US History: Early Expansion and Slavery PDF

The USA was a new nation comprising 13 states in 1789 and had only just formed its Constitution and elected its first President. There was a lot of uncertainty about its survival as it shared the continent with Indians as well as other European powers. Being a US citizen at this point meant being wh...

The USA was a new nation comprising 13 states in 1789 and had only just formed its Constitution and elected its first President. There was a lot of uncertainty about its survival as it shared the continent with Indians as well as other European powers. Being a US citizen at this point meant being white and from European descent. Indians and black Americans were not counted. Women could not vote. Even at this early stage the USA was quite divided. People in the Northern and Southern states were divided over issues such as: slavery, the economy and ways of life. Many early Presidents saw their role as keeping a balance between the two sides. Between 1789 and 1838 the US expanded aggressively in the Northwest and the South. They did this to respond to threats from other European countries; threats from Indians making alliances with Europeans; to respond to settlers' demands for more lands; and to promote and develop trade for the new nation. Expansion at this point was largely driven by big government land purchases and the sale of such land to small farmers and land speculators. In the Northwest, expansion led to conflict with the Indian populations who were forced to withdraw. In the South, land speculators saw the chance to use new land to grow cotton. This created a demand for slaves in the South Nature of the US Constitution Difference between states and territories Key sectional differences between North and South The Northwest and Southwest Ordnances The Louisiana Purchase The role of frontiersmen in the near West Lewis and Clark expedition Georgia Men and the internal slave trade The expansion of Southern cotton plantations and of slavery, 1793--1838 (2 lessons) The opening of the Deep South to American settlement led to an expansion of the slave trade in the USA at a time when most had thought it would die out. This growth was driven by a number of factors including: the availability of land; the speculation of businessmen (Northerners and Southerners); new technologies which allowed faster cotton processing; international demands for cotton; and the money provided by big banks. Many Northerners were concerned by the growing power of the South but did little as Southern cotton funded Northern businesses and American prosperity overall. Plantation owners in the South bought slaves from owners in the North. Most slaves who were sold were very young. Families were often divided as slaves were force-marched South to become plantation hands. By 1840 the USA was the world's largest producer of cotton. This led to greater demand and a falling price. As the price fell, slaves had to work harder and harder. A pushing system was introduced to enable this and slaves were treated as expendable picking machines. This led to an even greater demand for slaves in the South and the cycle continued. The growing unpopularity of slavery in the North Constitutional arguments in favour of owning slaves in the South (the property argument) Banning the external slave trade in 1808 Diffusion theory and how it allowed expansion The specific nature of plantation life and the pushing system The removal of indigenous people from the East, 1830--1838 (1-2 lessons) By the 1820s there were five Indian tribes who were attempting to live alongside white settlers in the South. These tribes had all adopted aspects of white culture and were generally trying to survive through adaptation. The growth of cotton led to an increasing demand for the government to move these tribes off Southern land to open it up for white settlement and cotton plantations. In 1830, Andrew Jackson, a slave holder, passed the Indian Removal Act to relocate the five tribes to modern day Oklahoma, separating the Indians from white America. The Creek and Seminole Indians fought back but were eventually moved. The Cherokee were made to force-march West despite a petition to the government. By 1838, the vast majority of land in the South was open to white settlement. The Five "Civilised Tribes" The impact of cotton plantations on the five tribes The Creek and Seminole Wars and their aftermat