Manifest Destiny and a Changing Society

Manifest Destiny Began in the 1600’s with the Puritan belief that it was God’s plan that this new land be claimed by His “chosen people.” In the 1800’s it became the popular idea that Europeans were destined to inhabit the entire continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 1

Sunrise over the Atlantic

Sunset over the Pacific

And so we did... Here’s how...

The Louisiana Purchase 1800 – Napoleon Bonaparte of France took the Louisiana territory from Spain, but he needed money to continue his war in Europe – President Jefferson wanted to buy New Orleans, a port important to American farmers, instead Napoleon offered him all the land west of the Mississippi for $15 million. Doubled the size of the US. 2

Napoleon Bonaparte Emperor of France

Signing of the Treaty James Monroe & Napoleon

Treaty of Cession 1803

The U.S. doubles its territory

Present day states included in the Louisiana Purchase

Lewis & Clark Congress financed an expedition to explore the area included in the Louisiana Purchase. Their expedition set out in 1804 & returned in 1806, & reached all the way to the Pacific Ocean. They were accompanied by a crew of men and later an Indian interpreter, Sacagawea

War of When Indians increased their attacks against settlers moving to their lands, most Americans believed that the British were encouraging & arming them. - In 1814, 4,000 British troops marched to Washington D.C. & started fires that consumed the city & even gutted the White House as Madison and his wife fled. - On Dec. 24, 1814, both sides realized war wasn’t what they wanted & so signed the Treaty of Ghent, ending the war.

War of 1812 Before news of the treaty reached the armies, the British tried to capture New Orleans. General Andrew Jackson defended the city, racking up more than 2,000 British casualties, while the American casualties were fewer than two dozen. The battle allowed Americans to end the war on a positive note. The battle also made Jackson a war hero, possibly winning him the presidency in 1829.

War of 1812

Missouri Compromise 1820 Congress began to debate the admission of Missouri as a slave state. Congress from the North were worried that another slave state would increase the power of the South in the Senate. So they reached a compromise. Missouri would be admitted as a slave state, and Maine (Mass. territory), would be admitted as a non-slave state.

Missouri Compromise 1820

Florida The colonies of West and East Florida were ceded to Britain at the end of the French and Indian War Spain recaptured Florida (during the Revolutionary War). 3 continued

Spanish Floridas, 1800

1818 – General Andrew Jackson was sent to stop Seminole Indian attacks across the northern border into Georgia Forced Spain to give up its claim to Florida. Florida 3

Texas Texas wins. independence from Mexico. Texas becomes an independent republic Annexed by the U.S. Causes war with Mexico. 4

The Republic of Texas 1836

The State of Texas 1845

Mexican Cession U.S. wins the Mexican War. Mexico cedes 525,000 square miles of land in present-day New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, California, and Nevada. 5

Territory gained in the Mexican Cession

Oregon Territory 1700’s - Both Great Britain and the U.S. had claimed Oregon – Both nations agreed to occupy the land together – Oregon Treaty - so many American settlers had moved there that Britain gave up the land south of the 49 th parallel (line of latitude). 6

Oregon Territory

California Gold Rush 1849 – Gold discovered in California. Population booms from 15,000 to over 100,000 by late Gives CA enough residents to become a state. San Francisco becomes a major financial and market center on the west coast. 7

Crowds of miners along the American River, 1851

Advertisement for ship’s passage Miner panning for gold

Gold seekers traveled west on the Oregon Trail then south along the California Trail - a 2000 mile trek

Gadsden Purchase 1853 Small area of flat land south of Arizona purchased from Mexico. Needed for the building of the railroad west. 8

Gadsden Purchase

The Native American Problem

Andrew Jackson  Hero of the Battle of New Orleans during the War of  Elected in 1828 as 7 th President of U.S.  Introduced the “Spoils System” in American politics. 9

Indian Removal Act  In 1830, Jackson encouraged Congress to pass this act so white farmers could claim the fertile lands of the South.  Jackson forcibly relocated about 100,000 members of 5 tribes.  They lost 100 million acres of rich Southern land and were given 32 million acres of dry prairie land in Oklahoma. 10

Trail of Tears In 1832 the Cherokees sued the state of Georgia for the right to remain in their homeland. The Supreme Court ruled in their favor. Georgia ignored the ruling and President Jackson agreed. continued 11

