Chapter 13 Notecards

Front 1

What was the ideal behind Manifest Destiny in the 1840s, and what were its effects in the 1840s?

Back 1

The ideal behind Manifest Destiny is that territories within the U.S. would be controlled from "sea to shining sea". There was a belief that these territories needed to be controlled as a mandate from God, to spread Christian American ideals.

Front 2

What party opposed the ideal of Manifest Destiny, and what party petitioned for it?

Back 2

The Whigs did not wish to expand, including Henry Clay and others, because they feared that the question of whether of slavery should be adopted in these territories would be brought up again, an issue they had tried to avoid.

Most Democrats, especially those in the South, wholeheartedly supported expansionism.

Front 3

What were the beginning tensions between Americans and Mexicans in Mexican-controlled Texas, and what had started those tensions?

Back 3

Once Mexico had gained independence from Spain, they wanted to increase the population of Texas to secure their holdings. They provided incentives for Americans to immigrate into the region, but stated that they had to be Mexican citizens, Roman Catholic, and made slavery illegal. Many of the pioneers that had immigrated were Southerners, who would bring their slaves with them. Pioneers ignored them; wanted to have their free land and didn't care to convert. Soon, rebellions began to declare Texas independent from Mexico, including the Alamo, in which Mexican forces attacked and overtook a rebellion fort after Texas had declared Indpendence. Eventually, General Sam Houston captured dictator Santa Anna at Battle of San Jacinto, and made him sign a declaration announcing Texas independent from Mexico via knife point.

Front 4

What led to many traveling on the Oregon Trail, and what were its beginning effects?

Back 4

Manifest destiny led many to travel to Oregon, which had been previously occupied by American and Canadian fur traders and had been jointly controlled by America and British Canada. Missionaries, one of the groups who petitioned the travel to Oregon, were motivated to after seeing the efforts of Roman Catholics in converting the native Indians there. They considered the region perfect to expand evangelical efforts, and convinced many other Americans to travel on the long and arduous Oregon Trail to settle in the region.

Front 5

What led to James Polk winning the election, concerning the issues of Texas and Oregon?

Back 5

What had made James Polk's victory in the election possible was his support on the position, expressed in the Democratic platform, “that the re-occupation of Oregon and the re-­annexation of Texas at the earliest practicable period are great American measures.” Many had supported Texas's annexation, especially in the South, and many more supported it because of the mandate of manifest destiny. A growing number of white Americans in the lands west of the Mississippi put great pressure on the government in Washington to annex Texas, Oregon, and other territory. By combining the Texas and Oregon questions, Polk hoped he would appeal to all expansionists in America, and he did, winning him the vote for US president.

Front 6

How did Polk resolve the Oregon question?

Back 6

After Northern congressmen were alarmed that Texas, if annexed, lay on the south of the Missouri Compromise line and would thus be a slave state, they demanded that Polk maintain the balance by demanding the entirety of the Oregon Country, stretching all the way into Alaska and British territory, with the slogan "54 40 or Fight". Polk recognized that the US could hardly afford to fight two territorial wars at the same time, especially if one was against Great Britain. Thus, he signed an Oregon Treaty with Great Britain that didn't lay claim into British territory, but instead developed a modest American-Canadian border.

Front 7

What had led to the Mexican American War under Polk?

Back 7

After resolving the Oregon question, Polk tried to lay claim on the whole Southwest, including California and Texas, from Mexico. He at first tried to buy the territory from them, offering $25 million, mainly because many Americans had gradually moved into California, and wanted to be part of the Union. When Mexico refused to buy, Polk challenged them on the border of Texas, in which he claimed the Rio Grande as their western and southern border of Texas, and the Mexicans claimed the border was to the north of the Rio Grande River. Eventually, the Mexicans cross the Rio Grande river to claim their territory, and attacked American troops. Polk used the border attack to argue for a declaration of war against Mexico, claiming American blood had been spilled, to which Congress granted the declaration.

Front 8

How did Polk eventually resolve the Texas Question?

Back 8

Polk eventually resolved the Texas question easily defeating the Mexican troops in Texas, then easily defeating Mexican troops in New Mexico and California. When the US successfully invaded Mexico City, the war was over. In the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico handed over almost all of the modern Southwest, and in return, the US paid $15 million for the land.

Front 9

What had been done to resolve the debate over slavery in these new regions, and what were the reactions?

Back 9

Many anti-slavery opponents did not want slavery to extend into these regions, and thus the Wilmot Proviso was brought up in Congress, asking Congress to ban slavery in the newly acquired territories from Mexico. The bill passed in the House, but failed in the Senate, mainly because of the Southern militant Democrats, who had stated that they had equal rights in these territories, including equal rights to bring their “property” there.

Front 10

What is the Compromise of 1850, and how did it arise in the first place?

