Chapter 13: The Impending Crisis

I. Looking Westward
A. Manifest Destiny
America was destined, by God, to expand its boundaries over the continent of North America
Many arguments for expansion was an explicitly racial justification
o Americans defended westward expansion by citing the superiority of the American Race
Indians, Mexicans and others were unfit to be part of American community
o Movement to spread both a political system and a racially defined society
Henry Clay and other politicians feared expansion would reopen the controversy of slavery and
threaten the stability of the Union
B. Americans in Texas
The US renounced its claims to Texas in 1819
In the early 1820s, Mexican govt. encouraged American immigration into Texas
o Hoped to strengthen economy and increase tax revenues
Stephen F. Austin established the first legal American settlement in Texas in 1822
Austin and others were effective in recruiting American immigrants and created centers of powers
in the region to compete w/ the Mexican govt.
By 1835, over 30,000 Americans had settled in Texas
C. Tensions between the US and Mexico
In the mid-1830s, General Santa Anna seized power as a dictator & imposed a conservative and
autocratic regime
New law increased powers of federal govt. at the expense of the state govts.
Mexicans even imprisoned Austin in Mexico City claiming he was encouraging revolts
In 1836, American settlers defiantly proclaimed their independence from Mexico
Santa Anna led a large army into Texas & Mexican forces annihilated US garrison at the Alamo
On April 23, 1836 Sam Houston defeated the Mexican army at the Battle of San Jacinto and took
Santa Anna prisoner
o Santa Anna, under pressure from his captors, signed a treaty giving Texas independence
President Jackson feared annexation might cause a sectional controversy and a war with Mexico
The Texas question became the central issue in the election of 1844
D. Oregon
Both Britain and the US claimed sovereignty in the region, known as joint occupation
American interest grew in the 1820s and 1830s a target for evangelical efforts
White American began emigrating in the early 1840s and soon outnumbered the British
Measles spread through the Cayuse and in 1847 they attacked and killed 13 whites
By the mid 1840s American immigration had spread up and down the Pacific Coast
E. The Westward Migration
Hundred of thousands migrated between 1840 and 1860, but largest number of migrants came from
the Old NW in search of opportunity
Groups headed for areas where mining and lumbering was the principal economic activity
Those heading for farming regions traveled mainly as families
Migrants harbored different visions of what new life would bring: Hoped for quick riches, acquired
property for farming & speculation and others hoped to establish themselves as merchants
Vast majority of migrants looked for economic opportunities
F. Life on the Trial
Generally gathered in Iowa & Missouri, joined a wagon train, and set off with their belongings
The major route west was the 2,000-mile Oregon Trail

Other migrations moved along the Santa Fe Trail, from Independence, MO to NM

Migrants faced considerable hardships; mountain and diverse terrain and epidemic diseases
Conflicts between migrants and Indians created widespread fear
o More Indians than white people died in those conflicts
Almost everyone walked the great majority of the time, to lighten the load for the horses
Many expeditions consisted of friends, neighbors, or relatives who moved west together
II. Expansion and War
In the 1840s, expansionist pressures helped push the US into a war that became a triumph for the
advocates of Manifest Destiny
A. The Democrats and Expansion
Nominated a strong supporter of annexation the previously unheralded James K. Polk
Democratic platform, that the re-occupation of Oregon and the re-annexation of Texas at the
earliest practical period are great American measures.
Polk entered office with a clear set of goals and plans pertaining to them
For the annexation of Texas, the president had won congressional approval
Loose talk of war on both sides - US took form of the bellicose slogan Fifty-four forty or fight!
In 1864, the Senate approved a treaty that fixed the boundary at the 49th parallel
B. The Southwest and California
Mexican-American relations grew worse over boundary dispute between Texas and Mexico
o Texans claimed the Rio Grande
Polk sent army under Gen. Zachary Taylor to Texas to protect against a possible Mexican invasion
Part of the area in dispute was NM - flourishing commerce soon developed between Santa Fe and
Independence, MO
Americans were also increasing their interest in California
Gradually, white Americans began to arrive
o First maritime traders, then merchants, and finally pioneering farmers
President Polk committed himself to acquiring both New Mexico and California for the U.S
C. The Mexican War
Polk dispatched John Slidell to buy off the Mexicans, but Mexican leaders rejected Slidells offer
Polk ordered Taylors army in Texas to move across the Nueces River, to the Rio Grande
Mexican troops crossed the Rio Grande and attacked a unit of American soldiers
Congress declared war by votes of 40-2 in the Senate and 174-14 in the House
The war had many opponents in the U.S:
o Whig critics charged that Polk had deliberately maneuvered the country into the conflict
o Many argued that the hostilities with Mexico were draining resources and attention away
from the more important issues of the Pacific Northwest
Taylor captured Monterrey in September 1846, but he let the Mexican garrison evacuate without
pursuit
Polk ordered other offensives against New Mexico and California
Col. Stephen W. Kearney captured Santa Fe with no opposition, then proceeded to California, where
he joined John C. Fremont and the American navy: the so-called Bear Flag Revolution
o By the autumn of 1846 he had completed the conquest of California
General Winfield Scott launched a bold new campaign
Scott advanced towards Mexico City & never lost a battle before finally seizing the Mexican capital
February 2, 1848 - agreement w/ Mexican govt. on the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
o Mexico agreed to cede California and NM to the US
America gained vast new territory, but it also acquired a new set of troubling and diverse issues
III. The Sectional Debate

