US His Manifest Destiny pt 1, Early US Expansion, and the Missouri Compromise – Detailed Study Notes

Page 1 – Frederick Jackson Turner & the Frontier Thesis

  • 1893: Turner publishes The Significance of the Frontier in American History.
    • Argues that the frontier is where Europeans became Americans.
    • Frontier experience fostered
    • Self-government & democracy
    • Social/economic mobility
    • A national habit of expansion.
  • From the 13 British colonies to occupying the middle half of North America = a continuous expansion narrative.
  • 1783 Treaty of Paris
    • U.S. boundary pushed from the Appalachian Mts. to the Mississippi R.
    • Instant doubling of national territory.

Page 2 – The Old Northwest (1783 Treaty Lands)

  • Present-day OH, IN, IL, MI, WI{\text{OH, IN, IL, MI, WI}}.
  • Early American presence: 1750s fur trade; the French & Indian War sparked by English penetration of the Ohio Valley.
  • Population Sparse until 1820s → new transport:
    • Erie Canal (1825)
    • Steamboats & early rail lines
  • Demographics & Society
    • Migrants: New Englanders, New Yorkers, Pennsylvanians → straight west.
    • Ideology: small family farms, independent free labor.
    • Northwest Ordinance (1785 under Articles of Confederation) permanently bans slavery.
    • Ethnic mix: Anglo-Americans dominant; pockets of French (esp. near Canada); free Blacks; later Germans & Scandinavians seeking farmland.
  • Economy
    • Diversified grain agriculture: corn, wheat, oats, rye, barley.
    • By the Civil War, becomes the nation’s industrial heartland.

Page 3 – The Old Southwest (1783 Treaty Lands)

  • Present-day MS, AL, TN, KY{\text{MS, AL, TN, KY}}.
  • U.S. presence from 1750s; large settlement delayed until 1820s.
    • Native resistance removed via forced migrations.
    • Improved transportation.
  • Migrants: Southerners from VA & the Carolinas → hunting new cotton land.
  • Institutions & Law
    • Southwest Ordinances (1789, under new Constitution) explicitly allow slavery.
    • Social structure: yeoman farmers + large cotton plantations worked by enslaved African Americans.
  • Demographics
    • Majority Anglo-American; large minority of enslaved Blacks.
    • Low European immigration (competition with cheap slave labor).
    • New Orleans: lingering Spanish, French & African cultural layers.
  • Economic profile: monocrop cotton + subsistence food farming.

Page 4 – The Louisiana Purchase (1803)

  • Spanish control of Mississippi R. & New Orleans threatened U.S. commerce.
    • Spain repeatedly closed river/port.
  • 1800: Spain cedes Louisiana (blue on map) to France after a European war.
  • President Thomas Jefferson wants New Orleans ⇒ authorizes $5,000,000\$5{,}000{,}000 offer.
  • Napoleon’s counter-offer: entire Louisiana Territory for $15,000,000\$15{,}000{,}000.
    • Accepts he cannot police Americans while fighting European wars.
  • Jefferson’s Calculus
    • Secures both banks of Mississippi & Port of New Orleans.
    • Blocks future British or Spanish encroachment.
    • Vast land to fulfill vision of agrarian yeoman republic.
  • Cost Analysis
    • Price per acre≈$0.57\text{Price per acre} \approx \$0.57 (in 2013 dollars ≈ $ 0.57\$\,0.57/acre).
    • 2025 valuation ≈ $1,000,000,000,000\$1{,}000{,}000{,}000{,}000 (≫ $350,000,000\$350{,}000{,}000 in 1825-equivalent dollars).
    • “One of the greatest real-estate deals in history.”
  • Constitutional Question
    • Jefferson, a strict-constructionist, quietly shifts to loose construction: if not prohibited, it’s allowed.
    • Purchase never tested by Supreme Court ⇒ de facto constitutional.
  • Result: U.S. territory doubles again, this time by purchase.

Page 5 – Exploration of Louisiana

Lewis & Clark Expedition (1804-1806)
  • Captain Meriwether Lewis (Jefferson’s secretary) & Captain William Clark.
  • Route: Missouri R. → headwaters → over Continental Divide → to Pacific (Oregon coast) → return.
  • Outcomes
    • Detailed journals: flora, fauna, geology, trade potential.
    • Strengthens U.S. claim to Oregon Country.
    • Sacagawea (Shoshone woman) acts as translator/guide; folklore labels her the true hero.
Pike Expedition (1806-1807)
  • Lt. Zebulon Pike explores southern Louisiana.
    • Discovers “Pike’s Peak” (present-day CO).
    • Follows Rio Grande to Santa Fe → briefly enters N. Mexico → skirts Spanish San Antonio → returns.
  • Provides early U.S. claim to Tejas (Texas).

