APSUH- Manifest Destiny & The 1850s Crisis Terms

MODULE 7

Missouri Compromis (1820)

a congressional agreement that temporarily resolved tensions between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces by admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state

John O’Sullivan

American journalist who coined the phrase “Manifest Destiny”; promoted US expansion-used it to justification for expansion

• advocated for the annexation of Texas and Oregon

Lone Star Republic

independent nation of Texas (which existed from its declaration of independence from Mexico) until its annexation by the US in 1845

Donner Party

group of American pioneers (led by Donner and Reed) who got trapped by snow in the Sierra Nevada in 1846 when migrating to California

• leading to immense suffering, starvation, and cannibalism to survive

• highlighting the perils of Westward Expansion

“54 40’ or fight!”

1840s US expansionist slogan demanding the entire Oregon Territory up to latitude 54 40’ North from Britain; ultimately resolved peacefully at the 49th parallel; establishing US-Canada border

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848)

officially ended the Mexican-American War, ceding vast Mexican territories to the US for $15 million(the Mexican Cession, including California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of Colorado & Wyoming)

• establishing Rio Grande as Texas border

• promising to protect property/rights of Mexicans in ceded lands

Free-Soil Party

1848-1854: short lived but influential US political party opposing slavery’s expansion into western territories- advocating for “Free Soil, Free Speech, Free Labor, Free Men”

• formed from anti-slavery Democrats, Whigs, and Liberty Party members —> merged into the Republican party in 1854

Compromise of 1850

1) permitted slavery in DC, but outlawed slave trade in DC

2) added California as a free state

3) Utah & New Mexico territory could permit slavery based on popular sovereignty

4) Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 - required citizens to assist in apprehending runaway slaves

5) defined boundaries of Texas

“Young America” Movement

19th century American cultural-political forces (primarily Democratic Party) supported nationalism, westward expansion (Manifest Destiny), free trade, and democratic reform

• ultimately worsened slavery-related sectional tensions leading to the Civil War

Popular Sovereignty

principle that a government’s power comes from the people, who are the ultimate source of political authority -rulers are created by and accountable to the public’s consent, often exercised through voting for representatives

“Bleeding Kansas”

the violent political confrontations in the Kansas Territory (1854-1861) between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settles -sparked by the Kansas-Nebraska Act

John Brown

a militant American abolitionist whose raid on Harpers Ferry (Federal arsenal) in 1859 made him a martyr to the anti-slavery cause -instrumental in heightening sectional tensions that led to the Civil War (1861-65)

Pottawatomie Massacre

a violent event in May 1856 during the “Bleeding Kansas” era, radical abolitionist John Brown and his followers killed five pro-slavery settlers -escalating tensions before the Civil War over slavery’s legality in Kansas

Freeport Doctrine

Stephen A Douglas’s 1858 assertion that residents of a US territory could effectively ban slavery by refusing to pass local laws protecting it despite Supreme court’s Dred Scott decisions

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

allowed settlers to decide on slavery through “popular sovereignty” effectively repealing the Missouri Compromise -sparking intense conflict, especialy in Kanas —> leading to violence known as “Bleeding Kansas”

Brooks-Sumner Affair

a violent 1856 event where South Caroline congressman Preston Brooks beat abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner with a cane on US Senate floor for a speech denouncing slavery and Brook’s cousin, Andrew Butler

Dred Scott v Stanford (1857)

in this ruling US Supreme Court stated that enslaved people were not citizens of the US therefore, could not expect any protection fro the federal government or the courts

• also stated that Congress had no authority to ban slavery from a federal territory

Lincoln/Douglas Debates

series of 7 debates b/w the Democratic Senator Stephan A Douglas and Republican challenger Abraham Lincoln during 1858 Illinois senatorial campaign -largely concerning the issue of extension of slavery into the territories

• Douglas labeled Lincoln a radical and Lincoln emphasized slavery’s moral inequality and pointed to “Bleeding Kansas”

Mexican American War 1846-1848

caused by US expansionism (Manifest Destiny) and the annexation of Texas; presidednt James K Polk aggressively pushed to acquire more Mexica territories, particularly California and New Mexico

Personal Liberty Laws

northern states provided further guarantees of jury trial -authorized sever punishment for ilegal seizure and perjury against alleged fugitives and forbade state authorities to recognize claims to fugitives

• laws were among the many assaults on states rights cited as a justification for secession by South Caroline in 1860

Explain the philosophy of "Manifest Destiny." What forces created this concept?

belief that the United States was divinely ordained to expand across North America spreading its democracy, institutions, and “civilization”

• ideology fueled by American exceptionalism, racial superiority, economic ambitions (land. resources), and a sense of national destiny

• justified westward expansion