Lesson I. Manifest Destiny and Expansion of the Country
Part I
1. Manifest Destiny is the concept that Americans have a God-given right to expand westward. They disregarded the Native Americans and used this “God-given right” as justification for expansion westward, Indian removal, and war with Mexico. The forces contributing to this concept were nationalism and a growing population. As Americans were more proud and confident in their country, a sense of national invincibility formed that spurred the Americans to continue to expand west and conquer new lands. This sense of pride developed from their recent political triumphs, economic boom, cultural developments, numerous technological advances, social reform, and religious revival. A growing population meant that the current US lands were quite overcrowded and thus America needed more room for its people.
2. America truly fulfilled the “Manifest destiny” by expanding and adding all of the western territories. Utah, New Mexico, and California were added. Southern Arizona and southern New Mexico were also added through the Gadsden Purchase. America’s territory grew tremendously during this period of time.
3. The US claimed that Mexico posed a threat to its national security, and therefore needed to expand upon their lands. They also justified this by saying that they needed more room for its growing population, a concept related to the Manifest Destiny. There were also boundary disputes between the two nations regarding Texas. This is because Mexico was resentful against the US because after Texas gained its independence from Mexico, it became a US state. Mexico announced its intentions to recover Texas, which sparked hostility between the two nations.
4. Polk used the excuse of the Texas boundary to declare Mexico as a threat. Polk also used the Manifest Destiny idea as a reason to push westward. Mexico also tempted Polk when they attacked Americans at the Rio Grande. This explanation would only seem convincing at the time because people truly believed in the Manifest Destiny. Therefore they all supported expansion westward. Polk also added justification by saying that the refusal of Mexico to negotiate meant war was inevitable. This isn’t fair justification because Mexico was facing political chaos and therefore did not have the opportunity to receive American diplomats for negotiation. Nowadays, his justification seems lacking and would need more to convince the people that conquering a weaker, foreign nation’s lands was a good idea.
5. They wanted to acquire more land for America, specifically the lands of California and New Mexico. They also wanted to have a safe holding on Texas. These territorial expansion desires all stem from the idea of Manifest Destiny. The United States portrayed themselves as victims of Mexican burdens and therefore justified an invasion to “defend themselves” when they were actually motivated to annex more lands.
6. Opponents didn’t support the war because it seemed like a conquest for land instead of diplomacy. This portrayed America as conquerors instead of peaceful negotiators. The North also viewed the war unfavorably because they believed that the South just wanted to add more slave states. Thus the balance of free states and slaves states would be unbalanced.
7. America won the war because of many reasons. One reason was the Mexico was facing internal political turmoil and therefore could not present a unified force to defend itself. Also, America had a much bigger Army force than Mexico did, and therefore may have won by attrition.
8. Geographically, the United States gained California, and New Mexico, which included the present states of Arizona, Utah, and Nevada. The Rio Grande was also established as the official southern border. Demographically, the US gained many more Hispanic and Native American people, like the Navajo. Politically, the results of adding new territory meant that new states would be formed. This disrupted the balance between free states and slave states, which came to become a main source of argument between the North and South.
Part II
1. One of the main topics for debate was whether or not the newly acquired states would be free or slave states. Or should the people of that state choose themselves, since after all, it is a democracy. The state of Texas was also not satisfied with its border, saying it claimed all the way up to Santa Fe. Northerners were also upset how the nation’s capital, the representative city of the nation, was a slave state and major slave market.
2. The Compromise was heavily debated amongst many of the Senators. Of course the central issue here was slavery. Topics ranged from the Fugitive Slave Law to returning runaway slaves to deciding new states entering the Union as either slave states or free states. Henry Clay, now an old man of 73 years of age, supported more effective fugitive slave legislation in the North. Calhoun did not believe that Clay’s plan would not be effective. He believed that simply runaway slaves should be returned, slavery already existing should not be touched, and that the South should be given rights, and political balance should be restored, since the North had a majority at this point. Daniel Webster threw his support behind Clay and gave a speech that explained why concessions should be made to the South. This speech was significant as it turned the North into the direction of compromise. President Taylor though, was not giving into concessions with the South. This created a stalemate and it looked like things were going to turn out bad. But, unexpectedly, Taylor died, and his vice-president, Millard Fillmore was in support of concessions and thus the Compromise of 1850 was reached. Provisions included: admitting California as a free state; allowing territorial legislatures in New Mexico and Utah to settle the question of slavery in those areas; setting up a stringent federal law for the return of runaway slaves; abolishing the slave trade in DC; and giving Texas $10 million to abandon claims to territory in New Mexico east of the Rio Grande.
