AP U.S 1

Maine Dispute, Oregon Fever

U.S hatred of Britain during the 19th century came about periodically and had to be ended by a treaty or war

Anti-British feelings were due to several reasons

1- Memories of two previous wars2- pro-British federalists had died out, to

those Jacksonian Democrats3- British travelers spoke poorly of American

“tobacco spitting, slave auctioneering, lynching, and other unsavory features”

British Hate

America at the time was a borrowing nation, Britain a lending nation

A provocative incident on the Canadian frontier brought passions to a boil in 1837

American steamer, Caroline, was attacked on the Niagara River

Only 1 American was killed

War of the pen

In 1841 in the Bahamas, British officials offered asylum to 130 Virginia slaves who rebelled and captured American ship the Creole

These several events and feelings combined to create a very tension filled century between these two countries

More tension

Controversy in 1840s involved Maine boundary dispute

British wanted to build road from Halifax to Quebec

Proposed route ran through disputed territory

Tough lumberjacks from Maine and Canada entered disputed land and ugly fights occur

Titled “Aroostook War”Britain sent a statesman to the U.S to

negotiate and they eventually do

Manipulating the Maine Maps

Basically, they split the difference so Americans retained about 7,000 square miles of the 12,000 total

British got less land but won the Halifax-Quebec route

Overlooked bonus in the same treatyThe British in adjusting the boundary farther

west, surrendered 6,500 square miles which was later found to contain priceless Mesabi iron ore of Minnesota

SO HA CANADA!

Arrangement

So called Oregon Country was an enormous wildernesWent from west of the Rockies to the Pacific OceanNorth of California to the line of 54-40 the present

southern tip of the Alaska panhandleAll of parts of the area were at one time claimed by

four nations: Spain, Russia, Britain and the U.S

Two eventually drop out: Spain got rid of its share in the Florida Treaty of 1819

Russia retreated to 54-40 by treaties of 1824 and 25 with U.S and Britain

Oregon Fever Populates Oregon

Best colonizing effect of Britain was the Hudson’s Bay Company which traded with Indians of Pacific Northwest for furs

U.S presence was strengthened by missionaries and other settlers

These missionaries were instrumental in saving Oregon for the United States

They stimulated interest in a faraway land that many Americans earlier assumed would not be settled for centuries

Scattered American and British pioneers lived peacefully side by side

By 1846 about 5,000 Americans had settled south of the Columbia River

Some of them “border ruffians” experts with bowie knifes and “revolving pistols”

British could only muster about 700 subjects north of Columbia River

PEACE

Only a relatively small segment of Oregon Country was actually controversial by 1845

Area in dispute was quad-rangle between the Columbia River on the south and east, 49th parallel on the north and the Pacific Ocean on the west

This becomes a big part of the election of 1844 along with several other issues such as Manifest Destiny, Texas, etc.

Curious Fact

At the conclusion of the Mexican War, there were about 13,000 descendants of Spanish and Mexican conquerors who had once ruled California

AKA: Californios

Spanish first arrived in California in 1769They outraced Russian traders to bountiful

San Franciscan BayFather Junipero Serra established 21 missions

along the coast

Californios

Indians were encouraged to adapt Christianity and sometimes were forced to become farmers and herders while suffering from disease, etc.

Oftentimes these maltreated Indians were part of the lowest rung of the Spanish society

Californios were high up on that “ladder”

They were pioneers from the Mexican heartland of New Spain, they traveled to California

Mexico emptied its jails and sent settlers to the barely populated north and gave power from the missions over to governmental authorities

This program ended the immense power of the missions

During the 1830s the power of the missions weakened, and much of their land was given to Californios

Transfer of Power

Californios glory faded when Americans won the War with Mexico

They were overwhelmed by a rush of white gold rushers (87,000) after Sutter’s Mill discovery in 1848

Starting in 1910 hundreds of thousands of young Mexicans would flock into California and the southwest

However the land was much different than years before when the Californio ancestors settled it