AP-USA

CHAPTER 13

SUMMARY

By the 1840s, "Young America" boasted of its freedom from tradition and restraints of any kind, unaware that a nation that did not concern itself with the practical consequences of its actions was headed for catastrophe. I. MOVEMENT TO THE FAR WEST In the 1830s and 1840s, American settlement pierced the line of Mississippi and reached the Pacific. Settlement often spilled over the borders of the United States and encroached on lands owned or claimed by Mexico and England. A. Borderlands of the 1830s The dream that Canada might someday belong to the United States came to an end in 1842 when the Webster-Ashburton Treaty settled the northeast boundary. Americans looked instead to three other territories: Oregon (an area much larger than the present- day state of the same name), where the United States and England had a joint right of occupation, New Mexico, then owned by Mexico, and California, also owned by Mexico, but virtually uninhabited. B. The Texas Revolution Americans, including many slaveholders, immigrated into Texas, owned by Mexico in the 1820s. These "Anglos" never fully accepted Mexican rule, especially after 1829, when the Mexican government tried to abolish slavery. After a series of incidents, armed rebellion broke out in 1835. C. The Republic of Texas In March 1836, a convention of Texans declared independence. After a short brutal war, Texans forced the defeated Santa Anna to sign a treaty recognizing Texas' claim to territory all the way to the Rio Grande. Texas was independent, but Mexico refused to recognize the new nation. Texas opened her lands to even more rapid American settlement, and it was the desire of most Texans to join the United States. President Andrew Jackson, however, fearing a war with Mexico and domestic political controversy, delayed annexation. D. Trails of Trade and Settlement One of the trails used by Americans in their westward movement, the Sante Fe Trail, was closed by Mexico as a result of its war with

Texas. Along the Oregon Trail, a heavy stream of settlers moved through the Rocky Mountains and into the Oregon country. These settlers demanded that the United States end the joint occupation with England and assume full control.

E. The Mormon Trek Among those moving west were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints. Founded by Joseph Smith in 1830 in upstate New York, the Mormon church attempted to revive the pure Christianity they believed had once existed in aboriginal America. Because of their unorthodox beliefs and practices (polygamy, for example) Mormons suffered persecution that sent them ever westward. They established their own city, Nauvoo, Illinois, but after Joseph Smith was killed by a mob, Mormons resettled around the Great Salt Lake in Utah. They established a state called Deseret, and thanks to a strong central government and the discipline and dedication of the community, they transformed the desert into farmland. Mormons at first resisted being governed by the United States after the area was taken from Mexico, and in 1857 the United States and the Mormons almost went to war. Both sides backed off, and Brigham Young, the Mormon leader, accepted an appointment as territorial governor of Utah. II. MANIFEST DESTINY AND THE MEXICAN-AMERICAN WAR America's westward movement created a confrontation with Great Britain and a war with Mexico. A. Tyler and Texas John Tyler had been placed on the 1840 Whig ticket as vice president in order to get some southern votes; Whig leaders never expected him to become president in 1841. By 1844 Tyler had broken with the Whig party, and his hopes for reelection in 1844 rested almost entirely on finding a new and popular issue. He began pushing for the annexation of Texas, which was a popular issue in the South, but the North was indifferent and perhaps even hostile to the idea of adding a new slave state. When Tyler negotiated a treaty of annexation with Texas, the Senate refused to ratify it. B. The Triumph of Polk and Annexation At the Democratic nominating convention in 1844, southern delegates had enough strength to give the nomination to James K. Polk of Tennessee, who was strongly in favor of annexing Texas. In order to win northern support, Polk also promised to extend U.S. jurisdiction over all of Oregon. His victory over Whig candidate Henry Clay was

a narrow one, but Polk and the Congress interpreted the results as a mandate for expansion. Congress annexed Texas even before Polk was inaugurated. C. The Doctrine of Manifest Destiny The rationale behind American expansion is summed up in the phrase, "manifest destiny," first used in 1845. Expansion was defended on three grounds: first, God wanted the United States, His chosen nation, to become stronger; second, as Americans took over new territories, they made these areas free and democratic; and third, the American population was growing so rapidly that the nation needed more land. The only questions were how far America would expand and whether it would use diplomacy or war to do so. D. Polk and the Oregon Question America almost went to war with Great Britain over the ownership of the Oregon country. President Polk was actually willing to split the area with England, but his public demands for the whole territory annoyed the English, and they refused to negotiate with him. In 1846 Polk notified Great Britain that the United States would no longer agree to joint occupation. England prepared for war, but also proposed division of the area in a treaty that the Senate approved. Although the United States gained ownership of Puget Sound, a deep-water port on the Pacific, the North condemned Polk for not having persisted in his demand for all of Oregon. E. War with Mexico When the United States annexed Texas, it also acquired a boundary dispute with Mexico. When Polk ordered U.S. forces to occupy the disputed area, a skirmish ensued, which the president used to justify a declaration of war on May 13, 1846. Polk saw the war as an opportunity to seize California and New Mexico, those states that Mexico had refused to sell to the United States. In the war, General Zachary Taylor defeated the Mexicans in a series of battles in northern Mexico; New Mexico was taken, and California fell to American forces. The conclusive battles were won by General Winfield Scott, who took Vera Cruz in an amphibious invasion, routed the Mexicans at Cerro Gordo, and occupied Mexico City by September, 1847. F. Settlement of the Mexican-American War In the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which ended the Mexican War, the United States gained the Rio Grande as a southern border and enlarged its size by 20 percent with the addition of California and

