Unit 5: Land and Sectionalism

Manifest Destiny

A notion held by a nineteenth-century Americans that the United States was destined to rule the continent (as ordained by God), from the Atlantic the Pacific.

John L. O'Sullivan

A newspaper editor who coined the phrase "Manifest Destiny" and argued for American expansionism.

Social Reasons for Manifest Destiny

Belief in American exceptionalism; the desire to spread American democracy/ideals; view that White Americans were superior to Natives.

Political Reasons for Manifest Destiny

Monroe Doctrine; desire to acquire Oregon and Texas; success of expansionist Democrats.

Economic Reasons for Manifest Destiny

Farmland; access to rich resources; greater opportunities for settlers.

John C. Fremont

An American military officer, an explorer who mapped trails to Oregon and California, and the Republican candidate for president in 1856 (the first major candidate of a major party to run on a platform in opposition to slavery).

Overland Trails

Westward trail route of wagon trains bearing settlers; most moved for greater opportunities; difficulties included disease, weather, etc.

Donner Party

A party of western settlers who were stranded in the Sierra Nevada mountains in the winter of 1846-47. Evidence of cannibalism to survive.

Oregon Territory

After joint occupancy of British/Americans, it was founded in 1846 with a border between Canada and the U.S. agreed at the 49th Parallel.

Donation Land Claim Act of 1850

It was an act designed to encourage people to move into the new territory acquired from the Oregon Treaty. The government promised every 18+ white male 320 acres, and every married couple 640 acres if they settled in the region.

Santa Fe Trail

Trail from independence Missouri to Santa Fe New Mexico in the mid-1800s; much of the trail was in Mexico; unlike other Overland Trails, there were threat of attacks from Native Americans, namely Comanches and Apaches.

Stephen Austin

The First Texas empresario (land agent) who was granted land in Texas from the Mexican government. A leader in the movement toward Texas independence.

Texas Revolution

The 1836 rebellion sparked from American settlers' frustration with the Mexican government limiting further immigration and outlawing slavery; Texas gained its independence from Mexico, culminating in the Texian (American) victory at the Battle of San Jacinto.

Battle of the Alamo

This battle resulted in a Mexican victory under General Santa Anna during the Texas Revolution in 1836.

Battle of San Jacinto

An 1836 battle between Texians and Mexicans during the Texas Revolution, the result was a victory for the Texians (Americans), resulting in Texas independence from Mexico.

Republic of Texas

Independent nation that was created after Texians defeated Mexico in the Texas Revolution.

Texas Annexation

Originally refused in 1837 in opposition to the extension of slavery, it was completed in 1845 after the election of James K. Polk.

James K. Polk

The 11th President of the U.S. and noted expansionist. He was the "Manifest Destiny" president during whose administration the U.S. gained Oregon, Texas, and parts of California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, N. Mexico.

Mexican-American War (1846-1848)

The war between the United States and Mexico in which the United States acquired parts of California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, N. Mexico (Mexican Cession). There was much opposition to the war, primarily from Whigs who feared new territories would become slave.

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

1848 treaty that ended the Mexican-American War in which the U.S. acquired the Mexican Cession territory.

California Gold Rush

Mass migration to California following the discovery of gold in 1848.

Zachary Taylor

Whig president who was a Southern slave holder, and war "hero" (Mexican-American War). Won the 1848 election. He died during his first term.

Sectionalism

The division between the North and the South, primarily over the issue of slavery, throughout the nineteenth century during the lead-up to the Civil War.

Wilmot Proviso (1846)

This was a proposal to ban slavery in any territory acquired from the Mexican-American War. Northerners favored; Southerners opposed. It did not pass.

Compromise of 1850

Antislavery: 1. California admitted as a free state. 2. Slave traded ended in Washington, D.C.

Proslavery: 1. Slavery in rest of Mexican Cession to be decided by a vote. 2. A strict new Fugitive Slave Act.

Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

This increased the power of slave owners to capture escaped slaves and provided for greater federal penalties for those who protected fugitive slaves.

Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852)

Harriet Beecher Stowe's widely read novel that dramatized the horrors of slavery. It heightened Northern support for abolition and escalated the sectional conflict.

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

Proposed by Senator Stephen Douglas (D-Illinois) and advocated popular sovereignty to determine slave status. Would lead to violence (Bleeding Kansas).

Caning of Charles Sumner

An 1856 incident in which Massachusetts senator Charles Sumner was assaulted on the floor of the Senate by South Carolina congressman Preston S. Brooks for speaking out against slavery and insulting Brooks's cousin.

Bleeding Kansas (1856)

Violence between Free-Soilers and Border Ruffians, each of which created their own governments to determine the slave status of Kansas.

Republican Party (1854)

Organized in 1854 by antislavery Whigs, Free Soilers, and northern reformers.

Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)

Slave sued his owner, claiming that living and working in a free territory with his master made him free. The court decided that African Americans were not citizens and the government can't interfere in the free movement of property, implying there's no such thing as a free state.

Lincoln-Douglas Debates (1858)

A series of debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas during their 1858 Senate race in Illinois. The main topic was slavery.

John Brown

A radical abolitionist who was hanged after leading an unsuccessful raid at Harper's Ferry, Virginia in 1859.

Election of 1860

Lincoln, the Republican candidate, won because the Democratic party was split over slavery. As a result, the South no longer felt like it has a voice in politics and a number of states seceded from the Union.

South Carolina

The first state to secede from the Union (December 20, 1860) in response to Lincoln's election.