Topic 2.1 Western Expansion (1803-1834)

Western Expansion Theme

• it begins as goal to expand agrarianism, not yet abt business

• Decision on how to take land (negotiate or take): who are we taking from?

• what will power the U.S. economically?

Who inhabits western American

• Native Americans + Indigenous

• English Settlers in Canda

• French Settlers in Canada and the Louisiana Territories

• Spanish Settlers in the Spanish Colonies 

• Russian Interest in modern-day Alaska

Thomas Jefferson + Jeffersonian Foreign Policy

• 1800-1808: Democratic-Republican

• Tho came to power determined to limit fed gov, foreign affairs = inc fed gov

• America's sucess as a democratic experimental republic of farmers was linked to foreign policy

  • America as Model: America exceptionals, Louisiana Purchase 1803 = double size of US, 530 mil acres for $15mil (3 cents per acre, .84 cents today -> value tdy is 2.2 $trillion = counter to Hamilton + industry economy

Louisiana Purchase

Louisiana Purchase 1803 = double size of US, 530 mil acres for $15mil (3 cents per acre, .84 cents today -> value tdy is 2.2 $trillion = counter to Hamilton + industry economy

• In 1803 President Jefferson bought the Louisiana territory from France

  • France was losing control of its empire following the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815) and the Haitian Revolution of 1791-1803 (lost control of Hati)

Jefferson wanted Louisiana purchase because

• Would bring more land into the American democratic experiment

• Would give more land to farmers to live on as democratic agrarians

• Would help American farming economically by giving access to the Mississippi River and ports in the Gulf of Mexico 

James Madison and the War of 1812

The US viewed a series of British actions as a threat to American sovereignty: bc they were treated like kids, questioned US independence

• President Madison declared war on Great Britain (First US declaration of war) 

  • U.S. army unprepared; British sack and burn Washington, D.C. in 1814 (when guy writes national anthem)

  • Control of the war teetered between the British and the Americans

Treaty of Ghent

1814: ended war of 1812

War of 1812 significance

3 fold:

1. War confirmed the sovereignty of the US

2. Weakened European involvement in North America

3. Changed US-Native American relationship bc Europe’s gone

1. War confirmed the sovereignty of the US

• Solidified American Independence -> Often called the Second War of Independence

• Helps build nationalism

2. Weakened European involvement in North America

America can expand in North American w/o real European opposition

• Weakened France: w/ sake of Louisiana Territory = scales back involvement in North America

• Weakened Spain: With wars for independence breaking out in Latin America, Spain’s role in North America was also weakening

• Weakened Britain: With its loss in the War of 1812, the British were becoming less involved in North America (at least south of Canada)

3. Changed the US-Native American relationship

America can expand in North America w/ the possibility of success despite Native American opposition

• As American migration occurred between the late 1700s and early 1800s, many Native Americans experienced white encroachment 

• = many Native American tribes sought to form alliances with European nations who also wanted to prevent American encroachment into their North American Colonies

• War of 1812 ended alliances

  1. Signaled to Europeans that conflict with the US could result in defeat = European nations were less likely to work with Native Americans to agitate against the United States

  2. Native Americans lost their allies and were left to deal with the United States on their own (now with significantly less manpower and resources)

Florida pre 1819 - Aquisition

• Florida was a Spanish colony

• Spain largely neglected Florida because it was preoccupied with its struggles in Latin America

• Florida was populated by:

  • Floridanos (Spanish colonists)

  • Seminole Indians (Indigenous to FL)

  • American farmers

  • Runaway American slaves

    • Given safe harbor in Seminole communities 

    •  + Spain had stopped extraditing runaway slaves to the US in 1794

Seminole Indians Attack America + America Responds

• There are a series of border conflicts between the Seminoles and Americans along the Florida/Georgia/Alabama border

  • Americans are going into Florida to reclaim their slaves and the Seminoles resent that they are going into Seminole territories and communities to do this Attacks Seminoles: raids, invasions, mass killings thru communicates

  • Attacks Spanish: captures forts + cities

• Spain can’t get a handle on the situation 

• President James Monroe authorized U.S. Army General Andrew Jackson to invade Florida in order put down the Seminole attacks

• Jackson is given the “full power to conduct the war in the manner he may judge best”

• For Jackson, the invasion of Florida was an opportunity to:

  • Quell Seminole invasions, but also Native American resistance more broadly

  • Get the Spanish out of Florida and make a play for the colony

First Seminole War (1817-1819)