Page 6 – Florida & the Adams-Onís Treaty (1819)

  • Pre-1819 Florida = political chaos.
    • Claimed by Spain; populated by multiple Native tribes; coveted by Britain & U.S.
    • Refuge for enslaved runaways; Seminoles shelter them.
  • War of 1812: Gen. Andrew Jackson invades, strengthening U.S. bargaining position.
  • Strategic motives
    1. Recapture fugitive slaves.
    2. Prevent Spanish blockade of the Florida Straits, which could bottle up Gulf commerce despite U.S. control of Mississippi.
  • Adams-Onís Treaty (1819)
    • Negotiators: Sec. of State John Quincy Adams & Spanish FM Luis de Onís.
    • Spain cedes Florida for free.
    • U.S. establishes a firm western boundary of Louisiana (slashing later disputes in Tejas/NM).
  • Territorial completion now reaches the Rocky Mountains.

Page 7 – Ideological Roots of Manifest Destiny

  • Early talk of a “Continental Nation” during the Revolution (Continental Army, Congress, etc.).
  • Philosophical seed = American Exceptionalism (Puritan “city upon a hill” → divine mission).
    • U.S. duty to spread republicanism & liberty; uplift mankind.
  • 1845: journalist John L. O’Sullivan coins the phrase Manifest Destiny.
    • Quote: “We claim this by the right of our manifest destiny … to possess the whole of the continent which Providence has given us ….”
    • “Manifest” = obvious, God-ordained; “Destiny” = fate.
  • Bipartisan Appeal
    • Democrats: very enthusiastic.
    • Whigs: cautiously supportive; prioritise economic stability.
  • Turner’s “safety-valve” theory: frontier relieves social/economic pressure in the East.

Page 8 – Visualizing Manifest Destiny: American Progress (John Gast, 1872)

  • Central figure: Miss Liberty (goddess), floating westward.
    • Carries a schoolbook → education/enlightenment.
    • Unfurls telegraph wires → technology/communication.
  • Light vs. Dark imagery
    • East/settled areas bathed in sunlight.
    • West shrouded in darkness/danger until Liberty arrives.
  • Migration stages leftward (west):
    1. Foot travel & hunters
    2. Stagecoaches/wagons
    3. Railroads
  • Natives & wildlife flee before oncoming “progress.”
  • Captures 19th-c. popular mindset: expansion = moral, civilizing, inevitable.

Page 9 – The Slavery Question Emerges

  • Sectional tensions largely side-stepped in 1787 Constitution; resurface as cotton booms after 1800.
  • Contrasts
    • Northwest Territory: slavery banned (1785).
    • Old Southwest: slavery sanctioned (1789).
  • As new western lands open, deciding their slave/free status becomes critical.

Page 10 – Missouri Crisis & Compromise (1820)

  • Louisiana (state) already admitted with slavery due to pre-existing practice.
  • 1819-1820: Missouri (population ≥ 60,00060{,}000) applies as a slave state.
    • Would tilt Senate balance (then 1111 free vs. 1111 slave states).
    • Northern outrage → talk of secession & civil war.
The Compromise Package
  1. Missouri admitted as a slave state.
  2. Maine carved from Massachusetts & admitted as a free state.
  3. A permanent line at 36∘30′ N36^{\circ}30'\,\text{N} (southern Missouri border)
    • North of the line (within Louisiana Territory) → slavery forever prohibited.
    • South of the line → slavery permitted.
  • Political Effects
    • Temporarily defuses sectional crisis; both sides claim victory.
    • Congressmen increasingly vote along sectional, not party, lines.
  • Southern Assumptions (not codified)
    • 36°30′ line would extend with further acquisitions (e.g., Mexico), giving South plentiful future slave states.
    • Reality: stipulation applied only to the Louisiana Territory.

Page 11 – Immediate & Long-Term Significance

  • Demonstrates Congress’s power—and limits—in regulating slavery.
  • Reveals deep sectional distrust; sets precedent for future compromises (1850, Kansas-Nebraska Act, etc.).
  • Links back to Manifest Destiny: every new acquisition will reopen the slave/free debate.
  • Turner’s “safety valve” works only so long as consensus exists on who may settle & under what labor system.

Page 12 – Study & Exam Tips

  1. Memorise timeline:
    • 17831783 Treaty of Paris
    • 17851785 & 17891789 Ordinances (slavery rules)
    • 18031803 Louisiana Purchase
    • 1804−061804{-}06 Lewis & Clark; 1806−071806{-}07 Pike
    • 18191819 Adams-Onís Treaty
    • 18201820 Missouri Compromise
    • 18451845 O’Sullivan coins “Manifest Destiny.”
  2. Know geographic regions & their economic/social profiles (Old NW vs. Old SW).
  3. Understand constitutional debates (strict vs. loose construction over land acquisition).
  4. Be able to explain Manifest Destiny both as ideology (exceptionalism) and as practical policy (diplomacy, war, purchase).
  5. Use maps & lines: 36°30′, Mississippi R., Rio Grande, Adams-Onís boundary.
  6. Practice DBQ-style: connect Turner’s thesis, Manifest Destiny rhetoric, and slavery crises to broader 19th-century U.S. themes.

(End of Part 1; lecture promises Part 2 to cover later western conflicts.)