The Expansion of the USand the Sectional Crisis

1787-1860

By Dave Forrest

The Expansion of the US

• After the American Revolution the US grew from a nation on the east coast with 13 states to a country stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

The Northwest Ordinance

• The Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolutionary War, established the Mississippi River as the western edge of the US.

• After the defeat of Native America tribes in the Northwest Territory many settlers claimed land west of the Appalachians.

Louisiana Purchase

• In order to pay its war debts, France sold the the Louisiana Territory to the US.

• With this purchase the US doubled its size, gaining control of the entire Mississippi River.

Manifest Destiny

• Many Americans believed that it was the US’s destiny to have settlers spread from east to west.

• They believed that it was God’s plan and that the US was justified in taking Indian lands and territory belonging to Mexico.

Settlers Head West

• Farmers and ranchers headed west looking for land.

• Gold and silver miners left the east seeking their fortunes.

• In the 1840’s many settlers traveled west on the Oregon Trail.

Mexican Territories

• In the 1830’s many US citizens settled in northern Mexico.

• They raised cattle and grew cotton.

• However, when the Mexican government stopped their immigration, the settlers rebelled establishing a Texas Republic.

The Annexation of Texas

• Several months later the citizens of Texas voted to be annexed by the US, despite Mexico’s continued claim of ownership.

• Texas wanted to enter the Union as a slave state. It was not granted statehood until 1844.

The Mexican American War

• Texas’ entry into the Union outraged Mexico.

• In a 1846 the US sent troops into the disputed territory, leading to the Mexican American War

• After two years of fighting the US defeated Mexico

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

• With its defeat, Mexico was forced to cede much of its northern lands to the US in 1848.

• Much of the American South west, including the the states of California, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and parts of New Mexico and Colorado became part of the US.

The Sectional Crisis

The Sectional Crisis: North v. South

• In the early years of the US the North and the South competed for political power

• The sectional crisis was the debate over which new Western territories would be admitted to the US as free states, and which as slave states

1820-The Missouri Compromise

1820 The Missouri Compromise

• The US had 11 free states and 11 slave states. Missouri wanted be admitted as a slave state

• In the compromise Missouri was admitted as a slave state, but Maine came in as a free state

• All new territories north of Missouri’s southern boundary would be free

1850 Compromise

1850 Compromise

• California admitted to Union as free state

• Utah and New Mexico could vote whether to be slave or free

• North had to enforce Fugitive Slave Act, returning runaway slaves in the North back to the South

Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854

Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854

• This bill in Congress overturned Missouri Compromise

• Called for Nebraska to be a free state, but Kansas to be a slave state

• Fighting broke out in the Kansas territories between pro and anti-slavery groups

1860 The Sectional Crisis Leads to Civil War

• In 1857 the US Supreme Court ruled that former slave Dred Scott was not a free man, even if he had been working in a free territory

• In 1859 John Brown raided Harper’s Ferry, hoping to incite insurrection against slaveholders

• In 1860 Lincoln, a northern was elected President, winning no southern states

1861 The South Secedes

• The southern states met and seceded (left the Union)

• They declared themselves a new nation called the Confederacy

• They wrote their own Constitution and elected Jefferson Davis to be their President

• The stage was set for the Civil War