Back 10

The Compromise of 1850 arose because lands south of the Missouri Compromise line in the new territories were not suitable to grow cotton, tobacco, or any plantation crops, something the rich plantation aristocracy in the South had hoped to obtain from the territories. They wanted to control the whole southeastern quarter of the U.S. They attempted to open up more states to slavery through popular sovereignty, allowing the territories the ability to vote on the issue of slavery. However, many parts of the southeast, including California, were already petitioning for statehood, in which they wouldn't adopt slavery. Proslavery forces had argued that California should be forced to accept slavery, as per the Missouri Compromise of 1820. The debate grew so hostile, that Democrat Stephen Douglas and Whig Henry Clay devised what should be a solution to the sectional strife: The Compromise of 1850, which was fair to both sides of the sectional strife. It admitted California as a free state, at the price of enacting a strong fugitive slave law, in which "slaves” were not allowed to testify if they were found out to be a slave, and were forced back into slavery if they were caught. It also created the territories of Utah and New Mexico, but left the status of slavery for each territory via popular sovereignty. The Compromise of 1850, unlike the Missouri Compromise thirty years before, was not a product of widespread agreement on common national ideals. It was, rather, a victory of bargaining and self-interest between the Northern anti-slavery Whigs and the rich plantation aristocracy of the South.

Front 11

What is the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and what were its effects?

Back 11

Settlers entering the Kansas and Nebraska territories found no established civil authority. Stephen Douglas sought to address these issues through the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. He ushered through Congress a law that left the fate of slavery up to residents without specifying when or how they were to decide. The Act repealed the Missouri Compromise, which made Northerners furious, regarding it as evidence of the Slave Power's domination of government. In response, many Northern gov'ts passed laws weakening the fugitive slave act. Southerners, who thought the fugitive slave law was final, were furious. The Act drove anti-slavery Whigs to join Northern Democrats and former Free-Soilers to form a new party, the Republicans. They were intent on keeping slavery out of territories, further development of national roads, more land distribution in the West, and protective tariffs. Thus, they got support from Midwestern merchants and farmers, Western settlers, and Eastern importers, and soon won a majority of congressional seats in 1854.

The most profound effect of the Kansas Nebraska Act was that it provoked violence in the territories. Both abolitionists and proslavery groups rushed into the territories, illegally voting on the slavery issue in hopes of forming a gov't to win the two future states to their side. Just before the election, thousands of proslavery Missourians relocated to Kansas, prompting pro slavery and anti slavery rival constitutions being sent to Washington. President Pierce, a stickler for Southern policies, accepted the pro slavery one, and proslavery forces took that as a sign to expel all anti-slavery forces from the state. In retaliation, radical abolitionist John Brown led a raid on a proslavery camp, killing five, prompting an attack from the opposition. Push comes to shove; 200 people die in conflict, known as Bleeding Kansas.

Front 12

What was the ruling in the Dred Scott v. Sandford decision, under President Buchanan?

Back 12

After Pierce's reputation had been destroyed, Buchanan took his place. The crisis over slavery escalated when the Supreme Court ruled in Dred Scott v. Sandford. Scott sued for freedom when his owner died and the owners brother wanted to take him in as a slave. At a time when many wanted to ignore big questions surrounding slavery, Chief Justice Taney chose to attack it head on, by stating that slaves were property, not citizens, and thus couldn't sue. Moreover, he ruled that Congress could not regulate slavery in the territories, and slaves being in free states didn't necessarily mean they were free. This part of the decision not only nullified the Missouri Compromise, but the Kansas-Nebraska Act and Wilmot Provioso as well, which was still championed by Northerners and abolitionists.

That being said, the Northerners were pissed. The Court was essentially saying that the slavery could go anywhere, and the Republicans goal of restricting the spread of slavery grew thin. They believed that the decision was a major victory for the Southern Democrats. They promised to overthrow the ruling.

Front 13

What were the main arguments and sides both Lincoln and Douglas took before their election of 1858? Who won the election ultimately?

Back 13

Lincoln tended to favor the side that wanted to restrict the spread of slavery, and stated that the country can't remain half slave and half free. Douglas tried to defend popular sovereignty as a means to determine the spread of slavery, which ultimately ruined his career and top spot for the election in 1860. His ambiguous stance on popular sovereignty destroyed that chance to attract both the Southern and Northern vote. Lincoln won the election ultimately.

Front 14

What happened in John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry and what were its effects?

Back 14

Adding fuel to the secessionist fire was radical abolitionist John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry in 1859. Brown hoped to spark a slave revolt but failed. After his execution, news spread that Brown had received financial backing from Northern abolitionist organizations, and had been celebrated as a martyr for the cause throughout the North. Finally, this led Southerners to believe that staying in the Union was not safe for them, and that if they continued to stay there would be slave insurrections like the raid that happened.

Front 15

What happened after Lincoln won the election?

Back 15

By the time the election of 1860 came around, the Democratic Party was split between Southerners, who wanted a strong endorsement of slavery, and the Westerners, who supported the idea of popular sovereignty. The disagreements forced Southerners out of the convention to pick a candidate, and they ran their own candidate for the election. The decimated convention was left to pick Stephen Douglas. The Republican leaders, in the meantime, were trying to appeal to every major group in the North, and had successfully done so, seeing to it that Lincoln would win the election.

Right after Lincoln won the election, states in the South saw a reason to secede, and began doing so. Seeing that the Republican Party was gaining power and wishing to remove slavery from the US indefinitely scared Southerners out of the Union, seeing as not safe for them anymore.