[Looking Westward]
- by 1840s, gained all territory except Hawaii and Alaska
- “Manifest Destiny”
(Manifest Destiny)
· mid-1800s : American nationalism + idealistic vision of social perfection
o God and history -> to expand the American boundary
· “penny press” : publicized the ideas of Manifest Destiny
o “empire of liberty” : Canada, Mexico, Caribbean, and Pacific Islands
· opposition : Henry Clay warmed that territorial expansion would open the conflicts over slavery again
· for the expansion : Oregon and Texas issues
(Americans in Texas)
· 1820s : U.S. asked Mexico to purchase Texas twice <- Mexico refused indignantly
· 1824 : Mexican gov.’s colonization (immigration) law – offering cheap land and four-year exemption from taxes to any American moving into Texas
o many Americans moved in
§ Stephen F. Austin (Missouri) 1822 created powerful centers (threatening to Mexican government)
· 1830 : Mexican gov. banned further immigration of Americans
o but kept flowing into Mexico
· Mexico-America tension grew -> General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna seized power as a dictator
o increased power of national government than state government
o 1835 : sporadic fighting -> 1836 : Americans declared independence from Mexicans -> Santa Anna crushed the rebellion -> General Sam Houston defeated the Mexican army in Battle of San Jacinto (1836 April 21st), taking Santa Anna as prisoner -> Santa Anna forced to sign a treaty to give Texas independence
· most original Mexicans had to settle in different regions without disfavor-able status
· Sam Houston sent the delegation to Washington for Texas annexation -> Jackson, fearing for sectional tension, delayed annexation until 1837
· England and France forging ties with Texas <- Tyler persuaded Texas for statehood <- Northern senator declined it
(Oregon)
· Britain and U.S. claimed the sovereignty in the region -> Treaty of 1818 : both countries can settle (a.k.a) “Joint Occupation”
· American interest (population) grew in Oregon between 1820s and 1830s -> eventually outnumbered British population
o Americans devastated much of the Indian population
§ spreading measles through Cayuse, up and down the Pacific coast
(The Westward Migration)
· 1840 – 1860
· largest migrants from Old Northwest
o young ppl travelled in family groups
· 1850s : Great California Gold Rush
o many single men
· poor ppl joined other families or as a group of laborers
o men = farmer, rancher
o women = domestic servants, teachers, (sometimes) prostitutes
· Journey : gathered in major depots in Iowa and Missouri -> joined a wagon train led by hired guides -> set off with their belongings in the wagon and livestock following behind
o men walked by feet
o women did the cooking and washing
· Oregon Trail : 2,000 miles long, stretched from Independence (one of the depot) across the Great Plains and through the South Pass of the Rocky Mountains
· passages lasted about 5-6 months (May to Nov.)
· dangers of diseases (cholera)
· Generally travelled with close friends – very communal
o only a few experienced Indian attacks
o 0.1% died on the trip (about 400 people)
o Indians served as guides, traded horses, clothing, and fresh food
[Expansion and War]
- 1840s : expansionists pressured the government to annex Texas, Oregon and other territories
(The Democrats and Expansion)
· Henry Clay & Martin Van Buren : tried to avoid the topic of territorial expansion
o Whig Party : did not strongly advocate for land expansion -> nominated Henry Clay
o Democrats : nominated James K. Polk (an expansionist)
· Polk – Tennessee, House of Representatives for 14 years
o 1844 : out of public office for three years
o main election tactic : “re-occupation of Oregon and the re-annexation of Texas”
o Polk won the election
· Polk won congressional approval for Texas annexation
o 1845 December : Texas became a state
· Fifty-four forty or fight!
