APUSH CH13 (Short Answers)
Trace the settlement of Texas, why did settlers go there? What institution did they bring with them?
By the 1830s, settlers in the south sought new territory, and decided not to settle in the plains region because it was like a "Great American Desert. They turned to Mexican lands and brought slavery with them. The Mexican government won independence from Spain in 1821 and decided to encourage migration to Coahuila y Tejas by offering land grants to its citizens and to American emigrants. Americans wanted to raise cotton and cattle in Texas because it had well-watered plains and hills. By 1835, the 27,000 white Americans and their 3,000 slaves outnumbered the 3,000 Mexicans living in central Texas.
In what sense did Manifest Destiny, the expansion across the country, ultimately tear the United States apart.
His aggressive expansionism sparked conflict abroad and at home. War with Mexico was long, costly, and bloody, and Polk's acquisitions - New Mexico, California, and Oregon, reignited the bitter debate of slavery. Anti-slavery northerners caused southerners to threaten secession from the Union, and violence occurred between the two. Abolitionists attacked slave catchers in the North, and secessionists harassed Union supporters in the south.
How important were horses and guns to the Plains Indians?
Horses were important because they were raised and sold to northern Indian peoples and to Euro-American farmers in Missouri and Arkansas. Many Comanche families owned 30-35 horses or mules, far more than the 5 or 6 required for buffalo hunting and fighting neighboring peoples. Indians also traded with merchants and travelers, so they needed horses to get to the trade areas. Indians could also dominate areas by forming alliances and owning horses. A horse culture formed, men with hundreds of horses had several "chore wives" and captive children working for them, while poor men, who owned only a few horses had trouble finding wives and often had to work for their richer neighbors.
The Oregon Trail presented particular challenges to women - such as? How many people settled Oregon?
In addition to their chores and new work of driving animals, woman lacked the support of female kin and the security of their domestic space. Around 2,500 women were pregnant or gave birth during the journey, and some didn't survive. Most migrants settled in Willamette Valley. Settlers quickly settled on around 650 acres of land in hopes that Congress would legalize their claims and so they could then sell the land to new migrants. They also restricted voting to a "free male descendant of a white man."
White settlement across the country was like a brushfire that rapidly moved across the country. In the introduction, President James K. Polk accelerated this brush fire, how so?
In order to expand west to the US's "natural border," the Pacific Ocean, President James K. Polk took on several conflicts - Indian wars, Great Britain's claims to Oregon, and Mexico's claim to Texas (and possibly issues with France). He said he would fight against English and France until the last man.
Discuss the election of 1844, the usual candidates and their policies, and why Polk won. What motivated Southern leaders to demand the annexation of Texas and how did expansionists in the north and the south impact the election of 1844?
President John Tyler, a proslavery zealot called for the annexation of Texas. He thwarted Clay's nationalist economic program, angering the Whigs, so he hoped to win reelection in 1844 as a Democrat. He supported claims to Oregon Country. Tyler and John C. Calhoun (his secretary of state) sent the Senate a treaty to bring Texas into the Union; however, Martin Van Buren and Clay oppose this. They feared raising the issue of slavery, and persuaded the Senate to reject the treaty. Most southern Democrats favored Texas annexation and refused to vote for Martin Van Buren. They also didn't trust Tyler, so they elected Governor James K. Polk of Tennessee, an expansionist and former slave owner. He campaigned for the re-annexation of Texas and the re-occupation of Oregon. The Whigs nominated Henry Clay, who advocated the American System and the annexation of Texas, in order to get southern votes. Whigs who opposed the annexation of Texas nominated James G. Birney of the Liberty Party (ruined election for Clay). James K. Polk (expansionist "Young Hickory" like JACKSON) won, and congressional Democrats immediately called for the annexation of Texas. However, they lacked the 2/3 majority in the Senate, so they admitted Texas by required a majority vote in each house. Polk's strategy of linking Texas and Oregon made him win. Rumors swirled about Great Britain wanted California as payment of Mexican debts, GB wanted Texas to remain independent, and GB has plans for Spanish Cuba, which southerners wanted to be added to the US. So, southerners demanded the immediate annexation of Texas. Furthermore, there was Oregon fever - in 1843, Americans in the Ohio River Valley and the Great Lakes states organized "Oregon conventions," where both parties (Democratic and Whig) called for American sovereignty over Oregon Country. Oregon = solved in 1846 Polk annexed Texas Mexican-American War Louisiana Purchase
Define the term Manifest Destiny.
