Exam Notes on Manifest Destiny and the Civil War

Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion

Manifest Destiny: The belief that the U.S. had a God-given right to expand its dominion and spread democracy and capitalism across the entire North American continent.
Goal: To expand the nation "from sea to shining sea."
California Gold Rush (1848):
- Significant influx of people to the West Coast.
Homestead Act:
- Offered opportunities for people to move west and claim land.
Mormon Migration:
- Mormons moved west to Utah to escape religious persecution.
Texas and the Mexican-American War:
- Mexican government requirements for immigrants in Texas:
  - Convert to Roman Catholicism.
  - Reject slavery.
- American settlers largely ignored these requirements.
- Texas Revolution:
  - Sam Houston led the fight for Texas independence.
  - The Alamo: A significant defeat for the Texans.
  - Battle of San Jacinto: Houston's victory secured Texas independence.
- Delay in Annexation:
  - Presidents Jackson and Van Buren hesitated to make Texas a state due to potential war with Mexico.
- Texas Annexation:
  - Texas was independent because becoming a US state could cause war with Mexico.
  - Under Presidents Tyler and Polk, Texas became a U.S. state.
- Mexican-American War:
  - The U.S. gained substantial land from Mexico as a result of the war.
  - Wilmot Proviso: Proposed that slavery should be prohibited in any territory acquired from Mexico.
Compromise of 1850:
- Authored by Henry Clay, aimed to resolve disputes over slavery in newly acquired territories.
Free Soil Movement:
- Not primarily focused on abolishing slavery.
- Aimed to prevent the expansion of slavery into western territories to preserve opportunities for white people.
Popular Sovereignty:
- The idea that residents of a territory should decide whether to allow slavery.
Anti-Immigration Sentiment:
- Driven by job competition and religious prejudice.
- Nativism: Protecting the interests of native-born inhabitants against those of immigrants.
- Know-Nothing Party: An anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic political party.
Abolitionism:
- William Lloyd Garrison: A prominent abolitionist who published "The Liberator" newspaper.
- Harriet Beecher Stowe: Author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," which depicted the harsh realities of slavery.

Division and Civil War

Regional Differences:
- The North and South were developing distinct societies and economies.
Fugitive Slave Law:
- Increased tensions between North and South, requiring the return of runaway slaves.
Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad:
- Helped slaves escape to the North.
Kansas-Nebraska Act:
- Instituted popular sovereignty in these territories.
- Effectively nullified the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which had restricted the expansion of slavery.
Dred Scott v. Sanford Supreme Court Decision:
- Ruled that slaves were not citizens and had no right to sue in federal court.
Secession:
- Southern states seceded after Lincoln's election in 1860.
Union Strategy: Anaconda Plan:
- Three main components:
  - Naval blockade of the Confederacy.
  - Control of the Mississippi River.
  - Capture of the Confederate capital.
Sherman's March to the Sea:
- Devastated the South.
Key Leaders:
- Ulysses S. Grant (Union).
- Robert E. Lee (Confederacy).
Emancipation Proclamation (1863):
- Freed slaves in Confederate territories.

Reconstruction

Lincoln's Plan for Reconstruction:
- Aimed at a lenient approach to reintegrating the South.
- However, Lincoln was assassinated, leading to changes in Reconstruction policy.
Post-War South:
- Black Codes: Laws that restricted the rights of African Americans.
- Lynchings: Extrajudicial killings, often targeting Black individuals.
- Ku Klux Klan (KKK): A white supremacist terrorist group.
- Black Voter Suppression: Tactics such as poll taxes and literacy tests were used to prevent African Americans from voting.
- Sharecropping: An agricultural system that often trapped Black farmers in cycles of debt.
Freedmen's Bureau:
- Provided assistance to newly freed slaves.
Compromise of 1877:
- Ended Reconstruction by removing federal troops from the South.
Jim Crow Laws:
- Enforced segregation and discrimination against African Americans.

Regional Differences & Immigration

Immigration:
- Large-scale immigration, especially from Ireland and Germany.
- Immigrants settled in cultural enclaves to maintain their languages, religions, and customs.
- Often lived in slums, with high mortality rates and disease.
- Germans often moved west to farm.
Nativist Movement:
- Rose in response to immigration.
- Nativism: Protecting the interests of native-born people against immigrants.
- Know-Nothing Party: Focused on limiting immigrants' cultural and political influence, particularly targeting Catholics.
Slavery:
- Northern Economy:
  - Stimulated by free wage labor in factories.
  - Rapid population growth.
- Southern Economy:
  - Fueled by slave labor on agricultural plantations.
- Economic Concerns in the North:
  - Fear that slavery's expansion would limit opportunities for free wage laborers.
  - Led to the rise of the Free Soil Party.
Abolitionist Movement:
- A Minority with Influence:
  - Abolitionists were a minority in the North but highly influential.
- Key Figures:
  - William Lloyd Garrison: Published "The Liberator."
  - Harriet Beecher Stowe: Author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin."
  - Frederick Douglass: Orator and former slave.
- Underground Railroad:
  - A network of houses that provided shelter to slaves escaping to the North.
  - Thousands of slaves gained freedom through this network.
- John Brown:
  - Believed that only a slave uprising could end slavery.
  - Raid on Harpers Ferry: Attempted to steal weapons and start a rebellion; it was unsuccessful.
  - Southern Perspective: Southerners viewed Brown's raid as symbolic of abolitionists wanting a race war.

Kansas-Nebraska Act & "Bleeding Kansas"

Kansas-Nebraska Act:
- Allowed territories to decide on slavery through popular sovereignty.
- Undid the Compromise of 1820.
Bleeding Kansas:
- Violence erupted as pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions fought for control of the territory.