Overview
- US Expansion
- Manifest Destiny
- Based on racial and cultural superiority
- Main focus of political debates
- Acquiring territory
- Mexican-American War: Mexican Cession
- Enormous debates over slavery - Wilmot Proviso
- Effects of Expansion?
- Environmental changes, settlement in Indian lands
- Initiatives towards Asia:
- Economic: Matthew Perry to Japan
- Cultural: Missionaries
- Old Immigrants
- Lived in ethnic communities
- German on the frontier and Irish in Cities
- Came to America pre-Civil War
- Faced Nativism - anti-Catholic and sought to limit their power and influence
- Know-Nothing Party
- Opportunities out West
- Increased due to legislation promoting economic development
- Homestead Act (1862) - 160 acres of cheap land to move out West and settle for 5 years
- Impacts of migrant and territorial expansion
- Conflicts with Hispanics and Natives
- Sand Creek Massacre - CO militia attacked Cheyenne Indians, killed over 100, mostly women and children
- Little Big Horn (Custer’s Last Stand) - Natives attacked and killed Custer and his men
- Conflicts with Hispanics and Natives
- Manifest Destiny
- Northern and Southern Differences
- North - Free labor manufacturing while South dependent on agriculture and slavery with a slow population growth
- North as more power in the House
- Abolitionists
- Small number in the North, although had a visible campaign
- Used fierce arguments (William Lloyd Garrison)
- Helped slaves escape (Underground RR)
- Used violence (John Brown)
- Anti-Slavery
- “Positive Good”
- Nullification - belief that states could declare federal laws unconstitutional
- Racist stereotypes - minstrel shows
- Compromises and Election of 1860
- Various failed attempts at solving the issue of slavery
- Compromise of 1850 - dealt with land gained from Mexican Cession
- Popular sovereignty and strict fugitive slave law
- Kansas-Nebraska Act - Bleeding Kansas
- Dred Scott decision
- Compromise of 1850 - dealt with land gained from Mexican Cession
- Causes of the End of the second party system
- Issues over slavery
- Anti-immigration nativism - Know-Nothing Party
- Emergence of sectional parties - Republicans in the North and Midwest
- Election of 1860
- Lincoln was elected on a free soil platform - anti-slavery
- Immediate cause of secession, which led to the Civil War
- Various failed attempts at solving the issue of slavery
- Union Victory in the Civil War
- North and South mobilized their economies and societies for the war effort, even in the face of opposition
- Both instituted conscription (draft)
- Lincoln suspended habeas corpus in MD
- Emancipation Proclamation - changed the purpose of the war - no longer to just preserve the Union
- Helped keep Europe out of the war
- African Americans fought in the Union Army
- Could be compared with the Gettysburg Address
- Why did the Union succeed?
- Improved military leadership - Grant and Sherman
- Effective strategies - Anaconda Plan
- Naval blockade
- Key Victories in Antietam and Gettysburg
- Great resources - more factories and railroads
- Destruction of the South’s environment and infrastructure - “March of the Sea”
- North and South mobilized their economies and societies for the war effort, even in the face of opposition
- Reconstruction
- 13th Amendment - abolished slavery
- Drastic social and economic change
- However, sharecropping endured in much of the South
- Impact of Radical Republicans?
- Change in balance of power between Congress and President - impeachment of Andrew Johnson
- Former slaves and African Americans gained political opportunities
- Hiram Revels - first African American elected to Congress
- Waning - To reduce, by the 1870s, the North’s resolve for Reconstruction was waning
- Compromise of 1877 ended Reconstruction - the military was withdrawn from the South, Hayes becomes president
- 13th Amendment - abolished slavery
- Constitutional Amendments
- 14th amendment - Provided citizenship and equal protection of laws
- 15th amendment - Suffrage for men
- However, African American rights were limited though:
- Segregation - Jim Crow laws
- Violence - KKK, White League
- Supreme Court Decisions (Plessy v. Furguson, Civil Rights Cases)
- Local Political Tactics - poll taxes, literacy tests, and grandfather clauses
- Women’s Rights
- Split the group
- Some only advocated the 15th amendment if it included women - Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony
- Others advocated the 15th amendment regardless
- These amendments were stalled for many decades, but were used in the 1950s and 60s Civil Rights Movement
- Split the group
Key Concept 1
US became more connected with the world, expanded westward, and emerged as a destination for migration.
The US, especially in the North, expanded its borders and industrial capabilities, creating an attractive destination for Chinese, German, and Irish immigrants. As a result, labor and national projects were fueled by immigrant labor and cultural diffusion became a prominent effect from rising immigration.
- Manifest Destiny was US expansion towards the West. It was based on racial and cultural superiority, and was significant to several debates.
- Old Immigrants were German and Irish immigrants that lived in ethnic communities and faced severe Nativism from groups like the Know-Nothing party.
- The Homestead Act and other pieces of legislature promoted Westward settlement but created conflict with Hispanics and Natives.
Key Concept 2
Expansion and regional divisions, debates over slavery and other issues led to Civil War.
The US was divided between the industrial North and agricultural South. Northern industry favored anti-slavery and high tariffs, contrasting the pro-slavery and low-tariff favoring South. Policies usually favored either the North or the South, creating a political environment of sectionalism and compromises especially on matters regarding slavery. The North favored a containment of slavery while the South favored the expansion of slavery.
- The North had more power in the House, letting North-favoring policies pass through the House but not the Senate.
- Abolitionists were small yet visible in the North and helped slaves escape to the North through debate or violence.
- The South believed slavery was a “positive good” and held the belief of Nullification where states could declare federal laws unconstitutional.
- Compromises failed to solve the issue of slavery. Compromise of 1850 dealt with land in the Mexican cession. The Kansas-Nebraska Act created violence between the North and South. The Dred Scott decision stunned the nation and furthered national divide.
Key Concept 3
The union victory and reconstruction settled issues of slavery but left unresolved questions about citizenship and power of the federal government.
The Union Victory and Reconstruction attempted to resolve questions related to citizenship and the powers of government. Several amendments were created regarding the newly freed slaves but groups and laws continued limiting African American freedom. The questions regarding women’s rights also rose to prominence with the recent developments.
- The 13th amendment abolished slavery and restricted the economy and societal structure of the US. However, sharecropping continued in much of the South.
- The Radical Republicans changed the balance of power between Congress and the President. Former slaves and African Americans gained political opportunities. However, Northern resolve from Reconstruction was waning.
- The 14th amendment provided citizenship and equal protection of laws. The 15th amendment created suffrage for men.
- Jim Crow Laws, violence from groups like the KKK and White League, Supreme Court decisions, and local political tactics heavily limited African American freedom and opportunity.
- Women’s Rights was called to question after the 15th amendment with two groups, one that advocated for the 15th amendment if women were included and another group that supported the 15th amendment regardless.
Terms and Concepts
- Fredrick Douglass
- An American reformer and abolitionists that was an important leader in the African-American civil rights movement
- Free Soil Party
- A short-lived coalition political party in the United States active from 1848 to 1854, before merging into the Republican Party.
- Largely focused on opposing the expansion of slavery into the western territories of the United States.
- The American Party
- The Know-Nothing Party
- Commodore Matthew Perry
- An American naval officer that commanded during the Mexican-American War.
- Played a role in the Perry expedition that ended Japanese isolationism.
- Fort Sumter
- The Confederacy fired on the US garrison of Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, beginning the Civil War