Chapter 13

1. Chapter 13 Manifest Destiny: An Empire for Liberty or Slavery? Web

2. Territorial Expansion after 1840 • Growth became watchword of America • Land acquired through annexation, negotiation, and war • “Young America” movement and “Manifest Destiny” • Relentless pressure on limits of Indian settlements • Appeal of west as source of expansion • Oregon and California were especially attractive • Migration was mostly a male enterprise • Mormon migration to Utah, 1847

3. ©2004 Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning™ is a trademark used herein under license. Overland Trails

4. Struggle over Texas Annexation • At first, Mexican leaders encouraged U.S. settlement in Texas • Restrictions eventually imposed • Texans declared and won their independence in 1836 • Then petitioned for annexation to the United States • Jackson, then Van Buren, refused to act on annexation • After assuming office upon Harrison’s death, Tyler was ready to move

5. Struggle over Texas Annexation(cont.) • Annexation treaty negotiated • Defeated by northerners in Congress who opposed expanding slavery • Became an issue in election of 1844 • Democrat James K. Polk ran on explicitly pro-annexationist platform • Both Texas and Oregon • Polk won close election • Tyler interpreted election as mandate for annexation and submitted joint resolution to accomplish it • Texas became fifteenth slave state in March 1845 • Polk peacefully reached compromise with Britain over Oregon in 1846

6. The Mexican War • Polk provoked to acquire California and New Mexico • First sought to purchase territories from Mexico • Buttress with show of force on Texas-Mexico border • Questionable claims of territorial possession and troop movements • Declaration of war passed in May • Almost all Whigs supported, even though they had doubts • War was stunning and complete American victory

7. The Mexican War (cont.) • War generated significant opposition at home • Whigs and northeasterners opposed • Wilmot Proviso tried to prevent expansion of slavery into any territory gained from Mexico • Defeated along party line vote in Congress • Framed national debate over slavery for next fifteen years • Question of slavery made peace treaty with Mexico difficult • U. S. Gained California, New Mexico, and favorable Texas boundary • Paid Mexico $15 million in exchange

8. ©2004 Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning™ is a trademark used herein under license. Principal Campaigns of the Mexican War, 1846-1847

9. ©2004 Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning™ is a trademark used herein under license. Free and Slave States and Territories, 1848

10. Election of 1848 • Many believed election would settle question of slavery in land gained from Mexico • Field of potential candidates was crowded • Livery Party opposed expansion of slavery and endorsed John P. Hale • John C. Calhoun articulated extreme states’ rights position • James Buchanan was middle ground Democrat • Lewis Cass championed “Popular sovereignty” concept • Democrats nominated Cass • Whigs went with Zachary Taylor • Antislavery Whigs bolted and joined Liberty Party • Free-Soil Party created to oppose slavery, nominating Van Buren • Taylor won with solid southern support and some backing from North

11. California Gold Rush and Statehood • Discovery of gold accelerated timetable for territorial organization • Complicated by questions of slavery • Southerners wanted unqualified access for slavery • Northerners opposed expansion of slavery into California • Issue heated up even further when Taylor proposed immediate statehood • Would have allowed for free state status, as slavery not then present

12. Compromise of 1850 • Henry Clay sought to settle several outstanding questions • Paired proposals to unite North and South • California as free state; rest of Mexican cession without restrictions on slavery • Texas boundary settlement to favor New Mexico; assumption of Texas debt • Abolish slave trade in DC; protect slavery there unless Maryland and Virginia consented to abolition • Congress affirmed it had no jurisdiction over interstate slave trade, strong fugitive slave law

13. Compromise of 1850 (cont.) • Generated numerous speeches in Congress • Most notable from John c. Calhoun, Daniel Webster, William H. Seward • At first, various proposals were lumped together in one bill • Senators and representatives voted against it in order to kill parts they disliked • Stephen Douglas changed tactics and separated the various components • Won support gradually, piece by piece • Helped by death of Taylor and replacement by Millard Fillmore • Not the final settlement its supporters had hoped for

14. Fugitive Slave Law • Constitution provided for return of escaped slaves, but controversy had always existed over how that was to be accomplished • Antislavery movement hampered state compliance after the 1830s • Prigg v. Pennsylvania (1842) ruled that enforcement was entirely a federal responsibility • Some Northern states passed personal liberty laws to prevent recapture of fugitive slaves

15. Fugitive Slave Law (cont.) • Northerners who did not necessarily oppose slavery opposed return of fugitives • Southerners saw return as matter of honor and rights • Law created extensive system for capturing and returning runaways • Abolitionists vowed to resist • Even non-abolitionists were shocked at reality of enforcing the law • Led to writing of Uncle Tom’s Cabin in 1851; published in 1852 • Runaway best-seller • Wide but hostile readership in South • Helped shape an entire generation’s view of slavery

16. Filibustering and the Quest for Cuba • Target of southern interest as target for expanding slavery • Purchase offer in 1848 rejected by Spain • Southerners sought to foster rebellion on the island • Several efforts in the 1850s failed • Interest rekindled when Franklin Pierce entered White House in 21853 • Another failed purchase effort • Plan to wrest Cuba from Spain instead • Ostend Manifesto, 1854 • Generated international uproar and domestic furor • Issue part of presidential campaign in 1860 and secessionist crisis that followed • South also interested in central America • Exploits of William Walker in Nicaragua Web