Westward Expansion and the Mexican-American War

Westward Expansion and the Mexican-American War

• Economic factors fueling westward expansion: search for land, resources, farming, and mining opportunities.
• Romanticism's influence: emphasized nature and individualism, promoting westward migration as a freedom quest.
• Democratic Party stance: supported expansion; Whig Party was more cautious or opposed.
• Election of 1844 impact: James K. Polk's victory championed Texas annexation and expansion into Oregon and California.
• Causes of the Mexican-American War: border disputes, American expansionism, and Mexico's refusal to negotiate.
• Lincoln's "spot resolutions": questioned war justification, reflecting anti-war sentiment.
• Thoreau's protest: civil disobedience through tax refusal.

1850s Issues and the Road to Civil War

• Wilmot Proviso: proposed banning slavery in Mexican territories; intensified sectional conflict.
• Compromise of 1850: California's admission as a free state, stricter Fugitive Slave Act, and popular sovereignty for other territories.
• Fugitive Slave Act: required runaway slave return; enraged Northerners and fueled abolitionist views.
• California Gold Rush and Southern opposition: Southern migrants feared a free California reducing their political power.
• Kansas-Nebraska Act: allowed popular sovereignty for slavery in the territories.
• Popular sovereignty: settlers deciding on slavery.
• Bleeding Kansas: violent conflict over slavery, John Brown's involvement.
• John Brown's Harper's Ferry raid: aimed to incite slave rebellion.
• Dred Scott decision: ruled African Americans as non-citizens and Congress couldn't ban slavery.
• Abolitionists vs. Free Soilers: abolitionists advocated for ending slavery everywhere; Free Soilers opposed its expansion, but not immediate abolition.
• Changing political landscape: Whigs declined; Republican Party emerged against slavery expansion.
• Presidential candidates of 1860: differing views on slavery and the Union:
• Lincoln: opposed slavery expansion.
• Douglas: supported popular sovereignty.
• Breckenridge: supported slavery expansion.
• Bell: wanted Union preservation.
• Pre-Civil War approach to slavery: seeking compromises like the Missouri and 1850 Compromises to avoid conflict.
• Caning of Charles Sumner: physical attack; heightened sectional tensions and favored the Republicans in the 1856 election.

Civil War

• Lincoln's 1860 election and secession: Southern fears about slavery's future led to secession; Lincoln's victory marked a shift from previous elections.
• Southern secession justification: asserting the right to leave the Union to protect slavery and state's rights.
• Union/Confederate soldier motivations: both fought for honor and duty, but Union soldiers aimed for Union preservation, Confederates for states' rights and slavery.
• Black men's military service: opportunity for fighting for freedom and equality.
• Emancipation Proclamation: freed enslaved people in Confederate states; limited to Confederate areas.
• Preservation of the Union: Lincoln's insistence that the Confederacy was in rebellion; refusal to recognize them as a distinct country.
• "Hard war" tactics: total war by Union commanders (Grant, Sherman) via aggression, resulting in civilian suffering.
• Union/Confederate military advantages: Union had more resources and manpower; Confederacy had better military leadership and local knowledge.

Reconstruction

• Lincoln's Reconstruction plan: lenient approach to reintegrate the South, differing from Radical Republicans and Johnson's.
• Freedmen's Bureau: provided assistance for freedmen (education, healthcare, etc.).
• Andrew Johnson's background: Southern Democrat and former slave owner, contrasting with Lincoln's nationalistic stance.
• Black Codes: laws restricting African American rights to maintain a labor force.
• Tenure of Office Act: restricted presidential power to remove officials; instrumental in Johnson's impeachment.
• 1876 election outcome: Rutherford B. Hayes won under a disputed electoral commission amidst voter fraud and contestations.

Explore the events leading to the Mexican-American War and the impact of westward expansion in America. This quiz covers key economic, political, and social factors such as Romanticism and party politics, alongside pivotal moments like the Wilmot Proviso and the Compromise of 1850. Test your knowledge on how these elements influenced the road to the Civil War.