Trail of Tears  In 1838, the U.S. Army rounded up over 15,000 Cherokee men, women, and children and forced them to march westward on foot.  The journey took 116 days.  ¼ of them died. Over 4,000.  They called it the “Trail of Tears.” 11

The Trail of Tears

Indian Removal

American Progress 1872 painting by John Gast

Important Political & Social Issues

Nullification Crisis  Northern congressmen increased the tariff on imported goods to discourage foreign trade & encourage U.S. products.  The tariff made imported items more expensive than American-made items.  The tariff benefited the industrial North, but forced the south to pay higher prices for manufactured goods. 12 continued

 South Carolina refused to pay the tariff and declared the law to be null. (nullify means to reject)  States’ Rights – the right to nullify any law that was unfair to one region of the country. Nullification Crisis 12 continued

 President Jackson threatened to send in the military.  South Carolina threatened to secede from the Union.  Jackson proposed a lower tariff. Nullification Crisis 12

Reform Movements Reform - to form again; to change. Attempts to bring about certain changes for the improvement of society. 13

Temperance Movement  Often led by women or religious groups.  Encouraged people to control their consumption of alcohol.  Drunkenness caused most social evils, such as violence, poverty, family abandonment. 14

A woman and her innocent children campaigning for temperance

Temperance Literature

People were encouraged to sign a promise to abstain from alcohol

The Columbian Magazine published this “moral thermometer” based on the alcoholic content of beverages

Prohibition  A movement to make alcohol illegal.  Some states passed laws banning alcohol, but these were soon repealed. 15

Suffrage The right to vote. Only white male property owners had the right to vote. 16

Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Lucretia Mott  Crusaders for women’s suffrage.  Organized the first women’s rights convention in American history. (Seneca Falls) 17

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Seneca Falls Convention  1848 meeting in Seneca Falls, N.Y.  Attended by 300 women and men.  Issued a “Declaration of Sentiments.”  by Protested the lack of political and legal rights for women, including suffrage.  The convention was criticized by the public. 18

Abolitionists Reformers who wanted to abolish slavery. 19

William Lloyd Garrison  Radical white abolitionist  Published The Liberator, an antislavery newspaper in Boston.  Founded the American Anti- Slavery Society in

William Lloyd Garrison Publisher of The Liberator

The Liberator, William Lloyd Garrison, publisher Boston, Massachusetts 1831

Frederick Douglass  Born into slavery and escaped to the North.  Published abolitionist newspaper, The North Star.  Gave powerful speeches in the United States and Great Britain.  Wrote autobiography which sold thousands of copies. 21

Frederick Douglass

Underground Railroad A network of secret escape routes that led runaway slaves from the South to freedom in the North. 22

Harriet Tubman Called “the Black Moses.” Escaped slave who was a major “conductor” on the Underground Railroad. Made over 30 trips helping over 300 slaves reach freedom. 23

Harriet Tubman “Black Moses”

Tubman Rescued Slaves

Harriet Beecher Stowe  Wrote a novel in 1852 called Uncle Tom’s Cabin which told of the horrors of slavery.  Abe Lincoln later called her “the little woman who started this great war.” (The Civil War) 24

Compromise of 1850  California entered the Union as a free state.  New Mexico and Utah territories would decide for themselves whether to be free or slave.  Fugitive Slave Act would require free states to help return slaves who had escaped to the North. 25

Kansas-Nebraska Act 1854 law which created the new territories of Kansas and Nebraska. Allowed these territories to decide for themselves whether to be free or slave. 26

“Bleeding Kansas”  Over 1,000 New Englanders were sent to Kansas to fight against slavery.  Many Southerners crossed into Kansas to vote illegally for slavery.  By 1855 Kansas had two capitals. Topeka: (Anti-slavery, & Lecompton: pro-slavery.)  Many died in violent raids between pro and anti slavery groups. 27

“Bleeding Kansas”

Dred Scott  A slave living in Missouri.  Filed suit against his owner.  Claimed he should be free because he and his wife had once lived in a free territory. 28

Dred Scott

Supreme Court Justices in the Dred Scott Case

Dred Scott Decision 1857 Supreme Court ruled that  Scott had no right to sue in court because he was a slave and therefore not a citizen.  Congress did not have the power to ban slavery in states or territories because slaves were private property. 29

John Brown

John Brown’s Raid  White abolitionist from Kansas.  Led an attack on the federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia.  Intended to give guns to slaves for an armed rebellion.  Convicted of treason and hanged. 30

On his way to the gallows to be hung, John Brown stops to kiss a black child