o Treaty of Washington (1846) : divided the territory at the 49th parallel
(The Southern and California)
· U.S. admitted Texas to statehood (1845) -> Mexican gov. broke diplomatic relations with Washington -> tension grew -> Mexican claimed Nueces River (north of the Rio Grande) as the border -> (1845 Summer) Polk sent armies (led by General Zachary Taylor) to Texas in case of Mexican invasion
· New Mexico (Spanish and Indian residents) : (1820s) Mexicans invited Americans into the region -> Americans outnumbered Mexican residents -> flourishing economic partnership with Santa Fe and Independence (Missouri)
· California : white Americans began to migrate (maritime traders or other ship crews for bartering goods and supplies) -> merchants established stores and imported goods, developed the trade with Mexicans and Indians -> farmers moved in (settled along Sacramento Valley)
· Polk wanted to acquire both New Mexico and California
o dispatched the troops under Taylor to Texas
o sent secret instructions to the commander of the Pacific naval squadron : seized California fort if Mexico declared war
o informed California residents (Americans) that U.S. would aid the revolt against Mexican authority
(The Mexican War)
· Polk turned to diplomacy, attempting to buy the disputed territories -> Mexicans rejected the claims -> Polk ordered Taylor’s army in Texas to move across Nueces River to the Rio Grande -> several months later Mexican soldiers (so it was claimed) attacked Americans -> 1846 May 13 : Congress declared war
· Whig criticized Polk for deliberately stirring Mexico / opposition intensified as the causalities and expense
· War lasted longer than Polk had hoped
o Taylor captured city Monterrey (1846) -> let the Mexican garrison evacuate w/out pursuit
o Polk feared that either : 1) Taylor lacked tactical skills; 2) Taylor would become successful and turn as a powerful political rival
· Bear Flag Revolt : 1846 Summer : an army led by Colonel Stephen W. Kearny captured Santa Fe -> proceeded to California / joined with Americans in struggle already (John C. Fremont + American navy)
o Kearny conquered California by the autumn of 1846
· Mexico refused to surrender (or recognize the land loss)
· Polk + General Winfield Scott launched a new campaign : an army transported down the Mexican coast to Veracruz -> finally seized the Mexican capital
o new Mexican gov. took power and announced to negotiate for peace treaty
· Polk encouraged to annex as much of Mexico as possible
o sent Nicholas Trist (U.S.)
· Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) : 1) Mexico agreed to cede California and New Mexico to the U.S., / 2) Rio Grande = boundary of Texas
o in return, U.S. : 1) assumed financial claims against Mexico of new citizens / 2) paid the Mexicans $15 million
· Polk was disappointed because Trist didn't annex more additional Mexican lands
o had to act quickly to calm expansionists and antislavery leaders
[The Sectional Debate]
- Northeasterners and Westerners opposed Polk’s policies, thinking it favored South
(Slavery and the Territories)
· 1846 : Polk asked the congress for $2 million to purchase the land -> David Wilmot (Pennsylvania, anti-slavery Democrat) submitted an amendment to prohibit slavery in newly-purchased territory
o -> became known as “Wilmot Proviso”
§ failed to pass in the Senate
o Southerners’ reason : all Americans have rights to move freely into any American territories with their properties (slaves)
· Polk : attempted to extend the Missouri Compromise line (banning slavery in north of the line)
· “squatter sovereignty” – “popular sovereignty” : allow ppl to decide the status of slavery
· Election of 1848 :
o Whig : Polk in bad health, refused to run again -> Lewis Cass (an aging party regular)
o Democrats : General Zachary Taylor (lacked political experiences)
o Free Soil Party : Martin Van Buren
§ foreshadowing collapse of two-party system in 1850s
(The California Gold Rush)
· 1848 : John Sutter found gold in the foothills of Sierra Nevada -> thousands of people rushed to California for gold
o California migrants “Forty-niners”
§ white single men (w/out women, children, or families)
· Chinese immigrants : usually adventurous poor men <- emigration brokers loaned money to migrants for passageways and Chinese were expected to pay back after earning money in America
· serious labor shortage
o Chinese took on the jobs
o exploitation of Indians : “slavery”
§ state law permitted arrest of wandering or orphaned Indians and force work as indentured servants
· only small fraction of people found gold -> many went back after a while but most stayed
· California’s population soared -> cause of racial/ethical tensions
(Rising Sectional Tensions)
· Taylor believed that statehood can solve the problem of slavery -> California (1849) tried to admitted in the Union as a free state
· controversies