the Southwest. Two powerful forces limited further American expansion, racism and anticolonialism. The American people did not want to take in large numbers of Latin Americans, whom they considered inferior. The annexation of Texas and the war with Mexico had also aroused political contention. Most Whigs opposed the war, and many Northerners complained that the nation had been dragged into a war that benefited only the slave-owners in the South. III. INTERNAL EXPANSIONISM Having pushed to the Pacific, Americans turned inward and developed their vast domain. A. Triumph of the Railroad By the 1840s and 1850s, the railroad finally began to displace the canal as the cheapest means of hauling freight. Railroad construction stimulated the iron industry, but the most dramatic side-effect of the railroad boom was in the area of finance. Railroads required enormous amounts of capital, which were raised through new techniques such as bonds and preferred stock, and by large government subsidies. B. The Industrial Revolution Takes Off Mass produetion and the division of labor transformed traditional crafts and made production more efficient. More and more work was done in a factory system, the essential features of which were the gathering of laborers in one place where they could be supervised, cash wages, and a "continuous process" of manufacturing. Agriculture remained of primary importance in the national economy, but even farming was becoming mechanized. In the North especially, advances in industry, transportation and agriculture interacted to create a strong economy. C. Mass Immigration Begins By the 1840s, American industry was capable of providing hundreds of thousands of jobs, which attracted immigrants. Between 1840 and 1860, over four million Europeans, mostly Irish and Germans, came to the United States. Although many came to escape poverty--the Irish especially--most immigrants came for the opportunity to work at higher wages. Ironically, many immigrants stayed in the port cities and gladly took low-paying jobs. Since most immigrants could only afford substandard housing, urban slums spread, inspiring efforts to reduce crime, vice and dirt, but progress was slow.

D. The New Working Class Traditionally, women and children were factory workers. Men began to enter the factory work-force in significant numbers only in the 1840s. At that time, working conditions had begun to deteriorate. Employers were less personally involved with their laborers, and the depression that followed 1837 induced employers to demand more work for less pay. Workers responded by organizing unions. When immigrants poured into America, they replaced native Americans in the factories. The budding union movement was badly hurt, but the new working class did not form a docile body of employees. They resented the discipline and continuous nature of factory work and clung to traditional work habits, which to the supervisors appeared as careless work habits. The new working class also posed a problem for American ideals. It had always been assumed that working for wages was merely the first step toward becoming your own master. Now, it was obvious that a permanent, wage-earning working class had come into existence. Politicians like Stephen Douglas hoped to create a patriotic consensus based on continued territorial and economic expansion, but expansion actually created conflicts between classes and sections that the politicians could not control. IV. CONCLUSION: THE COSTS OF EXPANSION The age of expansionism had extracted a tremendous price on the United States. External (territorial) expansion generated a diplomatic crisis, a war, and sectional conflict that would eventually divide the nation while internal (economic) expansion fueled class and ethnic rivalries and threatened America's self-image as a land of opportunity and upward mobility.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After mastering this chapter, your students should be able to: 1. Describe the conditions of the western "borderlands" of the 1830s as well as the factors attracting American settlers. 2. Explain the causes, events, and results of the Texas revolution. 3. Discuss the importance of the Santa Fe and Oregon Trails in expanding American trade and settlement. 4. Trace the development of the Mormon Church and the westward trek of its members. 5. Identify the candidates and issues and explain the outcome and consequences of the election of 1844. 6. Evaluate the successes and failures of James K. Polk's administration. 7. Discuss the rationale for expansion as expressed in the doctrine of manifest destiny.

8. Summarize the causes, events, and outcomes of the Mexican War. 9. Discuss the factors that contributed to American economic growth from 1830 to 1860. 10. Describe the changing composition and attitudes of the American working class during this era.

QUESTIONS
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. What factors lured Americans to the Far West - California, New Mexico, Oregon, and Utah - from the 1820s through the 1840s? Were the Texans justified in revolting against Mexico in 1836? Americans have seemingly always believed that their nation was blessed with a divine mission. Explain. How did that notion relate to the concept of Manifest Destiny? Does such a sense of mission persist today? Define imperialism. Was the Mexican War an imperialistic venture by the United States? Why, given the expansionist spirit of the age, did the United States not seek to acquire all of Mexico? What were the most important factors contributing to American economic growth from 1830 to 1860? How did increasing industrialization affect the conditions and attitudes of the new working class?

Chapter 13 Review Questions (HOMEWORK) Identify these terms or names, your answers must be HAND-WRITTEN, turn in one for HW.
Briefly identify the meaning and significance of the following terms:

1. Young America"

2. Stephen F. Austin

3. Oregon Trail

4. Joseph Smith

5. John Tyler

6. James K. Polk

7. Manifest Destiny

8. "Fifty-four Forty or Fight"

9. Zachary Taylor

10. Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

11. The Alamo