3. The Wilmot Proviso, proposed by David Wilmot, called for all new states to be free states. This infuriated Southern senators, and as a result, was blocked by Congress. Yet the North strongly supported the Wilmot Proviso, and consequently, there was a clear divide between the North and the South. This also threatened to split parties along sectional lines. This party disunity led to the third party system.
4. The provisions of the compromise were: admitting California as a free state; allowing territorial legislatures in New Mexico and Utah to settle the question of slavery in those areas; setting up a stringent federal law for the return of runaway slaves; abolishing the slave trade in DC; and giving Texas $10 million to abandon claims to territory in New Mexico east of the Rio Grande.
5. The Fugitive Slave Act was strengthened and supposedly made more severe by the Compromise of 1850. Yet, much to the South’s anguish, the North did not uphold the Fugitive Slave Act as harshly as they would have liked to. For example, Massachusetts passed a law that nullified the Fugitive Slave Act in the state. Therefore, the North deceived the South by not only getting California admitted as a free state and abolition of the slave market in Washington DC, they also did not truly uphold their promise of enforcing the Fugitive Slave Act. The way the Fugitive Slave Act was enforced caused great tension between the North and the South. Yet, because of the other key points resolved in the Compromise of 1850, peace was sustained for a while. This antebellum period allowed the North to build popular sentiment of supporting equality for slaves and defending them from the South’s attempts to recapture them.
6. Americans were land-hungry at this point, even with the acquisition of Texas, Oregon, and half of Mexico. President Polk eyed Cuba as the next potential land acquisition. Southerners were pleased by this because Cuba was very slave-dense and would suit their purposes well if Cuba was added to the US. Polk initially tried to purchase Cuba from Spain but was rejected. This led to filibustering. Cuban planters worked with American expansionists on a plan to stage an uprising on the island of Cuba to overthrow the Spanish. There were several filibustering activities led by Narciso Lopez. He recruited hundreds of Americans with each expedition, but they all ended disastrously. Eventually, filibustering, which comes from the Spanish word filibuster meaning freebooter or pirate, shifted focus to Nicaragua.
7. While trying to prolong the period of peace, it created even greater sectional disunity. The argument over slavery had escalated to catastrophic proportions and there seemed no way for resolve unless either the North or South totally gave in to the other’s demands, which obviously was not going to happen. Therefore the Compromise of 1850 was not successful in resolving sectional issues because the issue of slavery created even greater disunity. Yet, the North and South both got some territory that they made eventually made free and slave states.
1. Manifest Destiny is the concept that Americans have a God-given right to expand westward. They disregarded the Native Americans and used this “God-given right” as justification for expansion westward, Indian removal, and war with Mexico. The forces contributing to this concept were nationalism and a growing population. As Americans were more proud and confident in their country, a sense of national invincibility formed that spurred the Americans to continue to expand west and conquer new lands. This sense of pride developed from their recent political triumphs, economic boom, cultural developments, numerous technological advances, social reform, and religious revival. A growing population meant that the current US lands were quite overcrowded and thus America needed more room for its people.
2. America truly fulfilled the “Manifest destiny” by expanding and adding all of the western territories. Utah, New Mexico, and California were added. Southern Arizona and southern New Mexico were also added through the Gadsden Purchase. America’s territory grew tremendously during this period of time.
3. The US claimed that Mexico posed a threat to its national security, and therefore needed to expand upon their lands. They also justified this by saying that they needed more room for its growing population, a concept related to the Manifest Destiny. There were also boundary disputes between the two nations regarding Texas. This is because Mexico was resentful against the US because after Texas gained its independence from Mexico, it became a US state. Mexico announced its intentions to recover Texas, which sparked hostility between the two nations.
4. Polk used the excuse of the Texas boundary to declare Mexico as a threat. Polk also used the Manifest Destiny idea as a reason to push westward. Mexico also tempted Polk when they attacked Americans at the Rio Grande. This explanation would only seem convincing at the time because people truly believed in the Manifest Destiny. Therefore they all supported expansion westward. Polk also added justification by saying that the refusal of Mexico to negotiate meant war was inevitable. This isn’t fair justification because Mexico was facing political chaos and therefore did not have the opportunity to receive American diplomats for negotiation. Nowadays, his justification seems lacking and would need more to convince the people that conquering a weaker, foreign nation’s lands was a good idea.
5. They wanted to acquire more land for America, specifically the lands of California and New Mexico. They also wanted to have a safe holding on Texas. These territorial expansion desires all stem from the idea of Manifest Destiny. The United States portrayed themselves as victims of Mexican burdens and therefore justified an invasion to “defend themselves” when they were actually motivated to annex more lands.
6. Opponents didn’t support the war because it seemed like a conquest for land instead of diplomacy. This portrayed America as conquerors instead of peaceful negotiators. The North also viewed the war unfavorably because they believed that the South just wanted to add more slave states. Thus the balance of free states and slaves states would be unbalanced.