o antislavery forces trying to make Washington D.C. a free state
o antislavery forces trying to repeal fugitive slave act by appealing to personal freedom
o Southerners feared the imbalance of slave/free states
· future problems : New Mexico, Oregon, Utah
(The Compromise of 1850)
· Henry Clay (1850 Jan.) : 1) admission of California as a free state / 2) forming territorial governments in new territories, w/out restrictions on slavery / 3) abolition of slave trade but not slaves in Washington D.C. / 4) new & more effective fugitive slave law
o debate lasted for 7 months
o rising of young group of leaders
· 1850 July : Taylor died -> Millard Fillmore (NY) succeeded him
o supported the compromise <- persuaded Whigs
· Stephen A. Douglass (Illinois senator) : proposed to break up “omnibus bill” and introduce separate solutions to be voted one by one
o gained other supports from selling gov. bonds and railroad construction
· Compromise of 1850 passed <- Fillmore called it a just settlement of the sectional problem
[The Crises of the 1850s]
- tension still growing
(The Uneasy Truce)
· Election of 1852 : both nominated unidentified sectional passions
o Democrats : Franklin Pierce (New Hampshire)
o Whigs : Winfield Scott (war hero)
o Free Soil : John P. Hale (antislavery)
· many of Whigs switched to Free Soil <- division helped Democrats to win the election
· Fillmore : attempted to maintain harmony but
o Northern opposition against Fugitive Slave Act intensified
§ mobs formed to reject this law
§ several Northern states passed their own laws barring the deportation of fugitive slaves
o Southern worried that Compromise of 1850 would collapse
(“Young America”)
· Young America (democrats movement) : expansion of American democrats
o influenced by great liberal and nationalist revolutions of 1848
o hoped for acquiring new territories in the West Hemisphere
· Pierce : unsuccessful diplomatic attempts to buy Cuba from Spain (since 1848 in Polk era)
· Ostend Manifesto (1854) : group of his envoys sent Fillmore a private document from Ostend (Belgium) for plan to seize Cuba
o Northern opposition to bringing new slave states
· Kingdom of Hawaii (1854) admittance to Union : failed in Senate for prohibiting slavery in the islands
· annexation of Canada foundered in some parts because of slavery
(Slavery, Railroads, and the West)
· Western lands : discovered to be suitable for farming
o no opposition against Indian policies
o opposition against : 1) railroad / 2) slavery
· Railroad : - North supported to connect Chicago / v. / - South supported to connect St. Louis (New Orleans)
· 1853 : Pierce’s Secretary of War (Jefferson Davis of Mississippi) sent James Gadsden (southern railroad builder) to negotiate part of present Arizona and New Mexico <- (Gadsden Purchase)
o accentuated sectional rivalry
(The Kansas-Nebraska Controversy)
· Stephen A. Douglass (Illinois Senate, Democrats) wanted the transcontinental railroad for Northern section
o realized the Northern railroad would run through most Indian territories
o -> Jan 1854 : organized Nebraska, west of Iowa and Missouri settlement
· Douglass’s Kansas-Nebraska Act
o 1) the free/slave state status would be determined by the state’s legislature (votes)
o 2) “repealed” Missouri Compromise
o 3) divided the territory into two parts : 1) Nebraska / 2) Kansas (most likely a slave state)
· Pierce supported the Kansas-Nebraska Act
o passed in May 1854 by unanimous supports of South and partial supports from North
· destroyed Whig Party, divided the northern Democrats (because Missouri Compromise is repealed)
o formation of new parties: 1) Anti-Nebraska Democrats / 2) Anti-Nebraska Whigs
§ -> 1852 : Republican Party
ú allies with Know-Nothings -> organize House of Reps.
ú won enough seats in congress
(“Bleeding Kansas”)
· white settlers moving into Kansas
· 1855 : Missourians and others moved into Kansas for voting for free/slave state status
o pro-slavery force won; slavery legalized
· free-stators (within Kansas) sent delegates for Topeka convention
o adopted a constitution excluding slavery
o chose their own governor and legislatures
o petitioned Congress for statehood
· Pierce denounced free-stators as traitors, and supported the pro-slavery legislature
o pro-slavery militia arrested the free-state leaders, burned governor’s house, destroyed several printing presses
· Pottawatomie Massacre - John Brown : led six followers (four of his sons) and killed five pro-slavery settlers
o led to civil strife
· “Bleeding Kansas” = symbol of sectional controversy
· 1856 : Senator Charles Sumner gave a fulminating speech to South (specifically to Senator Andrew P. Butler of SC) -> Preston Brooks (House of Rep. – nephew of Butler) hit Sumner with his heavy cane until Sumner became unconscious
o Sumner became a hero in North (couldn’t return to Senate for four years)
o Brooks became a hero in South –resigned but soon voted back to House of Rep.
