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AP-USA CHAPTER 13 SUMMARY
By the 1840s, "Young America" boasted of its freedom from tradition and restraints of any
kind, unaware that a nation that did not concern itself with the practical consequences
of its actions was headed for catastrophe.
I. MOVEMENT TO THE FAR WEST
In the 1830s and 1840s, American settlement pierced the line of Mississippi and reached the
Pacific. Settlement often spilled over the borders of the United States and
encroached on lands owned or claimed by Mexico and England.
A. Borderlands of the 1830s
The dream that Canada might someday belong to the United States came to an end in
1842 when the Webster-Ashburton Treaty settled the northeast boundary. Americans
looked instead to three other territories: Oregon (an area much larger than the present- day
state of the same name), where the United States and England had a joint right of
occupation, New Mexico, then owned by Mexico, and California, also owned by Mexico, but
virtually uninhabited.
B. The Texas Revolution
Americans, including many slaveholders, immigrated into Texas, owned by Mexico in
the 1820s. These "Anglos" never fully accepted Mexican rule, especially after 1829,
when the Mexican government tried to abolish slavery. After a series of incidents, armed
rebellion broke out in 1835.
C. The Republic of Texas
In March 1836, a convention of Texans declared independence. After a short brutal war,
Texans forced the defeated Santa Anna to sign a treaty recognizing Texas' claim to territory
all the way to the Rio Grande. Texas was independent, but Mexico refused to recognize the
new nation.
Texas opened her lands to even more rapid American settlement, and it was the desire of
most Texans to join the United States. President Andrew Jackson, however, fearing a war
with Mexico and domestic political controversy, delayed annexation.
D. Trails of Trade and Settlement
One of the trails used by Americans in their westward movement, the Sante Fe Trail,
was closed by Mexico as a result of its war with Texas. Along the Oregon Trail, a heavy stream
of settlers moved through the Rocky Mountains and into the Oregon country. These
settlers demanded that the United States end the joint occupation with England and assume
full control.
E. The Mormon Trek
Among those moving west were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day
Saints. Founded by Joseph Smith in 1830 in upstate New York, the Mormon church
attempted to revive the pure Christianity they believed had once existed in aboriginal
America. Because of their unorthodox beliefs and practices (polygamy, for example)
Mormons suffered persecution that sent them ever westward. They established their own
city, Nauvoo, Illinois, but after Joseph Smith was killed by a mob, Mormons resettled around
the Great Salt Lake in Utah. They established a state called Deseret, and thanks to a strong
central government and the discipline and dedication of the community, they transformed
the desert into farmland.
Mormons at first resisted being governed by the United States after the area was taken from
Mexico, and in 1857 the United States and the Mormons almost went to war. Both sides
backed off, and Brigham Young, the Mormon leader, accepted an appointment as territorial
governor of Utah.
II. MANIFEST DESTINY AND THE MEXICAN-AMERICAN WAR
America's westward movement created a confrontation with Great Britain and a war with
Mexico.
A. Tyler and Texas
John Tyler had been placed on the 1840 Whig ticket as vice president in order to get some
southern votes; Whig leaders never expected him to become president in 1841. By 1844
Tyler had broken with the Whig party, and his hopes for reelection in 1844 rested almost
entirely on finding a new and popular issue. He began pushing for the annexation of Texas,
which was a popular issue in the South, but the North was indifferent and perhaps even
hostile to the idea of adding a new slave state. When Tyler negotiated a treaty of
annexation with Texas, the Senate refused to ratify it.
B. The Triumph of Polk and Annexation
At the Democratic nominating convention in 1844, southern delegates had enough
strength to give the nomination to James K. Polk of Tennessee, who was strongly in favor of
annexing Texas. In order to win northern support, Polk also promised to extend U.S.
jurisdiction over all of Oregon. His victory over Whig candidate Henry Clay was a
narrow one, but Polk and the Congress interpreted the results as a mandate for expansion.
Congress annexed Texas even before Polk was inaugurated.
C. The Doctrine of Manifest Destiny
The rationale behind American expansion is summed up in the phrase, "manifest
destiny," first used in 1845. Expansion was defended on three grounds: first, God wanted the
United States, His chosen nation, to become stronger; second, as Americans took over new
territories, they made these areas free and democratic; and third, the American
population was growing so rapidly that the nation needed more land. The only
questions were how far America would expand and whether it would use diplomacy or war
to do so.
D. Polk and the Oregon Question
America almost went to war with Great Britain over the ownership of the Oregon
country. President Polk was actually willing to split the area with England, but his
public demands for the whole territory annoyed the English, and they refused to
negotiate with him. In 1846 Polk notified Great Britain that the United States would no
longer agree to joint occupation. England prepared for war, but also proposed
division of the area in a treaty that the Senate approved. Although the United
States gained ownership of Puget Sound, a deep-water port on the Pacific, the North
condemned Polk for not having persisted in his demand for all of Oregon.
E. War with Mexico
When the United States annexed Texas, it also acquired a boundary dispute with Mexico.
When Polk ordered U.S. forces to occupy the disputed area, a skirmish ensued, which the
president used to justify a declaration of war on May 13, 1846. Polk saw the war as an
opportunity to seize California and New Mexico, those states that Mexico had refused to
sell to the United States.
