Chapter 12 APUSH

1840s-1850s: A Nation in Flux

• US population nearly doubled between 1830 and 1850, driven by immigration and westward expansion.

• Immigration: Chinese, Irish, and German immigrants significantly altered the nation's demographics.

  • Chinese immigrants faced discrimination and hardship, settling the Pacific Coast and often working in manual labor despite facing extreme prejudice.
  • The Irish Potato Famine (1845-1850) brought over one million Irish immigrants, primarily to fast-growing eastern cities like NY and Boston. They often took jobs as laborers.
  • German immigrants generally had a more successful transition, settling in midwestern cities and rural areas and introducing new cultural elements like Christmas trees and beer.
  • Nativism, especially through the Know Nothing Party, rose to counter and resist these large waves of immigrants. They were anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic.

• Westward Expansion & Changing Demographics: The acquisition of new territories led to Mexicans, Mormons, and Native Americans becoming part of the United States but often facing discrimination. Mexicans, especially, experienced a struggle for equality.

• Slavery's Grip: The southern economy remained highly reliant on slave labor (cotton production).

  • The South produced 60% of the world's cotton, nearly entirely using enslaved labor.
  • This economic dependency fueled resistance and opposition from the North which argued the ethical and economic flaws of slavery.
  • The number of enslaved persons increased greatly from 1.5 million in 1820 to 4 million in 1860.
  • Resistance to slavery included passive resistance, slowdowns, tool breaking, faking illness, and running away. The Underground Railroad played a crucial role in helping runaway slaves.
  • Slave revolts, like Nat Turner's Rebellion, were common but unsuccessful, though they demonstrated the tension and fear of larger rebellions that existed across the nation.

• Abolition Movement: The American Anti-Slavery Society, led by figures like William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass, actively campaigned against slavery.

  • Abolitionists opposed the Fugitive Slave Act, and aimed for universal social reform extending beyond the abolition of slavery into other areas like temperance and women's rights.

• Emerging Women's Rights: In 1848, the Seneca Falls Convention marked the start of the organized women's rights movement.

  • Key figures like the Grimke sisters, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, and Susan B. Anthony rallied for equality and voting rights for women.
  • Although the movement faced challenges, it gained strength in the face of other major societal shifts.

Key Events & Figures

• Nat Turner's Rebellion: Most significant slave rebellion, resulting in the violent deaths of slave-owners and slaves, and fear of larger slave rebellions.
• Seneca Falls Convention: 1848 meeting to demand women's rights and equality.
• William Lloyd Garrison: Leading abolitionist, founder of The Liberator.
• Frederick Douglass: Former enslaved person who became a powerful voice against slavery through his writings and speaking.
• Harriet Tubman: Instrumental in the Underground Railroad.
• Sojourner Truth: Key figure in both abolitionism and the women's rights movement and a staunch abolitionist.