After the War of 1812, America focused its attention to the discovery and settlement of the territory to the west. The reinforcement of the federal government and the movements of land speculators caused the land boom in America. Westward expansion caused a great debate and put tension in between the relationship of the American North and South. The South exploited slavery to maintain its culture and to grow cotton on plantations. In comparison, the North thrived during the Industrial revolution, and they became the heart of industry in the U.S. The North developed into a major metropolis due to the inflow of immigrants. Therefore, with willing and cheap workforce, the North did not require slaves. With the purchase of the Louisiana territory, …show more content…
David Wilmot proposed an amendment in 1846 for the Mexican war stating, “as an express and fundamental condition to the acquisition of any territory from the Republic of Mexico… neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of said territory,” (371). Fearful of the South coming into to much “slave power”, the Northern politicians supported Wilmot’s amendment. However, the Southern politicians complained that the act was illegal and obstructed the passing of the Wilmot Proviso. “The proviso debate sowed distrust and suspicion between northerners and southerners,” (371). In result, the amendment never passed, and the issue of slavery remained a big …show more content…
California was anti-slavery; however, the southern democrats permitted them to enter the union and disrupt the sectional stability in Congress. The Compromise of 1850 came out of this. For the North, the compromise guaranteed that California would enter the union as a free state and that the slave trade would end in the District of Colombia. For the South, the compromise granted that popular sovereignty would decide the question of slavery in Utah and New Mexico territories. It also restructured the Fugitive Slave Act and made the people from the North help imprison escaped slaves. This infuriated the North since it was a direct violation of their state laws. Five years later in 1854, Kansas and Nebraska petitioned for statehood. The southerners opposed because the Missouri Compromise would make these two large territories free states. Congress passed the Kansas Nebraska Act to satisfy the south. The act repealed the Missouri Compromise, and allowed the people of the states to vote to determine the fate of the state. People from Missouri snuck into Kansas to vote to make the state a slave state. This caused the tension between the North and South to
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Show MoreDavid Wilmot was an avid abolitionist. He became a part of the Free-Soil Party, which was made chiefly because of rising opposition to the extension of slavery into any of the territories newly acquired from Mexico. Not only was he opposed to the extension of slavery into “Texas,” he created the Wilmot Proviso. The Wilmot Proviso, which is obviously named after its creator, was an amendment to a bill put before the U.S. House of Representatives during the Mexican War; it provided an appropriation of $2 million to enable President Polk to negotiate a territorial settlement with Mexico. David Wilmot created this in response to the bill stipulating that none of the territory acquired in the Mexican War should be open to slavery. The amended bill was passed in the House, but the Senate adjourned without voting on it. In the next session of Congress (1847), a new bill providing for a $3-million appropriation was introduced, and Wilmot again proposed an antislavery amendment to it. The amended bill passed the House, but the Senate drew up its own bill, which excluded the proviso. The Wilmot Proviso created great bitterness between North and South and helped take shape the conflict over the extension of slavery. In the election of 1848, the terms of the Wilmot Proviso, a definite challenge to proslavery groups, were ignored by the Whig and Democratic parties but were adopted by the Free-Soil party. Later, the Republican Party also favored excluding slavery from new territories.
The Missouri Compromise of 1820 was a debatable decision for the north and the south. A decision towards whether or not Missouri should come in as a slave state. In congress, those on the side of the north, found out that Missouri was going to be placed as a slave state and were dramatically upset. They were upset due to the fact that it would cause an unbalance. During the 1800’s there were an equivalent of eleven slave states and eleven free states. Naturally, ...
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was a great victory for the south. The greatest benefit to the south was the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, which established the sacred 36-30 line. If the Missouri Compromise had stayed in place, there would have been no more possibility for the expansion of slavery, since there was no land left south of the 36-30 line; under the Missouri Compromise southern expansion was hampered by the existence of the Gulf of Mexico. As a result of the line being repealed, it was possible for slavery to exist in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska because of popular sovereignty.
The economy would also blossom during this expansion. First, the Manifest Destiny included extremely inexpensive land for sale in the west. In some cases it was free since it was government land, and they passed things like the Homestead Act to encourage westward settlements. With so many people taking part in horizontal mobility by moving west, it gave the economy a chance to expand commerce. We would do this by building ports and increasing trade with countries in the Pacific. The economy also got a kick when there were gold or silver rushes in the west. These occurred in Denver, Colorado (1859), Virginia City, Nevada (1859), Last Chance Gulch (1861), and in the Black Hills of the Dakotas (1875). All of these sporadic improvements of the economy helped us grow into a big super power.New inspirations entered the art world at this time too. Many artists tried to capture the image of Manifest Destiny by illustrating families traveling west.
