Immigration, Expansion and Sectional Conflict

Chapter 13

1840-1848

Introduction

• What economic and political developments encouraged westward expansion?

• What impact did massive immigration in the 1840’s have on the Whig and Democratic parties?

• What were the main issues in the election of 1844 and why was the outcome particularly important?

• How did the Mexican War lead to heightened intersectional conflict and the Democratic Party splintering?

Newcomers and Natives

• Between 1842 and 1860, 4.2 million immigrants entered the United States.

• Two biggest groups were from Germany and Ireland

Expectations and Realities

• Immigrants came with the hope of improving their economic condition

• Few Irish Immigrants had enough capital to purchase a farm

• Irish settled in northeastern cities and took jobs in construction and railroad building

• Germans and Scandinavians tended to settle in Illinois, Ohio, Wisconsin and Missouri

• By 1860 Germans and Irish made up more than 50% of the population of St. Louis, New York, Chicago, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Detroit and San Francisco

The Germans

• Germans were diverse• Different social classes, different

religions• Common language and generally

settled in ethnic neighborhoods• Built German language

newspapers, schools, churches• Native born Americans criticized

them for being clannish

The Irish

• Between 1814 and 1844 almost 1 Million Irish entered the united States

• Most were Catholic and poor• Between 1845 to 1855 almost 2 million more came• Irish were fleeing the potato famine• They entered the workforce at the bottom normally

equal with poor blacks• Irish experienced animosity from groups as they

climbed the social ladder.

Anti Catholicism, Nativism and Labor Unrest

• The antagonism of white Protestant workers took the form of anti-catholic, anti-immigrant organizations

• Know Nothing (American Party)• Labor groups responded to low wages by

advocating for land reform, forming Unions and going on strike

• Union growth was limited by government regulation and employer opposition

• Unions were also split by ethnic and religious groups

Labor Protests and Immigrant Politics

• Almost all immigrants were supporters of the Democratic party

• They perceived the Democrats as more sympathetic to the common man than the Whigs

• Whigs were also tied to the temperance movement and nativism

• Irish wanted no part of abolition

The West and Beyond

• In the 1820’s, 30’s and 40’s Texas and beyond belonged to Mexico

• The Oregon Territory was under the joint occupation of Great Britain and the United States

Far Western Trade

• Earliest Americans to the Far West were Fur Trappers and Traders

• They blazed Trails like the Santa Fe Trail

• They introduced Western manufactured goods to the Far West in exchange for beaver pelts and Mexican silver

• They spurred Westward movement by tales of favorable climate and fertile soil

The American Settlement of Texas 1835

• 1820’s Mexico gave land grants to Americans wishing to move into Texas

• Mexico saw this as a way to guard against Indian attacks and to improve the economy of the region

• So many Americans migrated from the South that the Mexican government tried to shut down immigration in the 1830’s.

• The efforts failed to slow the movements of Americans into Texas.

• By 1836 30,000 whites and 5,000 slaves lived in Texas• 1834 New Mexican dictator Santa Anna tried to tighten

the Mexican hold on Texas and the settlers rebelled

The Texas Revolution 1836

• 1835 Santa Anna leads the army of Mexico into Texas and defeats the American settlers and the Alamo and Goliad

• Americans under the leadership of Sam Houston defeat Santa Anna at San Jacinto and capture Santa Anna

• Santa Anna is forced to sign the treaty granting Texas independence

• Later the Mexican government refuses to ratify the treaty, but Texas proclaimed it’s independence

American Settlements in California, New Mexico and Oregon

• Mexico initially welcomed American colonists to California

• 1830’s American missionaries entered Oregon’s Willamete Valley in convert the Indians there

• 1840’s A growing were settling in the Sacramento Valley separate from Mexicans

• Reports from the missionaries about the climate and resources spurred further migration

The Overland Trails

• 1840’s- 14,000 Americans joined wagon trains on the Overland trails headed for Oregon and California

The Politics of Expansion

• Political leaders fail to deal with the economic woes of the country effectively

