AP US History Unit 5 Study Notes

Concept of Manifest Destiny: Belief that Americans were destined to expand across the continent.
Motivation for westward expansion:
- Land equaled opportunity.
- Resources: Land had resources like fertile soil.
- Economic incentives: Farmers sought fertile soil, miners pursued gold, and religious groups aimed for refuge in areas like Utah.
- Significant migration patterns, such as thousands of settlers using the Oregon Trail.
- Risks associated with the journey: loss of wagons, disease (dysentery), and harsh conditions.
Symbolism of expansion: The image of an angel guiding settlers west serves as a representation of the perceived divine approval of expansion.
Government's role in expansion:
- Homestead Act: Provided free land to settlers who met specific conditions.
- Pacific Railroad Act: Funded the construction of railroads to facilitate westward movement.

Expansion of trade with Asia despite westward focus.
Key treaties:
- Treaty of Wanghia: Opened trade with China (though unlisted in the transcript).
- Treaty of Kagawa: Forced Japan to open ports to American ships.

Election of James K. Polk (1845): Focused solely on westward expansion.
Disputes with Mexico over the Texas border:
- U.S. claimed the Rio Grande as the border; Mexico claimed the Nueces River.
Polk's justification for war after skirmish: "American blood was shed on American soil."
Outcome of the Mexican-American War: U.S. victory.
- Culminated in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848).
- Resulted in the Mexican Cession, which massively expanded U.S. territory.
Emergence of sectional conflict related to the status of slavery in new territories.

Attempt to address tensions over slavery in new territories post-Mexican-American War.
Five major components of the Compromise:
1. California admitted as a free state.
2. Utah and New Mexico territories given the right to decide on slavery (popular sovereignty).
3. Abolishment of the slave trade in Washington, D.C.
4. Introduction of a stricter Fugitive Slave Act, requiring northern states to return escaped slaves.
5. Texas compensated with $10 million to resolve territorial claims.
Consequences: Infuriated Northerners (particularly due to the Fugitive Slave Act) and deepened sectional divisions.

Increase in immigration: Significant influx of Irish and German immigrants, particularly to northern cities during the 1848 revolutions and the Irish Potato Famine.
Role of abolitionists in growing tensions:
- Frederick Douglass: Notable speeches exposing the hypocrisy of American ideals (e.g., "What to the Slave is the 4th of July").
- Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin: Critiqued and exposed the atrocities of slavery.
- Harriet Tubman: Key figure in the Underground Railroad, facilitating the escape of enslaved people.

Examination of the numerous failed compromises around the issue of slavery:
- Wilmot Proviso: Attempted to ban slavery in territories gained from Mexico. Passed in the House; failed in the Senate.
Kansas-Nebraska Act: Allowed territories to decide on slavery through voting. Led to violent conflicts known as Bleeding Kansas.
John Brown's insurrection: A significant violent anti-slavery campaign that contributed to rising tensions.

Executive branch: Weak presidents who failed to confront the slavery issue.
Legislative branch: Notable incidents of violence, such as the caning of Charles Sumner by Preston Brooks.
Supreme Court: Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857) decision that denied citizenship to slaves and prohibited Congress from banning slavery in territories.
John Brown's insight: "I am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away, but with blood."

Candidates:
- Abraham Lincoln (Republican): Against the expansion of slavery, but would not abolish it in the Southern states.
- Stephen Douglas (Northern Democrat): Favored popular sovereignty.
- John C. Breckinridge (Southern Democrat): Pro-slavery across all territories.
- John Bell (Constitutional Union): Advocated for the Constitution and Union.
Lincoln's election results: Sparked secession movements in the South, starting with South Carolina.

Fort Sumter: Site of the first conflict; Lincoln called for troops to suppress the rebellion.
North vs. South: Disparities in population, industry, and resources, leading to Union advantages in production and manpower.
Early war strategies: Confederate defensive tactics versus Union's Anaconda Plan aimed at blockade.

Battle of Gettysburg: Marked a significant defeat for Lee and a pivotal moment for the Union.
Vicksburg: Gave Union control of the Mississippi River.

William Tecumseh Sherman and his approach of total war, causing extensive destruction in the South (March to the Sea).
Grant's relentless military campaign against Lee, capitalizing on the North's ability to replenish troops.

Casualties: 698,000 fatalities, marking the deadliest conflict in American history.
Shift in purpose: Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation reframed the war's purpose toward ending slavery.
- Allowed former enslaved people to enlist in the Union Army, with nearly 200,000 African Americans serving.
- Black regiments such as the 54th Massachusetts played crucial roles in Union victories.

Plan established by Lincoln: 10% plan for lenient re-admittance of Southern states based on loyalty pledges.
President Andrew Johnson's similar but misguided approach, leading to conflict with Radical Republicans.
Radical Republican Reconstruction: Aimed to enforce civil rights and ensure protection for African Americans.

Emergence of Black Codes and sharecropping, perpetuating cycles of poverty akin to slavery.
Rise of violence and terrorism with groups like the Ku Klux Klan and the passage of Jim Crow laws.
Supreme Court rulings undermining civil rights, such as the Slaughterhouse Cases (1873) and US v. Cruikshank.
Compromise of 1877: A political agreement ending federal military presence in the South, thus dismantling Reconstruction efforts.
Consequences for African Americans: Legal rights granted in the amendments did not translate to social equality, leading to systemic discrimination that persisted for decades.

Reconstruction marked the U.S.'s first attempt at civil rights but resulted in failure and long-lasting repercussions.
Legacy of the 14th and 15th Amendments: Became the foundation for future civil rights movements.
Final note: Irony of ending with the notion that nothing bad occurs in American history thereafter.