National Expansion & Antebellum America

What motivated Americans to expand west?

More land, money, resources, and opportunities - Manifest Destiny made them believe they were meant to expand

What probelms came with expansion?

Fighting with Native Americans and Mexico - arguments over slavery in new territories

Lousisiana Purchase (1803)

Jefferson bought land from France, nearly doubling the U.S.

War of 1812

The U.S. fought Britian; it increased American pride

Monroe Doctrine (1823)

Europe should stay out of the Americas

Market Revolution

New technology, factories, and transportation changed the economy

Technology

New inventions made work easier

Transportation

Canals, steamboats, and railroads moved goods faster

Manufacturing

Factories made more products

Immigration

People moved to the U.S.

Nativism

Favoring native-born Americans over immigrants

Xenophobia

Fear or dislike of foreigners

Missouri Compromise (1820)

Issue: Would new states allow slavery?

Solution: Missouri = slave state; Maine = free state

Slavery was banned in much of the Louisiana Purchase (north)

Manifest Destiny

Americans believed they were meant to expand west

Author: John L. O’Sullivan popularized the term

Indian Removal Act (1830)

Jackson forced Native Americans; thousands died

Jackson’s Presidency

Increased presidential power, opposed the national bank, and suppported Native American removal

How did expansion affect politics?

New states caused arguments over slavery - The North and South became more divided

Mexican-American War (1846-1848)

Issue: Would slavery spread into new territories?

Solution: California became a free state; Utah and New Mexico could vote on slavery

A stricter law required escaped enslaved people to be returned

Reform Movements

Women’s Rights & Seneca Falls Convention (1848), Abolitionists,

Women’s Rights

Women fought for equal rights

Seneca Falls Convention (1848)

Women’s rights meeting demanding equality and voting rights

Abolitionists are….

people agianst slavery

Frederick Douglass

(Abolitionists) Formerly enslaved man who spoke and wrote against slavery

William Lloyd Garrison

(Abolitionists) Publishes an anti-slavery newspaper called The Liberator

Harriet Beeceher Stowe

(Abolitionists) Wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin to show slavery’s curelty

John Brown

(Abolitionists) Used violence in an attempt to help end slavery

Anti-abolitionists

people who opposed ending slavery

Slavery

enslaved people were forced to work without freedom or pay - families could be seperated

Dred Scott Decision (1857)

Case: Dred Scott sued for his freedom

Ruling: The Supreme Court ruled agianst him and said Congress cou;dn’t ban slavery in federal territories

Popular Sovereignty

the people hold the ultimate power and authority in a government

Stephen Douglas

Senator who supported popular sovereignty

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

Let settlers vote on slavery and overtuned the Missouri Compromise restriction

Bleeding Kansas

Pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers fought violently over slavery

How did expansion lead to the Civil War?

Slavery, sectionalism, expansion, political conflict, secession, civil war

Slavery (One of Civil War Cause)

The North and South disagreed over slavery.

Sectionalism (One of Civil War Cause)

People cared more about their region than the whole country

Expansion (One of Civil War Cause)

New land caused arguments about slavery

Political Conflict (One of Civil War Cause)

Compromises failed to solve the problem

Secession (One of Civil War Cause)

Southern states left the U.S. after Lincoln was elected

Civil War

Began in 1861 between the Union (North) and Confederacy (South)

Was the Civil War inevitable?

It wasn't guaranteed, but it became more likely because the North and South could not agree on slavery. Expansion, violence, and failed compromises made the conflict worse