(The Free-Soil Ideology)
· “free soil” & “free labor” – continued growth and progress
· Northern whites argued that slavery is not democratic since it is a resemblance of aristocracy
o (as they argued) South was engaged in a conspiracy to extend slavery throughout the nation…destroying the openness of northern capitalism
o <- solution is to fight the spread of slavery for advancing democracy
· ideologue of Republican Party -> strengthened the Republicans to the Union
o opposed dismemberment of the nation
(The Pro-Slavery Argument)
· reasons for pro-slavery
o Nat Turner uprising (1831)
o growth of cotton plantation in Deep South
o growth of Garrisonian abolitionist movement, popularity of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin and other intellectuals attacking South
· Intellectual Defense of Slavery
o (1832) Professor Thomas R. Dew of the College of William and Mary
§ Southern Apologists
o The Pro-Slavery Argument (1837)
§ John C. Calhoun supported it
o slavery is good because
§ slaves had better conditions than industrial workers
§ this is the only way two races can live together
§ slavery -> south economy -> prosperity of all nation
o superiority of Southern elements, secured
§ North = source of greed, debauchery, and destructiveness
§ North’s factory system is miserably horrible
§ filled with unruly immigrants
o biological inferiority of African Americans
§ inheritably unfit to take care of themselves
§ cannot exercise citizenship by themselves
(Buchanan and Depression)
· 1856 presidential election
o Democrats : James Buchanan of Pennsylvania (not related to recent controversies)
o Republican : John C. Fremont (explorer of Far West)
o Know-Nothing (Native American) (kind of falling down) : Millard Fillmore (former president)
· Buchanan elected -> did not act effectively to crucial moment
· financial panic lasted for several years
o North blamed Southern-controlled Democratic administrations
o North joined force in Republican
(The Dred Scott Decision)
· 1857 March court case – sectional controversy
· Dred Scott (Missouri Slave) moved along with his master to Illinois, Wisconsin (free states) -> 1846, after his master died, sued his master’s widow for freedom -> 1850 Dred Scott was set free -> Sanford (Scott’s master’s brother) sued Dred Scott that he is not a rightful citizen in the first place to sue
o Taney : Dred Scott is not a citizen but a property, and 5th amendment prohibited congress to take property away from the owner, and the Missouri Compromise had always been unconstitutional
· Republican : would reverse the court decision by overturning the court judges / juries
(Deadlock over Kansas)
· Buchannan : tried to admit Kansas as a slave state
o pro-slavery legislature called an election for delegates in a constitutional convention
o free-state residents refused to go -> pro-slavery force won control of the convention (1857 : Lecompton convention)
§ legalized slavery (did not accept rejection) -> submitted Lecompton constitution to the voters -> rejected it by more than 10,000 votes
· both side called each other frauds and violence, but majority opposed slavery
· Buchannan called Congress to admit Kansas as a slave state -> Stephen A. Douglass and other western Democrats refused to support
· 1858 April : Congress’s compromise : Lecompton constitution would be voted again
o Kansas residents voted it as a free state -> 1861 : Kansas entered the Union as a free state
(The Emergence of Lincoln)
· 1858 : U.S. Senate contest in Illinois - Stephen A. Douglas (Democrat) vs. Abraham Lincoln (unknown to many)
· Lincoln-Douglas debates
o attracted many crowds, made Lincoln well-known
o slavery issues
§ Lincoln : if blacks don’t get their rights, then immigrants would not be able to get their rights as well / if slavery is extended into new western territories, then poor whites’ opportunities would be lost
· Lincoln : believed slavery was morally wrong but was not an abolitionist
o could not see any alternative to slavery
o shared beliefs with northern whites that the black race was not ready to live on equal terms with whites
o promised to prevent further spread of slavery but would not directly challenge the one already existing (because it would eventually die out)
· Douglas won Senate seat + Democrats in the congress legislature
· Lincoln lost but became well-known…elections went heavily against Democrats out of Illinois
· Democrats lost many seats in Congress
(John Brown’s Raid)
· 1859 : John Brown (antislavery zealot), with private encouragement + financial aid from some abolitionists, made plans to seize a mountain fortress in Virginia to stimulate a slave rebellion in the South
· Harper Ferry raid - 1859 Oct. : with 18 followers, took control over Harpers -> John Brown suppressed by local militia + Robert E. Lee U.S. militia -> 10 of Brown’s ppl died -> Brown surrendered -> he and his followers were hanged