7. America won the war because of many reasons. One reason was the Mexico was facing internal political turmoil and therefore could not present a unified force to defend itself. Also, America had a much bigger Army force than Mexico did, and therefore may have won by attrition.
8. Geographically, the United States gained California, and New Mexico, which included the present states of Arizona, Utah, and Nevada. The Rio Grande was also established as the official southern border. Demographically, the US gained many more Hispanic and Native American people, like the Navajo. Politically, the results of adding new territory meant that new states would be formed. This disrupted the balance between free states and slave states, which came to become a main source of argument between the North and South.
Part II
1. One of the main topics for debate was whether or not the newly acquired states would be free or slave states. Or should the people of that state choose themselves, since after all, it is a democracy. The state of Texas was also not satisfied with its border, saying it claimed all the way up to Santa Fe. Northerners were also upset how the nation’s capital, the representative city of the nation, was a slave state and major slave market.
2. The Compromise was heavily debated amongst many of the Senators. Of course the central issue here was slavery. Topics ranged from the Fugitive Slave Law to returning runaway slaves to deciding new states entering the Union as either slave states or free states. Henry Clay, now an old man of 73 years of age, supported more effective fugitive slave legislation in the North. Calhoun did not believe that Clay’s plan would not be effective. He believed that simply runaway slaves should be returned, slavery already existing should not be touched, and that the South should be given rights, and political balance should be restored, since the North had a majority at this point. Daniel Webster threw his support behind Clay and gave a speech that explained why concessions should be made to the South. This speech was significant as it turned the North into the direction of compromise. President Taylor though, was not giving into concessions with the South. This created a stalemate and it looked like things were going to turn out bad. But, unexpectedly, Taylor died, and his vice-president, Millard Fillmore was in support of concessions and thus the Compromise of 1850 was reached. Provisions included: admitting California as a free state; allowing territorial legislatures in New Mexico and Utah to settle the question of slavery in those areas; setting up a stringent federal law for the return of runaway slaves; abolishing the slave trade in DC; and giving Texas $10 million to abandon claims to territory in New Mexico east of the Rio Grande.
3. The Wilmot Proviso, proposed by David Wilmot, called for all new states to be free states. This infuriated Southern senators, and as a result, was blocked by Congress. Yet the North strongly supported the Wilmot Proviso, and consequently, there was a clear divide between the North and the South. This also threatened to split parties along sectional lines. This party disunity led to the third party system.
4. The provisions of the compromise were: admitting California as a free state; allowing territorial legislatures in New Mexico and Utah to settle the question of slavery in those areas; setting up a stringent federal law for the return of runaway slaves; abolishing the slave trade in DC; and giving Texas $10 million to abandon claims to territory in New Mexico east of the Rio Grande.
5. The Fugitive Slave Act was strengthened and supposedly made more severe by the Compromise of 1850. Yet, much to the South’s anguish, the North did not uphold the Fugitive Slave Act as harshly as they would have liked to. For example, Massachusetts passed a law that nullified the Fugitive Slave Act in the state. Therefore, the North deceived the South by not only getting California admitted as a free state and abolition of the slave market in Washington DC, they also did not truly uphold their promise of enforcing the Fugitive Slave Act. The way the Fugitive Slave Act was enforced caused great tension between the North and the South. Yet, because of the other key points resolved in the Compromise of 1850, peace was sustained for a while. This antebellum period allowed the North to build popular sentiment of supporting equality for slaves and defending them from the South’s attempts to recapture them.
6. Americans were land-hungry at this point, even with the acquisition of Texas, Oregon, and half of Mexico. President Polk eyed Cuba as the next potential land acquisition. Southerners were pleased by this because Cuba was very slave-dense and would suit their purposes well if Cuba was added to the US. Polk initially tried to purchase Cuba from Spain but was rejected. This led to filibustering. Cuban planters worked with American expansionists on a plan to stage an uprising on the island of Cuba to overthrow the Spanish. There were several filibustering activities led by Narciso Lopez. He recruited hundreds of Americans with each expedition, but they all ended disastrously. Eventually, filibustering, which comes from the Spanish word filibuster meaning freebooter or pirate, shifted focus to Nicaragua.
7. While trying to prolong the period of peace, it created even greater sectional disunity. The argument over slavery had escalated to catastrophic proportions and there seemed no way for resolve unless either the North or South totally gave in to the other’s demands, which obviously was not going to happen. Therefore the Compromise of 1850 was not successful in resolving sectional issues because the issue of slavery created even greater disunity. Yet, the North and South both got some territory that they made eventually made free and slave states.
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