In the war, General Zachary Taylor defeated the Mexicans in a series of battles in
northern Mexico; New Mexico was taken, and California fell to American forces. The
conclusive battles were won by General Winfield Scott, who took Vera Cruz in an
amphibious invasion, routed the Mexicans at Cerro Gordo, and occupied Mexico City by
September, 1847.
F. Settlement of the Mexican-American War
In the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which ended the Mexican War, the United States
gained the Rio Grande as a southern border and enlarged its size by 20 percent with the
addition of California and the Southwest.
Two powerful forces limited further American expansion, racism and anti colonialism. The American people did not want to take in large numbers of Latin
Americans, whom they considered inferior. The annexation of Texas and the war with
Mexico had also aroused political contention. Most Whigs opposed the war, and many
Northerners complained that the nation had been dragged into a war that benefited only
the slave-owners in the South.
III. INTERNAL EXPANSIONISM
Having pushed to the Pacific, Americans turned inward and developed their vast
domain.
A. Triumph of the Railroad
By the 1840s and 1850s, the railroad finally began to displace the canal as the cheapest
means of hauling freight. Railroad construction stimulated the iron industry, but the most
dramatic side-effect of the railroad boom was in the area of finance. Railroads required
enormous amounts of capital, which were raised through new techniques such as bonds
and preferred stock, and by large government subsidies.
B. The Industrial Revolution Takes Off
Mass produetion and the division of labor transformed traditional crafts and made
production more efficient. More and more work was done in a factory system, the
essential features of which were the gathering of laborers in one place where they could
be supervised, cash wages, and a "continuous process" of manufacturing. Agriculture
remained of primary importance in the national economy, but even farming was becoming
mechanized. In the North especially, advances in industry, transportation and agriculture
interacted to create a strong economy.
C. Mass Immigration Begins
By the 1840s, American industry was capable of providing hundreds of thousands of
jobs, which attracted immigrants. Between 1840 and 1860, over four million Europeans,
mostly Irish and Germans, came to the United States. Although many came to escape
poverty--the Irish especially--most immigrants came for the opportunity to work at higher
wages. Ironically, many immigrants stayed in the port cities and gladly took low-paying
jobs. Since most immigrants could only afford substandard housing, urban slums spread,
inspiring efforts to reduce crime, vice and dirt, but progress was slow.
D. The New Working Class
Traditionally, women and children were factory workers. Men began to enter the factory
work-force in significant numbers only in the 1840s. At that time, working conditions had
begun to deteriorate. Employers were less personally involved with their laborers, and the
depression that followed 1837 induced employers to demand more work for less pay.
Workers responded by organizing unions.
When immigrants poured into America, they replaced native Americans in the factories. The
budding union movement was badly hurt, but the new working class did not form a docile
body of employees. They resented the discipline and continuous nature of factory work and
clung to traditional work habits, which to the supervisors appeared as careless work
habits. The new working class also posed a problem for American ideals. It had always been
assumed that working for wages was merely the first step toward becoming your own
master. Now, it was obvious that a permanent, wage-earning working class had come into
existence.
Politicians like Stephen Douglas hoped to create a patriotic consensus based on continued
territorial and economic expansion, but expansion actually created conflicts between
classes and sections that the politicians could not control.
IV. CONCLUSION: THE COSTS OF EXPANSION
The age of expansionism had extracted a tremendous price on the United States. External
(territorial) expansion generated a diplomatic crisis, a war, and sectional conflict that
would eventually divide the nation while internal (economic) expansion fueled class and
ethnic rivalries and threatened America's self-image as a land of opportunity and upward
mobility.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After mastering this chapter, your students should be able to:
1. Describe the conditions of the western "borderlands" of the 1830s as well as the factors attracting American
settlers.
2. Explain the causes, events, and results of the Texas revolution.
3. Discuss the importance of the Santa Fe and Oregon Trails in expanding American trade and settlement.
4. Trace the development of the Mormon Church and the westward trek of its members.
5. Identify the candidates and issues and explain the outcome and consequences of the election of 1844.
6. Evaluate the successes and failures of James K. Polk's administration.
7. Discuss the rationale for expansion as expressed in the doctrine of manifest destiny.
8. Summarize the causes, events, and outcomes of the Mexican War.
9. Discuss the factors that contributed to American economic growth from 1830 to 1860.
10. Describe the changing composition and attitudes of the American working class during this era.
QUESTIONS
1.
What factors lured Americans to the Far West - California, New Mexico, Oregon, and Utah - from the 1820s
through the 1840s?
2.
Were the Texans justified in revolting against Mexico in 1836?
3.
Americans have seemingly always believed that their nation was blessed with a divine mission. Explain. How did
that notion relate to the concept of Manifest Destiny? Does such a sense of mission persist today?
4.
Define imperialism. Was the Mexican War an imperialistic venture by the United States? Why, given the
expansionist spirit of the age, did the United States not seek to acquire all of Mexico?
5.
What were the most important factors contributing to American economic growth from 1830 to 1860?
6.
How did increasing industrialization affect the conditions and attitudes of the new working class?
Chapter 13 Review Questions (HOMEWORK)
Identify these terms or names, your answers must be HAND-WRITTEN, turn in one for HW.
Briefly identify the meaning and significance of the following terms:
1. ”Young America"
2. Stephen F. Austin
3. Oregon Trail
4. Joseph Smith
5. John Tyler
6. James K. Polk
7. Manifest Destiny
8. "Fifty-four Forty or Fight"
9. Zachary Taylor
10. Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
11. The Alamo