· southerners believed that it was supported by Republicans (though not true)
o tension increased : South at risk
(The Election of Lincoln)
· 1860 presidential election
· Democratic party divided : 1) South wanted a pro-slavery candidate / 2) West wanted popular sovereignty supporting candidate => lower South delegates left, remaining delegates couldn’t decide on the candidate
o in Balitmore, nominated Stephen Douglas for president
o divided Southern Democrat nominated John C. Breckinridge (Kentucky)
· Republican trying to gain North supports : Whig measures, high tariff, internal improvements, homestead bill, Pacific railroad with fed. supports, legislature has power to decide state status (but congress or territorial legislatures can’t legalize slavery)
o nominated Lincoln
§ growing reputation since Douglass debates
§ firm / moderate position on slavery
§ relative obscurity
· Lincoln won
o Republicans failed to win a majority in Congress
o disunion began
- by 1840s, gained all territory except Hawaii and Alaska
- “Manifest Destiny”
(Manifest Destiny)
· mid-1800s : American nationalism + idealistic vision of social perfection
o God and history -> to expand the American boundary
· “penny press” : publicized the ideas of Manifest Destiny
o “empire of liberty” : Canada, Mexico, Caribbean, and Pacific Islands
· opposition : Henry Clay warmed that territorial expansion would open the conflicts over slavery again
· for the expansion : Oregon and Texas issues
(Americans in Texas)
· 1820s : U.S. asked Mexico to purchase Texas twice <- Mexico refused indignantly
· 1824 : Mexican gov.’s colonization (immigration) law – offering cheap land and four-year exemption from taxes to any American moving into Texas
o many Americans moved in
§ Stephen F. Austin (Missouri) 1822 created powerful centers (threatening to Mexican government)
· 1830 : Mexican gov. banned further immigration of Americans
o but kept flowing into Mexico
· Mexico-America tension grew -> General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna seized power as a dictator
o increased power of national government than state government
o 1835 : sporadic fighting -> 1836 : Americans declared independence from Mexicans -> Santa Anna crushed the rebellion -> General Sam Houston defeated the Mexican army in Battle of San Jacinto (1836 April 21st), taking Santa Anna as prisoner -> Santa Anna forced to sign a treaty to give Texas independence
· most original Mexicans had to settle in different regions without disfavor-able status
· Sam Houston sent the delegation to Washington for Texas annexation -> Jackson, fearing for sectional tension, delayed annexation until 1837
· England and France forging ties with Texas <- Tyler persuaded Texas for statehood <- Northern senator declined it
(Oregon)
· Britain and U.S. claimed the sovereignty in the region -> Treaty of 1818 : both countries can settle (a.k.a) “Joint Occupation”
· American interest (population) grew in Oregon between 1820s and 1830s -> eventually outnumbered British population
o Americans devastated much of the Indian population
§ spreading measles through Cayuse, up and down the Pacific coast
(The Westward Migration)
· 1840 – 1860
· largest migrants from Old Northwest
o young ppl travelled in family groups
· 1850s : Great California Gold Rush
o many single men
· poor ppl joined other families or as a group of laborers
o men = farmer, rancher
o women = domestic servants, teachers, (sometimes) prostitutes
· Journey : gathered in major depots in Iowa and Missouri -> joined a wagon train led by hired guides -> set off with their belongings in the wagon and livestock following behind
o men walked by feet
o women did the cooking and washing
· Oregon Trail : 2,000 miles long, stretched from Independence (one of the depot) across the Great Plains and through the South Pass of the Rocky Mountains
· passages lasted about 5-6 months (May to Nov.)
· dangers of diseases (cholera)
· Generally travelled with close friends – very communal
o only a few experienced Indian attacks
o 0.1% died on the trip (about 400 people)
o Indians served as guides, traded horses, clothing, and fresh food
[Expansion and War]
- 1840s : expansionists pressured the government to annex Texas, Oregon and other territories
(The Democrats and Expansion)
· Henry Clay & Martin Van Buren : tried to avoid the topic of territorial expansion
o Whig Party : did not strongly advocate for land expansion -> nominated Henry Clay
o Democrats : nominated James K. Polk (an expansionist)
· Polk – Tennessee, House of Representatives for 14 years
o 1844 : out of public office for three years
o main election tactic : “re-occupation of Oregon and the re-annexation of Texas”
o Polk won the election
· Polk won congressional approval for Texas annexation
o 1845 December : Texas became a state
· Fifty-four forty or fight!
