APUSH Chapter 13

27 August 2022
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Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny
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Coined in the 1840s by the Jacksonian Democrats, was the belief that the United States was "destined" to spread from sea to sea. Used to promote the annexation of most of the Western United States (Oregon Territory, Texas Annexation, and the Mexican Cessation). Regarded as a general notion rather than a specific policy.
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Racial Justification for Manifest Destiny
Racial Justification for Manifest Destiny
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The argument for Manifest Destiny had strong undertones of racial superiority. Whites believed that Indians and Mexicans could not be absorbed into American society. The spread west included the quest for land as well as the spread of a political system and racially defined society. Painting: (circa 1872) by John Gast called American Progress, is an allegorical representation of the modernization of the west. Here Columbia, a personification of the United States, leads American settlers, stringing telegraph wire. The different stages of economic activity of the pioneers are highlighted and, especially, the changing forms of transportation. Native Americans and animals flee in terror.
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Americans in Texas
Americans in Texas
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Mexican government welcomed the Americans to develop land (Americans would bring money/tax revenue and offer buffer from Indians). Many of the new settlers were Southerners and they brought slavery with them. Americans soon outnumbered Mexicans in the region. Texas gained independence from Mexico in 1836, but was not a part of the U.S. until 1845. The Lone Star flag is from the nine-year period Texas was an independent republic.
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Stephen Austin
Stephen Austin
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Austin negotiated land grants with Mexico and established the first legal American settlement on Mexican soil. Texas's capital is named after him. He was briefly imprisoned by Santa Ana for fomenting rebellion amongst Americans against the Mexican government.
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Alamo
Alamo
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A Spanish mission converted into a fort, it was besieged by Mexican troops in 1836. The Texas garrison held out for thirteen days, but in the final battle, all of the Texans were killed by the larger Mexican force. "Remember the Alamo" became a rallying cry.
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Battle of San Jacinto
Battle of San Jacinto
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A surprise attack by Texas forces lead by General Sam Houston attacked Santa Ana's camp on April 21; 1836. Santa Ana's men were surprised and overrun in less than twenty minutes. Santa Ana was taken prisoner and signed an armistice securing Texas independence (the treaty was denied by the Mexican government, but it didn't do anything to gain Texas back). Mexicans - 1;500 dead; 1;000 captured. Texans - 4 dead. Sam Houston became first president of the Republic of Texas. Painting: an 1895 artist rendition of the Battle of San Jacinto
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Opposition to Annexation
Opposition to Annexation
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Texas immediately sought to join the United States, but many northerners opposed the annexation because Texas was a slave territory and they feared increased Southern power in Congress. President Jackson opposed annexation because he feared it would cause a war with Mexico and increase sectional tension. Texas was a big issue in the election of 1844 and wasn't annexed until 1845.
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Claims to Oregon
Claims to Oregon
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British claims to Oregon were strong—at least north of the Columbia River. Claims were based on prior discovery and exploration, on treaty rights, and on actual occupation. U.S. claimed Oregon based on the explorations of an American fur trader. "Joint occupation" was agreed upon in an 1818 treaty that allowed citizens of both countries access to the territory. Picture: Robert Gray discovering Columbia in 1792.
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Westward Expansion
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The migration of of American settlers as America gained territory in the west; mostly traveled by wagon on trails such as the Oregon Trail. Later settlers traveled by stagecoach or train. The settlers were motivated by land and opportunity (and later gold). The Mormons migrated to Utah for religious freedom and to be able to practice polygamy. Migration caused conflict with American Indians. Photo: early settlers in a house made of sod.
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Life on the Trail
Life on the Trail
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Most journeys west took five or six months. Life on the trail, especially across the Rocky Mountains and arid Southwest, was difficult. Settlers often traveled in groups in covered wagons or "prairie schooners." Indians were often helpful in spite of the notion that tribes attacked wagon trains. Disease and starvation caused many deaths.
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James K. Polk
James K. Polk
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Polk was a slave-owning Southerner and Democrat. Won election in 1844 against Clay. Polk favored expansion, especially annexation of Texas, California, and Oregon. A follower of Andrew Jackson. He opposed Clay's American System, instead advocating lower tariff, separation the treasury and the federal government from the banking system. He believed in Manifest Destiny.
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50-40 or Fight!
50-40 or Fight!
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Slogan used by Americans wanting to set the U.S. border at that line of latitude. British agreed to extend the border between Canada and the US at the 49th latitude to the Pacific, thus avoiding war over the disputed region.
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War with Mexico
War with Mexico
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"Mr. Polk's War" from 1845-1848. Goal was to secure the border and push the Mexicans out West. U.S. won. Zachary Taylor emerged as a war hero and later won Presidential election of 1848. The war gave a lot of future Civil War generals experience.
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Treaty of Hidalgo
Treaty of Hidalgo
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Treaty that gave to America all Mexican territory from Texas to California that was north of the Rio Grande. This land was called the Mexican Cession since Mexico ceded it to the U.S; U.S. only had to pay $15 million to Mexico for it; $3.5 million in debts from Mexico to the U.S. were absolved as well. In essence, the U.S. had forced Mexico to "sell" the Mexican Cession lands.
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Wilmot Proviso
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Amendment to an appropriations bill that would prohibit slavery in territory that America won in the Mexican War. A representative named David Wilmot introduced an amendment. Passed the House twice, but failed to pass in Senate. Lawmakers continued to argue over the issue for years.
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Free-Soil Party
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Used a slogan of "free soil, free speech, free labor, and free men;" it opposed the spread of slavery into territories gained in the War with Mexico and supported homesteads, cheap postage, and internal improvements. It unsuccessfully ran Martin Van Buren for president in 1848, but elected ten members of Congress. was absorbed into the Republican Party by 1856.
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California Gold Rush
California Gold Rush
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1848 gold was discovered by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill, in Coloma, California. News spread, resulting in hundreds of thousands of people coming to California to hunt for gold. These early gold-seekers, called "forty-niners," traveled to California by boat and in covered wagons, often facing substantial hardships. The gold rush also attracted many Chinese immigrants. Almost all migrants were men. Moat worked the goldfields, but some made their fortunes selling gear and supplies to the miners. San Francisco grew from a small settlement to a boomtown, and California became a state in 1850.
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Indian Slavery
Indian Slavery
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California state law allowed for the arrest of "loitering" or orphaned Indians that would be assigned to a term of "indentured" labor that was akin to slavery.
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Sectional Tension
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Tension increased between the North and the South over the issue of slavery and the balance of power. In 1849, the number of slave and free states was equal, but the issue of "popular sovereignty" (the right of voters in territories to determine for themselves whether to be free or slave) threatened to disrupt the balance of power if New Mexico, California, and Oregon were all admitted to the Union as free states.
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The Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850
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Series of laws that attempted to resolve the territorial and slavery controversies arising from the Mexican-American War (1846-48). The five laws balanced the interests of the slave states of the South and the free states. 1. California was admitted as a free state 2. Texas received financial compensation for relinquishing claim to lands west of the Rio Grande in what is now New Mexico 3. the territory of New Mexico (including present-day Arizona and Utah) was organized without any specific prohibition of slavery 4. slave trade (but not slavery itself) was abolished in Washington, D.C. 5. stringent Fugitive Slave Law passed, requiring all U.S. citizens to assist in the return of runaway slaves regardless of the legality of slavery in the specific states. The measures had difficulty passing until new leadership in Congress and Taylor died leaving the Presidency to Millard Fillmore.