Chapter 12 Notes

1. Chapter 12 Notes By: Christina Haskins

2. Why the explosive expansion? People were moving to the west for a numerous amount of reasons. • There was a lot of cheap land • The land in the South was basically worked to death, so farmers needed new land to plant more crops and the West was the ideal place to invest in. • Jefferson’s embargo had caused and economical stir, so people were also looking for a place with in a better economical state than in the North and South. • There were no longer Indian problems in some areas in the West because the military, led by General Andrew Jackson, had eradicated them. • The invention of the steamboat and highways brought in merchants looking for a way to earn more money also.

3. The West in Politics Even though many people were moving into the West, the population was still weak compared to the East. Because of the small population, the West didn’t really have a voice in the Union’s politics. It started to ally with parts of the North and South so theirs wants and opinions could be heard. Some examples of their wants are: • Their own affordable money and they fought the National Bank in order to attain their own “wildcat banks”. • Their own form of cheap transportation, which they eventually retained. • They wanted really cheap land. They eventually snagged the acreage for about $1.25 per acre.

4. Racial Divide Caused by Politics Nine states had been added to the Union between the years of 1791-1819. In order to preserve the balance between the North and South, a state was either submitted into the republic as a free or slave state.

5. Missouri’s “So-Called” Dilemma • Missouri was the first piece of land entirely east of the Mississippi River to be created from the recently acquired land, the Louisiana Purchase. It wanted to enter the Union as a slave state. • The House of Representatives didn’t want thought to occur, so they passed the Tallmadge amendment. • This amendment stated that slaves could no longer be brought into Missouri and also granted any child born to slave parents are immediately granted freedom in Missouri.

6. Who Was Upset and Why An uproar broke out between almost everyone. • Southern slaveholders were upset because they thought that the House being unfair. The North and South were equal, having 11 states each, but by making Missouri a free state that would unbalance the Union making the North dominant. They also thought that if Congress could abolish the balance then they could make the original Southern states free as well. • Pioneers were upset already from the expansion of the West, so this was just an excuse to stop the expansion. • The North, mainly the Federalists in this area, even got in on the act because they wanted to end the “Virginia dynasty” once and for all. • The other part of the North was not upset, but used this as step towards talking Congress into abolishing slavery all together.

7. Missouri Compromise • Henry Clay played the leading role in creating the three part Compromise. • Despite the North’s pleas, Congress admitted Missouri as a slave state ,but created Maine, once part of Massachuttes, as a free state. This kept the balance between the North and South. • Even though Missouri was allowed to retain slaves, the rest of the Lousiana Purchase was not. • In this Compromise, both the North and South lost something and gained something.

8. Missouri Compromise (visual)

9. The Non-Lasting Effects • The Missouri Compromise lasted for 34 years. • The fight between slaver went on, however, and it is what eventually broke the Union apart, in the Civil War. • The Missouri Compromise was a band- aid on a cut that needed stitches. The Missouri Compromise