General Andrew Jackson leads:

• Attacks on Seminoles: raids, invasions, mass killings thru communicates

• Attacks on Spanish: captures forts + cities

Adams–Onís Treaty

Aquisition of Florida 1819

• The US proposes a treaty with Spain: We will not expand our invasion west into New Spain if you give us Florida

• The Monroe administration signed a treaty with Spain in which the US purchased Florida from Spain for $5 million ($120 million in 2024)

• The treaty also created a fixed Western border between the United States and New Spain

President James Monroe, General Andrew Jackson, and the Acquisition of Florida (1819) Significance

Aquisition of Florida =

1. Spain: Revealed to be a weak nation who the US can challenge 

   1. Might the US be able to take Spanish control over other areas of New Spain?

2. Slavery: Growth and Protection

   1. The Seminole's willingness to protect runaway slaves in their communities threatened slavery in the Southeast.

   2. Now, runaway slaves wouldn’t have safe harbor in Florida (ideally they continue expanding west)

   3. Florida would become a slave state when it entered the union in 1845 allowing the institution to expand further south

3. Native Americans: Subject of Formal Attack and Invasion by US Military

   1. US military is now being used to attack and control Native Americans (done by Jackson as a General -> Indian Removal Act in presidency)

President James Monroe & The Monroe Doctrine (1825)

The Monroe Doctrine was a United States foreign policy position that opposed European colonialism in the Western Hemisphere. 

• Asserted by President James Monroe 

• Asserted two key ideas:

  1. Warned European powers not to interfere in the Western Hemisphere (US gaining power as Europe losing power, wars, etc)

  2. Told Europe that if it made new colonies or tried to overthrow newly independent republics, the US would consider this “dangerous to our peace and safety”

• Monroe Doctrine was largely a warning to Spain (Europe's involvement in their colonies = threat to US)
  

Motivations of Monroe Doctrine

Ideological: 

• US is now a protector

• The US is destined to protect the ideals of democracy wherever they are struggling to be achieved

Economic:

• Agrarian/Slave-holding Interest:

  • Weaken Spain’s presence in North America and you can go after New Spain and expand slavery westward along the Continent (Spain took runaway slaves)

  • Supported by Democrats (pro-slavery)

• Commercial/Buisness Interest: 

  • Foster independence in Latin America and there will be access to new resources and new markets to send American goods to, from new developing nations 

  • Supported by Federalists/Whigs (no Republican party yet…)   

Significance of Monroe

• The US declares itself the protector of the Western Hemisphere

  • Extension of Jefferson’s ideas: It is America’s obligation to protect and promote democracy 

• It argues that it has a strategic interest beyond its own national borders and that it has a role to play in shaping events and outcomes in the Western Hemisphere.

• Clear economic motivations for expansion, but each party/region perceives a different economic value of expansion 

President Andrew Jackson, Indian Removal Act, and The Trail of Tears 1830-1834 CAUSE

Americans come into Conflict with Native Americans in the Southeast 1812-1830

• Hope of FF that slavery would fade out fails: Cotton makes more $, ban on import of slaves makes them more valuable

  • cotton boom in the South =desire for “easy” land

• southeastern tribes had signed numerous treaties with the US in which their sovereignty was recognized, but Jackson refused to accept their independence and asked Congress to draft a law authorizing Native American removal

The Indian Removal Act 1830

• Indian Removal Act authorized the forcible removal of Native Americans from several southern states.

• Supreme Court overturns the act in Worcester v. Georgia 1832 bc even tho Georgia surrounds them, they r their own country, u must negotiate w/ them

• Jackson disobeys court's ruling, checks and balances, judicial review

The Trail of Tears 1832-1834

• U.S. soldiers forcibly march 15,000 Cherokee living in the South East off of their land

• 4,000 die in the process

Indian + Trial (2nd Seminole War) Significance

• The War of 1812 and the First Seminole War of 1817-1819 both made the Trail of Tears possible 

  • War of 1812: Drastically weakens Native American Resistance

  • First Seminole War: Shows a willingness to use the US military against Native Americans 

• Trail of Tears begins a decades-long process of the forcible relocation of Native Americans = big part of US Western expansion

Jacksonian Framework (Seminole wars)

• Strategic Aim before was to protect democracy or economy for the whole = less willingness to use violence

• Aim now whatever president wants = willingness to use other aims “I want this and that” = aggressive actions