Polk gradually earned the enmity of northerners and westerners alike, who believed in his policies and
favored the South at their expense
A. Slavery and the Territories
Wilmot Proviso: amendment to the bill prohibiting slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico
o Bill passed in the House, but failed in the Senate
o Southern militants contended that all Americans had equal rights in the new territories,
including the right to move their property (slaves)
Others supported a plan known as the squatter sovereignty, and later popular sovereignty
o Allowed the people of each territory to decide the status of slavery there
The presidential campaign of 1848, Whigs nominated General Zachary Taylor of Louisiana,
opponents of slavery found the choice of candidates unsatisfying
o Out of their discontent emerged the new Free-Soil Party, its candidate Martin Van Buren
The emergence of the Soil-Party as an important political force, signaled the inability of the
existing parties to contain the political passions slavery was creating
o Led to the collapse of the second party system in the 1850s
B. The California Gold Rush
James Marshall found traces of gold in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas
Hundreds of thousands of people from around the world began flocking to California
California migrants (a.k.a Forty-niners) threw caution to the wind
o Abandoned farms, jobs, homes, families; piled onto ships and flooded the overland trails
Gold rush also attracted some of the first Chinese migrants to the western U.S
Chinese were free laborers & merchants, hoping to profit from other economic opportunities the
gold boom was creating
Gold rush created serious labor shortage, led to exploitation of Indians that resembled slavery
By early 1850s, CA, which had always been a diverse population, had become remarkably
heterogeneous
Conflicts over gold intersected with racial and ethnic tensions to make the territory an unusually
turbulent place
Rush became another factor putting pressure on the US, to resolve the status of the territories- and
of slavery within them
C. The Compromise of 1850
Henry Clay believed that no compromise could last unless it settled all the issues in dispute between
the sections
Among the bills provisions were:
o Admission of California as a free state
o Formation of territorial govts. in lands acquired from Mexico, w/out restrictions on slavery
o Abolition of the slave trade in the District of Columbia
o New and more effective fugitive slave law
Calhoun insisted that the North grant the South equal rights in the territories, that it agree to observe
the laws concerning fugitive slaves
Daniel Webster delivered an eloquent address in the Senate, trying to rally northern moderates to
support Clays compromise
William H. Seward of NY staunchly opposed the proposed compromise
o Ideals of Union were to him less important than the issue of eliminating slavery
o Slavery issue was less one of principles and ideals than one of the economic self-interest
o Stephen A. Douglas was a spokesman for the economic needs of his section and especially
for the construction of railroads
His career was devoted to sectional gain and personal self-promotion
On July 9, 1850, Taylor suddenly died and was succeeded by Millard Fillmore of NY

