Westward Expansion

By Yu Hee Kim Civ II April 12th, 2013

Territorial Acquisitions during the 1800s

Territorial Acquisitions during the 1800s

The Louisiana Purchase

The Appalachians

The Surge West

First flurry of settlement: The admission of Vermont, Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio to the Union (1791-1803). The Louisiana Purchase: Loyal to his tenet of an empire of liberty, by which the West should belong to small farmers, President Jefferson purchased the territory of Louisiana from France at 50,000,000 francs (15 million dollars). The Lewis and Clark Expedition: A group appointed by Pres. Jefferson led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. This took over two years (1804-1806). It was the first expedition commissioned to explore the west across the continent. The War of 1812: A conflict between the British and the Union which resulted in no territorial change for both parties. Some native Indians supported the British. It concluded with the Treaty of Ghent (1815).

The Surge West

West settlers: Also known as pioneers, brought some traditions and practices along when moving westward (e.g. religions and customs). East v. West: Rivalry arose between the two regions. Easterners saw westerners as primitive, and the latter thought of the former as pretentious and perpetrators of British traditions. Government involvement in the early 1800s: Federal government encourages expansion by granting military bounties and insisted on the construction of the National Road.

Manifest Destiny
Journalist John L. OSullivan first coined this phrase in 1845:
our manifest destiny to overspread and to possess the whole of our continent which Providence has given us for the development of the great experiment of liberty

Land Policy and Speculation

Ordinance of 1785: Protocol for Western territories to become townships.
One township 640 acres

Land Law of 1800: Reduction of minimum purchase of land.

1800 320 acres 1804 160 acres 18020 80 acres

Land Policy and Speculation

Squatters: Settlers of western lands who did not purchase them. Cash crops: Marketable agricultural commodities such as wheat, cotton and corn that were often preferred as an economic activity over subsistance farming. Regulation v. Speculation: Congress attempted to pass preemption laws for small farmers and squatters to pay minimum price.

Western Economy: Boom and Panic

THE BOOM (1812 1815):
Rising commodity prices Extensive system of rivers for domestic trading The cotton gin invention (Eli Whitney) that triggered the Alabama Fever

Western Economy: Boom and Panic

THE PANIC (1819):
State banks issued notes in excess. The Bank of the US demanded state banks redeemed all notes on their hands and thus, set off a downward spiral in the financial system.
Overextension of credit heightened dependence on exports to repay loans If the demand of agricultural commodities dropped, farmers were not able of paying their debts.

Parallel to the credit crisis, export demand of US crops dropped

The Indian Removal

American Foreign Policy: It retrieved foreign protection from native Indians, particularly, the one they received from Britain after the 1812 war. The Five Civilized Tribes: The Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws and Seminoles.
Some were converted to Christianity. Some of them rejected removal given they depended on their interaction with whites for their survival Others had remained faithful to their ancient customs and resisted to be removed of ancestral lands

The 1830 Indian Removal Act: Granted Jackson the authority to remove Indians by force if necessary. His raids started in Georgia and Alabama. (The Horseshoe Bend Battle) Worcester v. Georgia: The Cherokees were declared a domestic dependent nation to the state of Georgia by John Marshall, who were entitled to protection. 1835, they signed the Treaty of New Echota and moved west along the Trail of Tears

Transportation Revolution and the Rise of the Cities

The National Road advanced further west each year. Clermont: First steamboat introduced by Robert Fulton and R. Livingston
Between 1817-29 the number of steamboats jumped from 17 to 69; the number reached 727 by 1855. These carried goods down the Mississippi River. The steamboat was seen as as symbol of the West

The Eerie Canal (1830s): It spanned 363 miles and connected Buffalo, Albany and New York. The Railroad Boom: Faster, cheaper and had greater range than canals.
The Western and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroads competed with the Eerie Canal The railroad was seen as a symbol of the Eastern cities

The Opening of the Far West

Context:
Americans used to think the West referred to the area between the Appalachians and the Mississippi River. Texas, New Mexico, California (Claimed by Mexico and Spain) and Oregon (occupied by the US and GB) remained uninhabited throughout the 1820s. The economy consisted mainly based on fur trading and trapping (California and Oregon) but later on silver peso became an important currency within the region The Santa Fe trail served as a means to establish strong economic connections between the region and its surroundings. Some Missions were installed in California as a strategy to occupy this region and to gain acceptance among the Indians.

Texas
Increasing upheaval between Mexico and the US settlers:
The Harlan Coffee case Between 1830 and 1834 American population doubled and outnumbered the Mexicans in this region.

Mexican president Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna usurps complete power in 1834
Stephen Austin starts the Texas Rebellion in 1836. The Alamo incident wich led to Sam Houstons suprise attack to Santa Anna as he shouted Remember the Alamo!

California, New Mexico and Oregon

Waves of settlers arrived in California and Oregon during the 1840s.
The Donner Party: Settlers who travelled by wagon but did not stock on enough supplies for the harsh conditions. Instead, misled by the popular belief, they took large amounts of ammunition.
The Party was snowbound in the High Sierra Nevada due to poor guidance. Eventually they turned to cannibalism It reflected the very scarce knowledge of traveling routes towards the Far West by the settlers.

Southwestern travellers more often than never used the Santa Fe Trail to move westward. Settlers sought adventure and farmland as an opportunity to escape from the constraints of civilization and as a new start. Between 1840 and 1848, about 11,500 followed the overland trails to Oregon. 3000 made it to California

The Texas Annexation

The Mexican War and Political Aftermath

The Plains Indians

The Transcontinental Railroad and the Admission of Western States