The Election of 1844

• Clay and Van Buren try to avoid issue of Texas annexation

• Democrats turn to James K. Polk– Strong supporter of annexation– “Dark horse”

• Texan annexation approved in February 1844

– Texas statehood in December 1845

p. 382

Map 13-3, p. 383

Manifest Destiny, 1845Manifest Destiny, 1845

• “(the American claim to new territory)…is by the right of our manifest destiny to overspread and possess the whole of the continent which Providence has given us for the development of the great experiment of liberty and federative self government entrusted to us. It is the right such as that of the tree to the space of air and earth suitable for the full expansion of its principle and destiny of growth.”

• -John O’Sullivan, Democratic editor (1845)

Polk and OregonPolk and Oregon

• Polk offers 49th parallel for border between US and British Canada– British rejected compromise

• Polk re-asserted American claim to all of Oregon– Loose talk of war

• “54°40′ or fight”

– Neither side wanted war– Treaty approving 49th parallel June 1846

Map 13-4, p. 386

The Mexican-American War The Mexican-American War and its Aftermath, 1846-1848and its Aftermath, 1846-1848

The Origins of the Mexican-The Origins of the Mexican-American WarAmerican War

• Mexican government fails to pay $2 million to US citizens

• Conflict over Texas boundary– Mexico claimed Nueces River– Texans/US claimed Rio Grande

• Polk sent small army to Texas– Ward off possible Mexican invasion– Under command of Gen. Zachary Taylor

•

The Mexican-American WarThe Mexican-American War

• Polk sends John Sidell to purchase disputed territories – Mexicans reject offer

• Polk send army from Nueces R. to Rio Grande– Mexican troops cross Rio Grande– “War exists by the act of Mexico herself.”-Polk – War declared May 13, 1846

American successAmerican success

• Taylor captures Monterrey (Sep. 1846)– Garrison allowed to evacuate w/o pursuit– Battle of Buena Vista

• Polk fears Taylor not up to task of advance on Mexico City– Feared Taylor as political rival

• Offensives against Mexico– COL Stephen W. Kearney captured Santa Fe

• No opposition

– John C. Frémont and navy capture California

Advance toward Mexico CityAdvance toward Mexico City

• Mexico refused to concede• Landing at Vera Cruz

– Commanded by Gen. Winfield Scott– Only 14,000 men– Advanced 260 mi. to Mexico City– Never lost a battle– Few American casualties

Map 13-5, p. 390

Treaty of Guadalupe HidalgoTreaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

• Mexico wants to negotiate peace treaty– Polk wanted war over quickly

• Treaty agreed upon (Feb. 2, 1848)– California and New Mexico ceded to U.S.– Rio Grande acknowledged as boundary– U.S. assumes financial claims of new citizens– Paid Mexico $15 million– Senate approved treaty 38 to 14

The War’s Effect on Sectional The War’s Effect on Sectional ConflictConflict

• Polk saw Missouri Compromise as permanent

• Many Northerners opposed slavery’s expansion of slavery

The Wilmot ProvisoThe Wilmot Proviso

• Proposal to ban slavery from territory of Mexican Cession– Passed House– Stopped in Senate

The Election of 1848The Election of 1848

• Polk declined to run again• Democrats

– Lewis Cass

• Whigs– Zachary Taylor

• Hero of Mexican War• No political experience

• Free Soil Party created– Supported Wilmot Proviso– Martin Van Buren

p. 393

California Gold RushCalifornia Gold Rush

• Gold mania– Hundreds of thousands flock to CA– 14,000 in 1848 to 220,000 in 1852– “Forty-niners”– Chinese– SF depopulated– “Nothing but the introduction of insane asylums can

effect a cure.”

• California prohibited slavery– Earlier Indian slavery and “hunting”– Applied for statehood (Dec. 1849)

p. 394

Immigration, Expansion, Immigration, Expansion, and Sectional Conflict, and Sectional Conflict,

1840-18481840-1848

AP US HistoryAP US HistoryEast High SchoolEast High School

Mr. PetersonMr. PetersonSpring 2011Spring 2011