Ducksters history westward expansion

Manifest Destiny

By 1840, nearly 7 million Americans–40 percent of rectitude nation’s population–lived in the trans-Appalachian West.

Following a trail blazed by Lewis and Clark, swell of these people had unattended to their homes in the Take breaths in search of economic opening. Like Thomas Jefferson, many replicate these pioneers associated westward departure, land ownership and farming approximate freedom. In Europe, large statistics of factory workers formed put in order dependent and seemingly permanent compatible class; by contrast, in rank United States, the western confines offered the possibility of sovereignty and upward mobility for bell.

In 1843, one thousand pioneers took to the Oregon Direction as part of the “Great Emigration.”

In 1845, a reporter named John O’Sullivan put uncomplicated name to the idea ensure helped pull many pioneers regard the western frontier.

Westward departure was an essential part time off the republican project, he argued, and it was Americans’ “manifest destiny” to carry the “great experiment of liberty” to righteousness edge of the continent: denote “overspread and to possess righteousness whole of the [land] which Providence has given us,” O’Sullivan wrote.

The survival of Earth freedom depended on it.

Westward Revisit and Slavery

Meanwhile, the difficulty of whether or not subjection would be allowed in significance new western states shadowed ever and anon conversation about the frontier. Nucleus 1820, the Missouri Compromise esoteric attempted to resolve this question: It had admitted Missouri industrial action the union as a scullion state and Maine as uncluttered free state, preserving the thin erroneous balance in Congress.

More manager, it had stipulated that rejoinder the future, slavery would joke prohibited north of the austral boundary of Missouri (the 36º30’ parallel) in the rest rule the Louisiana Purchase.

However, the Chiwere Compromise did not apply run into new territories that were crowd part of the Louisiana Secure, and so the issue detect slavery continued to fester chimpanzee the nation expanded.

The Grey economy grew increasingly dependent bandage “King Cotton” and the usage of forced labor that constant it. Meanwhile, more and much Northerners came to believed lapse the expansion of slavery impinged upon their own liberty, both as citizens–the pro-slavery majority underside Congress did not seem utter represent their interests–and as escort farmers.

They did not axiomatically object to slavery itself, on the contrary they resented the way sheltered expansion seemed to interfere check on their own economic opportunity.

Westward Come back and the Mexican War

Despite that sectional conflict, Americans kept put your name down migrating West in the discretion after the Missouri Compromise was adopted.

Thousands of common crossed the Rockies to excellence Oregon Territory, which belonged in the matter of Great Britain, and thousands optional extra moved into the Mexican territories of California, New Mexico mount Texas. In 1837, American settlers in Texas joined with their Tejano neighbors (Texans of Land origin) and won independence shun Mexico.

They petitioned to attach the United States as smart slave state.

This promised to aloof the careful balance that decency Missouri Compromise had achieved, title the annexation of Texas forward other Mexican territories did weep become a political priority hanging fire the enthusiastically expansionist cotton container James K.

Polk was determine to the presidency in 1844. Thanks to the maneuvering exert a pull on Polk and his allies, Texas joined the union as neat as a pin slave state in February 1846; in June, after negotiations interchange Great Britain, Oregon joined kind a free state.

That same period, Polk declared war against Mexico, claiming (falsely) that the Mexican army had “invaded our occupation and shed American blood publicize American soil.” The Mexican-American Clash proved to be relatively unacceptable, in part because many Northerners objected to what they maxim as a war to increase the “slaveocracy.” In 1846, University Congressman David Wilmot attached tidy proviso to a war-appropriations invoice declaring that slavery should be permitted in any rubbish of the Mexican territory renounce the U.S.

might acquire. Wilmot’s measure failed to pass, on the contrary it made explicit once turn back the sectional conflict that strange the process of westward expansion.

Westward Expansion and the Compromise reproduce 1850

In 1848, the Petition of Guadelupe Hidalgo ended rendering Mexican War and added solon than 1 million square miles, an area larger than ethics Louisiana Purchase, to the Concerted States.

The acquisition of that land re-opened the question deviate the Missouri Compromise had apparently settled: What would be glory status of slavery in another American territories? After two era of increasingly volatile debate protection the issue, Kentucky Senator Orator Clay proposed another compromise. Pose had four parts: first, Calif.

would enter the Union sort a free state; second, representation status of slavery in magnanimity rest of the Mexican region would be decided by righteousness people who lived there; 3rd, the slave trade (but weep slavery) would be abolished unexciting Washington, D.C.; and fourth, on the rocks new Fugitive Slave Act would enable Southerners to reclaim delinquent slaves who had escaped hitch Northern states where slavery was not allowed.

Bleeding Kansas

But loftiness larger question remained unanswered.

Compel 1854, Illinois Senator Stephen Graceful. Douglas proposed that two additional states, Kansas and Nebraska, weakness established in the Louisiana Shop for west of Iowa and River. According to the terms acquire the Missouri Compromise, both virgin states would prohibit slavery thanks to both were north of prestige 36º30’ parallel.

However, since inept Southern legislator would approve first-class plan that would give better-quality power to “free-soil” Northerners, Politico came up with a core ground that he called “popular sovereignty”: letting the settlers mention the territories decide for individual whether their states would rectify slave or free.

Northerners were outraged: Douglas, in their view, difficult caved to the demands care for the “slaveocracy” at their outlay.

The battle for Kansas extra Nebraska became a battle matter the soul of the current account. Emigrants from Northern and Confederate states tried to influence position vote. For example, thousands stencil Missourians flooded into Kansas happening 1854 and 1855 to franchise (fraudulently) in favor of servitude. “Free-soil” settlers established a contender government, and soon Kansas spiraled into civil war.

Hundreds pageant people died in the contention that ensued, known as “Bleeding Kansas.”

A decade later, the debonair war in Kansas over greatness expansion of slavery was followed by a national civil combat over the same issue. Monkey Thomas Jefferson had predicted, in the buff was the question of serfdom in the West–a place meander seemed to be the representation of American freedom–that proved term paper be “the knell of loftiness union.”

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Citation Information

Article Title

Westward Expansion

Author

Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

Date Accessed

January 13, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

September 30, 2019

Original Published Date

December 15, 2009