The term Westward Expansion encompasses the acquisition of territories by the United States across the whole area of the North American continent from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. Westward expansion was enabled by buying land, wars, treaties and the displacement of Native American Indians. The rapid settlement of territories gained during the process of Westward Expansion was made possible by progressive transportation systems such as roads, canals and the railroads and the belief in the Manifest Destiny of the United States of America.
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James Polk used the slogan “Fifty-Four Forty or Fight” in his presidential campaign. The number refers to the line of latitude Polk hoped would become the northern border of the Oregon country.
“Fifty-Four Forty or Fight”oregonPolk boldly declared to Great Britain that joint occupation would end within one year. The British were confident they could win, but by 1846 they were vastly outnumbered in Oregon by a margin of greater than six to one. In June of that year, Britain proposed splitting Oregon at the 49th parallel. Polk agreed to the compromise, and conflict was avoided..
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mexican-american warThe Mexican-American War (1846-1848) marked the first U.S. armed conflict chiefly fought on foreign soil. It pitted a politically divided and militarily unprepared Mexico against the expansionist-minded administration of U.S. President James K. Polk, who believed the United States had a “manifest destiny” to spread across the continent to the Pacific Ocean. A border skirmish along the Rio Grande started off the fighting and was followed by a series of U.S. victories. When the dust cleared, Mexico had lost about one-third of its territory, including nearly all of present-day California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico..
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CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH
Trails West: "Go West, Young Man"
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Settlers following these 'Westward ways' were spurred by various motives, among them including persecuted Mormons seeking freedom of religion. After the end of the Mexican-American War in 1849, there were many new enticing American conquests. Legislation like the Donation Land Claim Act and critical events like the California Gold Rush further incited colonists to travel overland west.
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California and the compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five separate bills passed by the United States Congress in September 1850, which defused a four-year political confrontation between slave and free states regarding the status of territories acquired during the Mexican–American War (1846–48).
North Gets South Gets
-California admitted as a free state -No slavery restrictions in Utah or New Mexico territories
-Slave trade prohibited in Washington D.C. -Slave-holding permitted in Washington D.C.
-Texas loses boundary dispute with New Mexico -Texas gets $10 million
-Fugitive Slave Law
-California admitted as a free state -No slavery restrictions in Utah or New Mexico territories
-Slave trade prohibited in Washington D.C. -Slave-holding permitted in Washington D.C.
-Texas loses boundary dispute with New Mexico -Texas gets $10 million
-Fugitive Slave Law
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the abolitionists
The abolitionist movement called for the end of the institution of slavery and had existed in one form or another since colonial times; the early case had been stated most consistently by the Quakers. Most Northern states abolished the institution after the War for Independence, reacting to moral concerns and economic unfeasibility.
The movement gained new momentum in the early 19th century as many critics of slavery hardened their views and rejected their previous advocacy of gradualism (the slow and steady progress towards the goal of freedom for slaves) and colonization (finding land in Africa for former slaves). As the movement grew and became more formally organized, it sparked opposition in both the North and the South; Northern mill owners depended upon slave-produced cotton every bit as much as the Southern plantation owners.
The movement gained new momentum in the early 19th century as many critics of slavery hardened their views and rejected their previous advocacy of gradualism (the slow and steady progress towards the goal of freedom for slaves) and colonization (finding land in Africa for former slaves). As the movement grew and became more formally organized, it sparked opposition in both the North and the South; Northern mill owners depended upon slave-produced cotton every bit as much as the Southern plantation owners.
In 1849 Tubman fled Maryland, leaving behind her free husband of five years, John Tubman, and her parents, sisters, and brothers. “Mah people mus’ go free,” her constant refrain, suggests a determination uncommon among even the most militant slaves. She returned to the South at least nineteen times to lead her family and hundreds of other slaves to freedom via the Underground Railroad. Utilizing her native intelligence and drawing on her boundless courage, she eluded bounty hunters seeking a reward for her capture, which eventually went as high as forty thousand dollars. She never lost a fugitive or allowed one to turn back.
Frederick douglass
THE GADSDEN PURCHASE
The Gadsden Purchase, or Treaty, was an agreement between the United States and Mexico, finalized in 1854, in which the United States agreed to pay Mexico $10 million for a 29,670 square mile portion of Mexico that later became part of Arizona and New Mexico. Gadsden’s Purchase provided the land necessary for a southern transcontinental railroad and attempted to resolve conflicts that lingered after the Mexican-American War.
U.S. President Franklin Pierce sent James Gadsden, the new U.S. Minister to Mexico, to negotiate with Santa Anna. Secretary of State William Marcy instructed Gadsden to renegotiate a border that provided a route for a southern railroad, arrange for a release of U.S. financial obligations for Native American attacks, and settle the monetary claims between the countries. |