o Treaty of Washington (1846) : divided the territory at the 49th parallel
(The Southern and California)
· U.S. admitted Texas to statehood (1845) -> Mexican gov. broke diplomatic relations with Washington -> tension grew -> Mexican claimed Nueces River (north of the Rio Grande) as the border -> (1845 Summer) Polk sent armies (led by General Zachary Taylor) to Texas in case of Mexican invasion
· New Mexico (Spanish and Indian residents) : (1820s) Mexicans invited Americans into the region -> Americans outnumbered Mexican residents -> flourishing economic partnership with Santa Fe and Independence (Missouri)
· California : white Americans began to migrate (maritime traders or other ship crews for bartering goods and supplies) -> merchants established stores and imported goods, developed the trade with Mexicans and Indians -> farmers moved in (settled along Sacramento Valley)
· Polk wanted to acquire both New Mexico and California
o dispatched the troops under Taylor to Texas
o sent secret instructions to the commander of the Pacific naval squadron : seized California fort if Mexico declared war
o informed California residents (Americans) that U.S. would aid the revolt against Mexican authority
(The Mexican War)
· Polk turned to diplomacy, attempting to buy the disputed territories -> Mexicans rejected the claims -> Polk ordered Taylor’s army in Texas to move across Nueces River to the Rio Grande -> several months later Mexican soldiers (so it was claimed) attacked Americans -> 1846 May 13 : Congress declared war
· Whig criticized Polk for deliberately stirring Mexico / opposition intensified as the causalities and expense
· War lasted longer than Polk had hoped
o Taylor captured city Monterrey (1846) -> let the Mexican garrison evacuate w/out pursuit
o Polk feared that either : 1) Taylor lacked tactical skills; 2) Taylor would become successful and turn as a powerful political rival
· Bear Flag Revolt : 1846 Summer : an army led by Colonel Stephen W. Kearny captured Santa Fe -> proceeded to California / joined with Americans in struggle already (John C. Fremont + American navy)
o Kearny conquered California by the autumn of 1846
· Mexico refused to surrender (or recognize the land loss)
· Polk + General Winfield Scott launched a new campaign : an army transported down the Mexican coast to Veracruz -> finally seized the Mexican capital
o new Mexican gov. took power and announced to negotiate for peace treaty
· Polk encouraged to annex as much of Mexico as possible
o sent Nicholas Trist (U.S.)
· Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) : 1) Mexico agreed to cede California and New Mexico to the U.S., / 2) Rio Grande = boundary of Texas
o in return, U.S. : 1) assumed financial claims against Mexico of new citizens / 2) paid the Mexicans $15 million
· Polk was disappointed because Trist didn't annex more additional Mexican lands
o had to act quickly to calm expansionists and antislavery leaders
[The Sectional Debate]
- Northeasterners and Westerners opposed Polk’s policies, thinking it favored South
(Slavery and the Territories)
· 1846 : Polk asked the congress for $2 million to purchase the land -> David Wilmot (Pennsylvania, anti-slavery Democrat) submitted an amendment to prohibit slavery in newly-purchased territory
o -> became known as “Wilmot Proviso”
§ failed to pass in the Senate
o Southerners’ reason : all Americans have rights to move freely into any American territories with their properties (slaves)
· Polk : attempted to extend the Missouri Compromise line (banning slavery in north of the line)
· “squatter sovereignty” – “popular sovereignty” : allow ppl to decide the status of slavery
· Election of 1848 :
o Whig : Polk in bad health, refused to run again -> Lewis Cass (an aging party regular)
o Democrats : General Zachary Taylor (lacked political experiences)
o Free Soil Party : Martin Van Buren
§ foreshadowing collapse of two-party system in 1850s
(The California Gold Rush)
· 1848 : John Sutter found gold in the foothills of Sierra Nevada -> thousands of people rushed to California for gold
o California migrants “Forty-niners”
§ white single men (w/out women, children, or families)
· Chinese immigrants : usually adventurous poor men <- emigration brokers loaned money to migrants for passageways and Chinese were expected to pay back after earning money in America
· serious labor shortage
o Chinese took on the jobs
o exploitation of Indians : “slavery”
§ state law permitted arrest of wandering or orphaned Indians and force work as indentured servants
· only small fraction of people found gold -> many went back after a while but most stayed
· California’s population soared -> cause of racial/ethical tensions
(Rising Sectional Tensions)
· Taylor believed that statehood can solve the problem of slavery -> California (1849) tried to admitted in the Union as a free state
· controversies
