Unit 6: Era of Reform, Manifest Destiny, the 1850s (History)

The Second Great Awakening (cause)

Emphasis on Moral/Spiritual Life

Industrialization of the North (cause)

Labor/Living conditions worsen

Expansion of Voting Rights (no need property)

New Political organizations and activities

The age of reform (years)

(1815 - 1860)

The Age of Reform

Temperance, Mentally Ill, Women’s Rights, Education, Abolition

Temperance

Reform that led by protestant ministers, middle class women that focus on the issue of high alcohol assumption. Result in state laws that prohibit drinking to 14 and above.

obstacle of temperance movement

German and Irish immigrants

Prison and Asylum

movement lead by Dorthea Dix which focus on poor conditions in public asylums, result in states legislatures build hospitals.

obstacle of Prison and Asylum movement

lacks of fundings and ignorance about mental illness

Securing womens’s rights

movement led by Grimke Sister, L Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stantaton which focus on the lack of rights (voting) and unequal status in worked led to First Women’s conference at Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments.

Improving Education

This movement focus on growing population of uneducated poor lead by Horace Mann result to states created public school system to the 5th grade and mandatory attendance laws.

obstacle of improving education

resistance to using tax dollars for schools

obstacles of securing women’s rights

strong belief that woman’s place was in home

Manifest Destiny

The belief that the United States should stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific

who coined the manifest destiny idea

 John O’Sullivan, an 1845 newspaper editor

Initial key developments helped to instill the idea of Manifest Destiny into the American culture

• Louisiana Purchase made the lands available for settlement.

• War of 1812 removed the British threat and generated nationalism and a belief in Anglo-Saxon superiority

Age of Jackson

1. Migrating west=expanding democracy

2. Lift up the common man

Population increases in the East

1. Overcrowded conditions in urban areas

2. German/Irish immigrants- seeking land, not escaping persecution

Enhanced technology

1. Morse’s Telegram

2. Canals, Steamboats and Railroads

Second Great Awakening

1. Destiny was divinely inspired

2. Prompted reformers to spread ideas

3. Expansion meant spreading of Christianity

4. Federal Government and the US Military

1. Presidents promoted expansion

2. US military was used to “acquire” territory

Pacific Northwest and Oregon first wave of population

first wave were the mountain men

reason why the mountain man reach to the pacific northwest and oregon

• Reach Pacific NW for the fur trade

• Developed first maps and guides

Pacific Northwest and Oregon second wave of population

settlers

Reason settlers move to Pacific Northwest and Oregon

Settle in Oregon- abundance of land and milder climate, traveled along the Oregon Trail

Oregon after the war of 1812

treaty of the war between Britain and US left Oregon as jointly occupied

what is James Polk’s campaign slogan in 1844 presidential election ?

54 Forty or Fight !

purpose of James Polk

• demands for Oregon territory that would stretch all the way to the 54°40’ line of latitude.

Deal about Oregon between Britain and US

• way of a treaty in 1846 which divided Oregon at the US/Canadian Border (49th parallel). 

Texas in 1820s

Mexican Government welcomes American settlers into Texas: 300 families led by Stephen Austin

texas 1830s

1.Americans outnumber Mexican residents 2 to 1

Mexican Government makes changes about Texas 1830s

• Outlaws slavery 

• Requires Catholicism

• Limits American migration

• Impose more direct ruler under Santa Anna

Texas Independence

1835-Lone Star Republic

Delay Annexation (members)

• Northernern Democrats

• Whig Party

• Abolitionists

Ideas of Delay Annexation

Fear a general war with Mexico

Against the spread of slavery

Feared an increase power of the South

Immediate Annexation (members)

Southerners

Immediate Annexation ideas

Provoke a war with Mexico to win more territory

Expand cotton production

Slavery already exists in parts of Texas

Protect rights of property owners

Result of Texas Annexation Debate

• Annexation succeeds by 1845

• Above debate played out in other territories

Southwest and California

Owned by Mexican

Key factors lead to war US-Mexican 1846-1848

• James Polk, winner of 1844 election, campaigned on expansion

• Disputes over the Texas/Mexican Border

• US demanded Rio Grande River

• Mexico insisted on Nueces River

Alleged incident 1846 -1848

• Mexican patrol killed 11 American soldiers

• “American blood has been shed on American soil” - James K. Polk, American President

US Mexican War

• Most of the war was fought in Mexican territory

• American armies captured key cities including Mexico City

American successes force a favorable treaty:

Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo

Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo

• Rio Grande was established as the border

• Mexican Cession-US Takes over large part of the southwest (California, New Mexico, Arizona, etc.) for 15 million

Reason to increase in population California

Gold was discovered in 1848 at Sutter’s Mill outside of Sacramento, California

Gold Rush year

1849

population of California 1840s

• Americans, Asians, South Americas and some Europeans 

Purchased in 1853 from Mexico

The U.S. needed favorable land for construction of a southern continental railroad

Price for Mexico land 1853

10 million, it was 30,000 square miles

Groups in Opposition to Expansion

Native Americans

abolitionists

northern congressmen

example of abolitionists

Individuals such as Henry David Thoreau

Northern Congressmen

Wilmot Proviso

How did enslaved individuals resists

runaway. buy their freedom, silent sabotage (disrupt the productivity) , rebellion(most were unsucessful).

radical or militant

immediate end to enslavement

gradualist

gradual abolition

containists

contain enslavement to the south

Why Southern Reaction to Abolition Movement-More defensive?

The profitability of slavery from the Cotton Gin, fear from Turner's Rebellion, and the belief that Northerners supported abolition forced the South to reinforce control over enslaved individuals through curfews and restrictions by 1850.

Necessary Evil

• Before 1830s

• Necessary to maintain way of life/economy

• If freed, violence and chaos would follow

positive good

• After 1830s

• Civilize/Christianize the enslaved person.

• Fed, clothed, health care

• Better off than northern laborer

• Songs of the enslaved were proof of that contentment

Crisis leads to Conflict

Compromise of 1850

California was admitted as a free state; Utah and New Mexico allowed slavery via popular sovereignty; slavery permitted in Washington DC, but slave trade banned; strengthened Fugitive Slave Law.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin 1852

Harriet Beecher Stowe's best-selling novel about a runaway family's struggles, highlighting the threat of family separation.

North pov on the book

Framed slavery as a moral issue, questioned the fugitive slave law, and reinvigorated the Abolition movement.

South pov on the book

Claimed the author was biased, asserting that northerners sought to destroy Southern life, and responded with pro-slavery literature.

Abraham Lincoln (Rep)

-Restrict Slavery in the west and DC

-Leave slavery alone in the South

-Secession is illegal

-Constitution identified Federal Government as supreme

John Breckinridge (S Demo)

-Expand slavery into the territories, Cuba and Mexico

-Defend slavery in the Southern states

-Secession is legal and a State RIght

-Constitution was an agreement among states

Stephen Douglas (N Demo)

-Use popular sovereignty to settle slavery question in the territories

-Leave slavery alone in the South

-No position on the issue of secession

John Brown’s raid at Harpers Ferry (1859) result

• Local troops and US Marines put down revolt (Led by Robert E. Lee)

• Brown was tried and executed for treason

South view on John Brown raid

• Viewed Brown as a dangerous radical and a murderer

• Believed Northerners were behind the plot

• Prompted the creation of Southern militias--basis of the Confederate Army

Northern view on John Brown raid

• Mixed feelings among the population

• Some viewed him as a martyr for a worthy cause

• Others disapproved of his tactics

John Brown

Passionate Abolitionist who advocated using violence (Involved in Bleeding Kansas)

purpose of John Brown raid

Plan was to seize Federal Arsenal at Harpers Ferry to arm slaves for a general revolt

Lincoln-Douglas Debates 1858 (Illinois Senate race)

A series of debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas focusing on issues like slavery's expansion during their campaign for the U.S. Senate in Illinois.

Dred Scott Decision 1857

Supreme Court ruling that stated African Americans were not U.S. citizens and Congress could not prohibit slavery in the

Whig Party (1832-1848)

A political party of Northerners and Westerners focused on congressional power, supporting free labor and property rights.

Liberty Party 1840-48 Northern Abolitionists

Abolish slavery through legislation

Free Soil Party 1848-1856 Northerners/Westerners

Keep territories free from slavery to protect the rights of free laborers

Republican 1856

Protect slavery where it exists (south). Restrict Slavery from spreading into the west Use federal laws to assert authority in the territories (i.e. no popular sovereignty).

bleeding Kansas

Violence erupted between pro and anti-slavery settlers in Kansas ahead of voting, lasting until the Civil War; notable for John Brown's kill 5 pro slavery men to death.

Why did Senator Stephen Douglas propose a bill in Congress?

To organize the Kansas and Nebraska territories and allow popular sovereignty to decide slavery issues.