• Some political leaders turn to the West and expansion as a cure

The Whig Ascendancy

• William Henry Harrison won the Election of 1840• Plans were to enact Clay’s American System–

National Bank, Tariffs, Internal Improvements• Harrison died one month into his Presidency• John Tyler became President and vetoed all

economic measures presented by the Whigs

Tyler and the Annexation of Texas

• John Tyler support annexation of Texas and appointed John C. Calhoun as Secretary of State to draw up the treaty

• John C. Calhoun’s version of the treaty stated specifically the purpose of annexation was to provide for the expansion of slavery

• This added fuel to the notion that the sole purpose of annexing Texas was for slavery (Southern Conspiracy Theory)

• The Senate rejected Calhoun’s treaty

The Election of 1844

• Annexation of Texas is a big issue• Henry Clay waffled back and forth eventually

opposing it as divisive• His shift lost the Southern vote to the Democrats

and Northern votes to the Liberty party• Democrats nominated James K. Polk, ardent

expansionist• Polk wanted Texas admitted immediately• Immigrants voted for Polk because of the anti-

immigrant, anti-catholic, temperance supporting Whigs

Manifest Destiny

• Expansionism was a popular cause• John L. O’Sullivan- It is our Manifest Destiny to spread

our experiment of liberty from coast to coast• California and Oregon are natural outlets of trade with

Asia• The Acquisition of additional fertile soil would ensure the

future of the US as a democratic republic of self-sufficient farmers and would combat the social strife associated with industrialization and urbanization.

• Appealed to immigrants who envisioned moving to the West

Polk and Oregon

• Polk called for ownership of Oregon during the 1844 election- 54-40 or Fight

• Great Britain was not interested in a war so a treaty was sign making the 49th parallel the border of the Oregon territory

• The Oregon Treaty is ratified in 1846

The Mexican American War and It’s Aftermath 1846-1848

• February of 1845 Congress passed a joint resolution to annex Texas

• Mexico did not recognize the independence of Texas• Polk backed the claim of Texas that the Rio Grande was

the southern border of Texas• Mexico claimed that the southern border of Texas was

the Nueces River• Texas accepts annexation on July 4th 1845• John Slidell sent to M3exico with an offer to buy

California and New Mexico for $25 million• Mexico refuses and Polk orders troops south of the

Nueces River under Zachary Taylor• Congress declares war when Mexico attacks Taylor’s

troops

The Mexican-American War

• February 1847 Zachary Taylor defeats the Mexican army at the Battle of Buena Vista

• Colonel Stephen Kearny took New Mexico• California falls to combined Naval and land assaults led

by Commodores John D. Sloat, David Stockton and Army officers John C. Fremont and Stephen Kearny

• Mexico surrenders in September of 1847 when American forces led by General Winfield Scott take Mexico City

• Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo– Rio Grande is the border of Texas– Land in the American Southwest is ceded to UC for $15 million.

The War’s Effects of Sectional Issues

• Polk administration angers North and West by lowering tariffs and vetoing internal improvements

• Arguments begin over the extension of slavery into the Mexican cession

• Northern Democrats worried that the expansion of slavery would hurt opportunities for laborers in the West and worsen class antagonism in the East

The Wilmot Proviso

• 1846- tacked an anti-slavery bill on the appropriations bill to pay for the Mexican-American War

• Passed by the House not in the Senate

• John C. Calhoun and Southerners claimed that it was unconstitutional to ban slavery in any territory

The Election of 1848

• Whigs nominate Zachary Taylor• Democrats nominate Lewis Cass who promotes

popular sovereignty• Democrats called “Barnburners” joined

antislavery Whigs and the Liberty party to form the Free Soil Party

• Free Soil Party nominated Martin Van Buren who ran on the platform of no further spread of slavery

• Taylor wins the election but the Free Soilers did well in the North

The California Gold Rush

• American carpenter discovers Gold near Sacramento in 1849

• Population of California surges and the military government is not up to the task of governing the gold mines and boom towns

• Californians demand a civil government which brings to a head the issue of slavery in the territories