 Fillmore supported compromise & used powers of persuasion to swing northern Whigs into line
Compromise of 1850 was not a product of widespread agreement, rather a victory of self-interest
IV. The Crises of the 1850s
A. The Uneasy Truce
Franklin Pierce attempted to maintain party-and national-harmony by avoiding divisive issues, and
particularly by avoiding the issues of slavery
Northern opposition to the Fugitive Slave Act intensified quickly after 1850
o Mobs formed in some northern cities to prevent enforcement of the law
o Several northern states also passed their own laws barring deportation of fugitive slaves
B. Young America
Seized Cuba, the Ostend Manifesto enraged antislavery northerners, who charged the administration
with conspiring to bring a new slave state into the Union
C. Slavery, Railroads, and the West
Transcontinental railroad had become part of the struggle between the North and South
Northerners favored Chicago while Southerners supported St. Louis, Memphis, or New Orleans
In 1853, Davis sent James Gadsden to Mexico, where he persuaded the Mexican govt. to accept $10
million in exchange for a strip of land that today comprises part of Arizona and New Mexico
o Gadsden purchase only accentuated the sectional rivalry
D. The Kansas-Nebraska Controversy
Stephen A. Douglas introduced a bill in January 1854 to organize a huge new territory, Nebraska
To make the measure acceptable to southerners, Douglas inserted a provision that the status of
slavery in the territory would be determined by popular sovereignty
o In theory , the region could choose to open itself to slavery
o Douglas agreed to an additional clause explicitly repealing the MO Compromise
o Agreed to divide the area into two territories - Nebraska and Kansas
KS was more likely to become a slave state
President Pierce supported the bill, and it became law in May 1854
No legislation in US history produced so many immediate, sweeping & ominous consequences
o It divided and destroyed the Whig Party and divided the northern Democrats
o Most important, it spurred the creation of a new party, the Republican Party
E. Bleeding Kansas
White settlers from both the North and South began moving into the area
Pro-slavery forces elected a majority to the legislature, immediately legalized slavery
Free-staters elected their own delegates, adopted a constitution excluding delegates
o Chose their own governor and legislature and petitioned Congress for statehood
o Pres. Pierce denounced them as traitors, threw the full support of the federal govt. behind
pro-slavery territorial legislature
Pro-slavery posse, consisting mostly of Missourians sacked Lawrence, burned the governors
house and destroyed several printing presses
Among the most fervent abolitionists in Kansas was John Brown who considered himself an
instrument of Gods will to destroy slavery
Gathered six followers and murdered five pro-slavery settlers, known as the Pottawatomie Massacre
Bleeding Kansas became a symbol of the sectional controversy
F. Free-Soil Ideology
Tensions were reflections of the two sections differing economic and territorial interests, also
reflections of a hardening of ideas in both North and South
South was engaged in a conspiracy to extend throughout the nation and thus destroy northern
capitalism, and replace it with the aristocratic system of the South

o Only solution to slave power conspiracy was to fight the spread of slavery and extend the
nations democratic ideals to all sections of the country
G. The Pro-Slavery Argument
Result of many things: Nat Turner uprising in 1831, expanded cotton economy into the Deep
South, and the Garrisonian abolitionist movement
In The Pro-Slavery Argument, Calhoun stated slavery was good for the slaves, because they enjoyed
better conditions than industrial workers in the North
The defense of slavery rested on arguments about biological inferiority of African-Americans
H. Buchanan and Depression
Buchanan won a narrow victory over Fremont and Fillmore
A painfully timid and indecisive president at a critical moment in history
In the year Buchanan took office, a financial panic stuck the country, followed by a depression that
lasted several years
I. Dred Scott Decision
Supreme Court projected itself into sectional controversy w/ its ruling in Dred Scott v. Sanford
Federal courts claimed Scott had no standing to sue - he was not a citizen, but private property
Supreme Court was so divided that is was unable to issue a single ruling on the case
Chief Justice Robert Taney declared that Scott could not bring a suit in the federal courts because he
was not a citizen
Slaves were property and the Fifth Amendment prohibited Congress from taking property without
due process of law
Consequently, Congress possessed no authority to pass a law depriving persons of their slave
property in the territories
o Missouri Compromise, therefore, had always been unconstitutional
The statement that the federal govt. was powerless to act on the issue was drastic and startling
o Southern whites were elated, but northerners expressed widespread dismay
J. Deadlock over Kansas
Majority of people of Kansas opposed slavery
In 1861, after several southern states had already withdrawn from the Union, Kansas entered the
Union-as a free state
K. The Emergence of Lincoln
Lincoln-Douglas debates attracted enormous crowds and received wide attention
Lincolns increasingly eloquent and passionate attacks on slavery
Douglas had no moral position and Lincolns opposition to slavery was more fundamental
Lincoln believed slavery was morally wrong, but was not an abolitionist
He would arrest the further spread of slavery preventing expansion into the territories
Lincoln lost the election but emerged w/ a growing following in and beyond the state
L. John Browns Raid
JB made plans to seize a mountain fortress in VA and foment a slave insurrection in the South
He and 18 followers attacked and seized control of US arsenal in Harpers Ferry, VA
He found himself besieged in the arsenal by citizens, local militia and US troops under the
command of Robert E. Lee
o Convinced white southerners that they couldnt live safely in the Union
M. Election of Lincoln
Presidential election of 1860 had the most momentous consequences of any in American history
Democratic Party nominated Stephen Douglas
Disenchanted southern Democrats nominated John C. Breckenridge of KY
Conservative ex-Whigs formed the Constitutional Union Party w/ John Bell, TN. as their candidate
Republican convention chose Abraham Lincoln as their nominee

o Appealing for reputation of eloquence and firm but moderate position on slavery
Lincoln won presidency w/ majority of electoral votes but only 2/5 of fragmented popular vote
Election of Lincoln became the final signal to many white southerners that their position in the
Union was hopeless
Within a few weeks of Lincolns victory, the process of disunion began
o Quickly led to a prolonged and bloody war between two groups of Americans