Lesson 4: A Nation Divided Against Itself Ch. 2, Sect. 4: the Louisiana Purchase, Westward Expansion, Southern Secession, and Civil War

Westward expansion Manifest Destiny – the belief that America was ordained by God to expand West all the way to the Pacific, and that such expansion was inevitable. The Oregon Trail – a well-used, 2,200-mile path used by Western settlers.

Texas: Province, Republic, State In 1821, Mexico began to encourage American settlers to come to the territory of Texas. By 1830, more than 20,000 had come… most of the people in the province. But in 1829, Mexico banned slavery and demanded the American (slaveholding) settlers free theirs. In 1835, the Texans declared themselves independent from Mexico, declaring themselves the Republic of Texas… and were recognized by Mexico as 1836. On December 29, 1845, Texas was voluntarily annexed into the US but since Texas and Mexico still disputed their borders, Mexico declared war on the US. The US Army easily beat the Mexican Army, and in 1848 the war ended – Mexico gave up not only Texas, but also California and all their northern territories.

California: There’s GOLD in them thar hills! In 1848, gold was discovered in Sacramento Valley, leading to a gold rush – many people seeking to make a fortune through gold mining. In 1848, the # of people migrating to California was 400. In 1850, it was more than 44,000 people. Though most individuals made little or no money, by 1857 more than $2,000,000,000 of gold had been produced in CA.

“The Curious Institution”: Slavery In the 1700’s, slaves were primarily: Male First-generation (they had come directly from Africa or the Caribbean) Spoke their native language (not much English) By the 1800’s, slaves were: Roughly equal #’s of men and women The majority were born in America Spoke English as their first language (often along with a pidgin dialect – a simplified mix of languages for people who could not speak each others’ native languages) Slavery had become self-sustaining

The Compromise of 1850 The North-South tensions had continued grow over time. In 1850, Henry Clay proposed a new compromise: To appease the North, California would become a free state To appease the South, new fugitive slave laws were passed to find and return slaves who ran away – even if they were in free states! Other territories that wished to become states would have popular sovereignty on the issue of slavery – they could vote on whether to become free or slave.

The 1860 Presidential election Abraham Lincoln, Republican Party Candidate First-term Congressman from Kentucky Self-educated lawyer Relatively unknown to most Americans before 1858 Ran on the platform that slavery was immoral, and vowed to stop its spread to new US territories. But tried to reassured Southern states that where slavery was already legal, it would remain legal. Lincoln would win the election, but only received 40% of the popular votes and no electoral votes from the South (this is because there were more than 2 candidates running) Lincoln’s victory convinced Southerners that they had lost their voice in government… and they decided to act

Southern Secession South Carolina – declared that they were leaving the Union on Dec. 20, 1860, followed by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. They formed the Confederate States of America in Feb. 1861, and elected (former) senator Jefferson Davis as their president. Would the North just let the South walk away? (Hint: No) “Union is for suckers!”

Fort Sumter, Charleston, SC One of 4 Union Army forts left in the Southern states by April 1861. Lincoln chose not to reinforce – send more men, or resupply the fort, but did send food for the men already inside. In response, Confederate cannons fire on the fort, and it surrendered… the Civil War had begun. In response to the start of the war, the border states were forced to choose sides… Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina seceded and joined the Confederate cause. Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, and the Northwestern portion of Virginia (West Virginia) remained with the Union, even though they were slave states.

The Armies… Union Advantages: Higher population (~4x) Disadvantages: Food and industrial production (more cities and workers) >70% of the nation’s railroads Strong navy Disadvantages: Needed to conquer and pacify a huge area to win the war Relative weak and indecisive military commanders early in the conflict Confederacy Advantages: Defending their homeland = strong reason to fight Good military and the nation’s best commanders Only needed to outlast the North to win Disadvantages: Little industry (could not match the North’s weapons production) – had to rely on imports Low population Few railroads