o antislavery forces trying to make Washington D.C. a free state
o antislavery forces trying to repeal fugitive slave act by appealing to personal freedom
o Southerners feared the imbalance of slave/free states
· future problems : New Mexico, Oregon, Utah
(The Compromise of 1850)
· Henry Clay (1850 Jan.) : 1) admission of California as a free state / 2) forming territorial governments in new territories, w/out restrictions on slavery / 3) abolition of slave trade but not slaves in Washington D.C. / 4) new & more effective fugitive slave law
o debate lasted for 7 months
o rising of young group of leaders
· 1850 July : Taylor died -> Millard Fillmore (NY) succeeded him
o supported the compromise <- persuaded Whigs
· Stephen A. Douglass (Illinois senator) : proposed to break up “omnibus bill” and introduce separate solutions to be voted one by one
o gained other supports from selling gov. bonds and railroad construction
· Compromise of 1850 passed <- Fillmore called it a just settlement of the sectional problem
[The Crises of the 1850s]
- tension still growing
(The Uneasy Truce)
· Election of 1852 : both nominated unidentified sectional passions
o Democrats : Franklin Pierce (New Hampshire)
o Whigs : Winfield Scott (war hero)
o Free Soil : John P. Hale (antislavery)
· many of Whigs switched to Free Soil <- division helped Democrats to win the election
· Fillmore : attempted to maintain harmony but
o Northern opposition against Fugitive Slave Act intensified
§ mobs formed to reject this law
§ several Northern states passed their own laws barring the deportation of fugitive slaves
o Southern worried that Compromise of 1850 would collapse
(“Young America”)
· Young America (democrats movement) : expansion of American democrats
o influenced by great liberal and nationalist revolutions of 1848
o hoped for acquiring new territories in the West Hemisphere
· Pierce : unsuccessful diplomatic attempts to buy Cuba from Spain (since 1848 in Polk era)
· Ostend Manifesto (1854) : group of his envoys sent Fillmore a private document from Ostend (Belgium) for plan to seize Cuba
o Northern opposition to bringing new slave states
· Kingdom of Hawaii (1854) admittance to Union : failed in Senate for prohibiting slavery in the islands
· annexation of Canada foundered in some parts because of slavery
(Slavery, Railroads, and the West)
· Western lands : discovered to be suitable for farming
o no opposition against Indian policies
o opposition against : 1) railroad / 2) slavery
· Railroad : - North supported to connect Chicago / v. / - South supported to connect St. Louis (New Orleans)
· 1853 : Pierce’s Secretary of War (Jefferson Davis of Mississippi) sent James Gadsden (southern railroad builder) to negotiate part of present Arizona and New Mexico <- (Gadsden Purchase)
o accentuated sectional rivalry
(The Kansas-Nebraska Controversy)
· Stephen A. Douglass (Illinois Senate, Democrats) wanted the transcontinental railroad for Northern section
o realized the Northern railroad would run through most Indian territories
o -> Jan 1854 : organized Nebraska, west of Iowa and Missouri settlement
· Douglass’s Kansas-Nebraska Act
o 1) the free/slave state status would be determined by the state’s legislature (votes)
o 2) “repealed” Missouri Compromise
o 3) divided the territory into two parts : 1) Nebraska / 2) Kansas (most likely a slave state)
· Pierce supported the Kansas-Nebraska Act
o passed in May 1854 by unanimous supports of South and partial supports from North
· destroyed Whig Party, divided the northern Democrats (because Missouri Compromise is repealed)
o formation of new parties: 1) Anti-Nebraska Democrats / 2) Anti-Nebraska Whigs
§ -> 1852 : Republican Party
ú allies with Know-Nothings -> organize House of Reps.
ú won enough seats in congress
(“Bleeding Kansas”)
· white settlers moving into Kansas
· 1855 : Missourians and others moved into Kansas for voting for free/slave state status
o pro-slavery force won; slavery legalized
· free-stators (within Kansas) sent delegates for Topeka convention
o adopted a constitution excluding slavery
o chose their own governor and legislatures
o petitioned Congress for statehood
· Pierce denounced free-stators as traitors, and supported the pro-slavery legislature
o pro-slavery militia arrested the free-state leaders, burned governor’s house, destroyed several printing presses
· Pottawatomie Massacre - John Brown : led six followers (four of his sons) and killed five pro-slavery settlers
o led to civil strife
· “Bleeding Kansas” = symbol of sectional controversy
· 1856 : Senator Charles Sumner gave a fulminating speech to South (specifically to Senator Andrew P. Butler of SC) -> Preston Brooks (House of Rep. – nephew of Butler) hit Sumner with his heavy cane until Sumner became unconscious
o Sumner became a hero in North (couldn’t return to Senate for four years)
o Brooks became a hero in South –resigned but soon voted back to House of Rep.