Industrialization was a big part of the economy in the North. Workers made most goods one item at a time. During the first phase of industrialization employes divided jobs so that each person would specialize in a certain job. In the second phase entrepreneurs built factories to bring specialized workers to work together to make goods all under one roof. During the third and final phase workers used machines to complete tasks. Goods were finished much faster by machine than by hand. They were able to mass produce. Factories made at least two thirds of the country's manufactured goods. Things developed slower in the South. Agriculture, especially the production of cotton, produced great profits. Building new industry meant planters would have to begin selling their slaves. So instead they chose to invest in agriculture and enslaved Africans. The market for manufactured goods was extremely small. Some southerners did not want industry.
Manifest Destiny was the belief that started and caused the westward expansion and led to many wars between all different types of people and the different countries that owned the land. The expansion allowed for lifespan to increase, the economy blossomed, and the main goal was accomplished which was getting occupation of America from ocean coast to ocean coast.
Other states also struggled with the issue of slavery in the West. California and the territories of New Mexico, Utah, Kansas, and Nebraska all were under dispute of being admitted as free or slave states. These areas were above the line separating free and slave states, so according to the Missouri Compromise, they should be admitted as free states. However, with the nullification of the Missouri Compromise as a result of the Dred Scott case, the territories did not need to be admitted as free states. Settlers of these territories were conflicted in their views on slavery and whether enslavement of blacks should be permitted in the area. California was eventually admitted as a free state and the territories of New Mexico, Utah, Kansas, and Nebraska would decide on slavery by popular sovereignty.
America was expanding at such a rapid pace that those who were in America before us had no time to anticipate what was happening. This change in lifestyle affected not only Americans but everyone who lived in the land. Changing traditions, the get rich quick idea and other things were the leading causes of westward expansion. But whatever happened to those who were caught in the middle, those who were here before us?
While the South became extremely wealthy by using slavery for agricultural labor, the North focused on trade, commerce, banking, shipping, and manufacturing. But the question can one survives without the other comes up? The North was able to attain such success in commerce because of the South’s cheap production of food and materials produced by slavery.
The period from 1800 to 1865 marked a time of immerse sectionalism in American history. Sectionalism grew more intense due to the added conflict of how to embrace new territories gained during Western Expansion. Westward Expansion began with the Louisiana Purchase made by President Thomas Jefferson. The Louisiana Purchase stretched from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico (Give Me Liberty! 304). The most controversial issue was whether slavery would be allowed in the new territories acquired by the United States. As the philosophy of Manifest Destiny spread among the whole country, the South wanted new slave territories while the North wanted to stop the spread of slavery. According to John O’Sullivan,
There are various opinions on the westward expansion explained throughout the following texts: “Reporting to the President, September 23- December 31, 1806” (pages 418-21) by Stephen Ambrose, “The Way to Rainy Mountain” by N. Scott Momaday”, “Chief Joseph Speaks…” by Chief Joseph, and lastly “There is No True history of the Westward Expansion” by Robert Morgan. Heroes and villains were presented in all of the texts to show there was different sides and opinions to each story of the expansion. There were also emotions such as anger and happiness shown throughout the texts. It is now claimed that there is no true history shown due to the multiple biographies with only opinion.
Western expansion in the United States caused many Native Americans to be evacuated from their lands and onto Federal government-owned reserves. The United States expanded when Thomas Jefferson made the Louisiana Purchase. Another factor was the Homestead Act. The Homestead Act motivated people to move west. This was at a time when Americans would get 160 acres of free land just for moving to the west, which most used for farming. These were the two main factors that drove westward expansion and made Americans excited about the opportunities that they could have. This motivating factor lead to some terrible outcomes. One of which is that the Native Americans were removed from their tribal lands and moved to designated lands called reserves
The Westward Expansion was a turning point on United States becoming a continental agricultural and manufacturing power. United States wanted to explore and settle into the West after the Louisiana Purchase as the result of the War of 1812. Many pioneers and families moved west between 1816 and 1821. The land was purchased by the federal government to sell it at a very high price to the farmers. The farmers were willing to purchase land with the increase of American agricultural products. The state bank collapsed and all the farmers that were depending on it had all their land values go down. The Panic of 1819 greatly affected the western settlers who purchased land for crops. Most made it through the Panic and followed the conquest heading West.
On December 14, 1853, Augustus C. Dodge of Iowa introduced a bill in the Senate. The bill proposed organizing the Nebraska territory, which also included an area that would become the state of Kansas. His bill was referred to the Committee of the Territories, which was chaired by Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois.
In the mid 1800’s the United States was rapidly expanding westward. Territory had not been developed in the western half of the continent, and as the population grew, people wanted to move to where they could own land. The growth railroads, including railroads that spanned the entire Continental United States, helped accelerate this movement. However, there multiple Native American tribes had territory out west. As the population expanded westward, the Native Americans were pushed further and further. Eventually the Native American tribes were largely relegated to specific reservations. This was partly due to racism toward Native Americans that was present at the time. As these events occurred, artists created paintings depicting expansion,