(The Free-Soil Ideology)
· “free soil” & “free labor” – continued growth and progress
· Northern whites argued that slavery is not democratic since it is a resemblance of aristocracy
o (as they argued) South was engaged in a conspiracy to extend slavery throughout the nation…destroying the openness of northern capitalism
o <- solution is to fight the spread of slavery for advancing democracy
· ideologue of Republican Party -> strengthened the Republicans to the Union
o opposed dismemberment of the nation
(The Pro-Slavery Argument)
· reasons for pro-slavery
o Nat Turner uprising (1831)
o growth of cotton plantation in Deep South
o growth of Garrisonian abolitionist movement, popularity of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin and other intellectuals attacking South
· Intellectual Defense of Slavery
o (1832) Professor Thomas R. Dew of the College of William and Mary
§ Southern Apologists
o The Pro-Slavery Argument (1837)
§ John C. Calhoun supported it
o slavery is good because
§ slaves had better conditions than industrial workers
§ this is the only way two races can live together
§ slavery -> south economy -> prosperity of all nation
o superiority of Southern elements, secured
§ North = source of greed, debauchery, and destructiveness
§ North’s factory system is miserably horrible
§ filled with unruly immigrants
o biological inferiority of African Americans
§ inheritably unfit to take care of themselves
§ cannot exercise citizenship by themselves
(Buchanan and Depression)
· 1856 presidential election
o Democrats : James Buchanan of Pennsylvania (not related to recent controversies)
o Republican : John C. Fremont (explorer of Far West)
o Know-Nothing (Native American) (kind of falling down) : Millard Fillmore (former president)
· Buchanan elected -> did not act effectively to crucial moment
· financial panic lasted for several years
o North blamed Southern-controlled Democratic administrations
o North joined force in Republican
(The Dred Scott Decision)
· 1857 March court case – sectional controversy
· Dred Scott (Missouri Slave) moved along with his master to Illinois, Wisconsin (free states) -> 1846, after his master died, sued his master’s widow for freedom -> 1850 Dred Scott was set free -> Sanford (Scott’s master’s brother) sued Dred Scott that he is not a rightful citizen in the first place to sue
o Taney : Dred Scott is not a citizen but a property, and 5th amendment prohibited congress to take property away from the owner, and the Missouri Compromise had always been unconstitutional
· Republican : would reverse the court decision by overturning the court judges / juries
(Deadlock over Kansas)
· Buchannan : tried to admit Kansas as a slave state
o pro-slavery legislature called an election for delegates in a constitutional convention
o free-state residents refused to go -> pro-slavery force won control of the convention (1857 : Lecompton convention)
§ legalized slavery (did not accept rejection) -> submitted Lecompton constitution to the voters -> rejected it by more than 10,000 votes
· both side called each other frauds and violence, but majority opposed slavery
· Buchannan called Congress to admit Kansas as a slave state -> Stephen A. Douglass and other western Democrats refused to support
· 1858 April : Congress’s compromise : Lecompton constitution would be voted again
o Kansas residents voted it as a free state -> 1861 : Kansas entered the Union as a free state
(The Emergence of Lincoln)
· 1858 : U.S. Senate contest in Illinois - Stephen A. Douglas (Democrat) vs. Abraham Lincoln (unknown to many)
· Lincoln-Douglas debates
o attracted many crowds, made Lincoln well-known
o slavery issues
§ Lincoln : if blacks don’t get their rights, then immigrants would not be able to get their rights as well / if slavery is extended into new western territories, then poor whites’ opportunities would be lost
· Lincoln : believed slavery was morally wrong but was not an abolitionist
o could not see any alternative to slavery
o shared beliefs with northern whites that the black race was not ready to live on equal terms with whites
o promised to prevent further spread of slavery but would not directly challenge the one already existing (because it would eventually die out)
· Douglas won Senate seat + Democrats in the congress legislature
· Lincoln lost but became well-known…elections went heavily against Democrats out of Illinois
· Democrats lost many seats in Congress
(John Brown’s Raid)
· 1859 : John Brown (antislavery zealot), with private encouragement + financial aid from some abolitionists, made plans to seize a mountain fortress in Virginia to stimulate a slave rebellion in the South
· Harper Ferry raid - 1859 Oct. : with 18 followers, took control over Harpers -> John Brown suppressed by local militia + Robert E. Lee U.S. militia -> 10 of Brown’s ppl died -> Brown surrendered -> he and his followers were hanged
· southerners believed that it was supported by Republicans (though not true)
o tension increased : South at risk
(The Election of Lincoln)
· 1860 presidential election
· Democratic party divided : 1) South wanted a pro-slavery candidate / 2) West wanted popular sovereignty supporting candidate => lower South delegates left, remaining delegates couldn’t decide on the candidate
o in Balitmore, nominated Stephen Douglas for president
o divided Southern Democrat nominated John C. Breckinridge (Kentucky)
· Republican trying to gain North supports : Whig measures, high tariff, internal improvements, homestead bill, Pacific railroad with fed. supports, legislature has power to decide state status (but congress or territorial legislatures can’t legalize slavery)
o nominated Lincoln
§ growing reputation since Douglass debates
§ firm / moderate position on slavery
§ relative obscurity
· Lincoln won
o Republicans failed to win a majority in Congress
o disunion began