Manifest Destiny describes America's sudden desire to extend the boundaries of the republic to the Pacific Ocean America's "natural border." American Imperialism (similar to Europe in Africa) They see their border at the Pacific Ocean
Continental Empire and Cultural Conflict:
Southerners demanded the annexation of Texas and Midwesterners wanted the acquisition of Oregon. Acquiring western lands caused the seizures of Mexico's New Mexico and California and the purchase of Russia's Alaska. Racial and ethnic conflict occurred - in the East, Irish Catholics and German-speaking immigrants organized politically to protect their churches, saloons, and identity, angering Protestants. In the West, the US government fought wars against Native American tribes on the Great Plains, seeking to include the region into the national economy. In the conquered Mexican territories, there was tension between whites and Hispanic residents, and whites despised Chinese immigrants.
National Power and Consolidation:
The Civil War increased national authority. Republican-sponsored constitutional amendments limited states' powers and prohibited slavery, mandated suffrage for black men, and forbade state action that denied equal protection under the law. The US army enforced Reconstruction in the South while suppressing Indian uprisings and extending national control in the West. The Civil War made America very powerful - the Union government mobilized millions of men and billions of dollars. It created a fiscal system, a network of national banks, and a significant national bureaucracy. Republican-run Congresses integrated the national economy and promoted industrialization, granting subsidies to railroad companies, protecting industries and workers through tariffs, and distributing western lands to farmers and cattlemen. The US also intervened with Japan and built coaling stations, enabling US steamships to carry products to Asia and bring Chinese workers to the US.
Sectional Tensions, Political Divisions, and Civil War:
The Mexican War caused debate over the expansion of slavery in the new territories. The struggle caused the Compromise of 1850, which won little support and divided the Whig Party. Southern Whigs became Democrats, while northern Whigs became Republicans or Know-Nothings. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 ended in the election of President Lincoln and the secession of 13 southern states. It also ended the Whig Party. In the Civil War, the North's superior industrial and financial resources gave it an advantage against the South, as did Lincoln's emancipation proclamation in 1863. This proclamation undermined European support for secessionists and added thousands of African Americans to the northern armies. Union forces ended the war, leaving blacks with half-won freedom and bitterness between the North and South.
List the geographic reasons why Americans were interested in the Pacific Northwest at this time.
The Oregon Country was fertile. It was a great place for the fur trade, had a mild climate, rich soil.
What actions on the part of the Mexican government led to the declaration of independence that most American settlers in Texas supported? List them. Identify the Alamo.
War party = central government Peace party = states' rights In 1835, Mexico adopted a new constitution that created a stronger central government and dissolved state legislatures. Same Houston and Georgian migrants led the "war party," which demanded independence for Texas. Stephen Austin les the "peace party," which negotiated with the Mexican government for greater political autonomy. Austin won concessions and exemption for the law ending slavery in Texas; however, Mexican president, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna nullified them. He wanted national authority throughout Mexico. Fearing central control, the war party started a rebellion, which most Americans supported. On March 2, 1836, American rebels proclaimed Texan independence and legalized slavery. The Alamo is a former Franciscan mission in San Antonio. President Santa Anna's army killed the Texan garrison defending the Alamo, the captured Goliad. New York and New Orleans newspapers romanticized the deaths at the Alamo of Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie. Both anti-Catholic sentiment (due to Irish immigration) and the massacre at Goliad caused Americans to "Remember the Alamo," and depicted the Mexicans as tyrannical butchers serving the pope. Americans were both lured by land and sought to join rebel forces, so they went to Texas. General Sam Houston's army won de facto independence; the Mexican government didn't recognize the Texas Republic, but it also didn't seek to conquer it at the moment.
What happened to the California Missions after Mexico won independence? Why was California attractive to Americans in the east? Who did white settlers in CA want to emulate? What does that mean?
When Mexico won independence in 1821, its government took over the Franciscan-run missions and freed the 20,000 Indians whom the monks had persuaded or coerced into working with them. Some mission Indians rejoined their tribes, but many married mestizos (Mexicans of mixed Spanish and Indian ancestry). California was attractive to Americans in the east because ranches linked California to the American economy - dozens of agents from New England bought leather for the Massachusetts boot and show industry. Many agents married the daughters of elite Mexican ranchers - the Californios - and adopted their manners, attitudes, and Catholic religion. Like Thomas Larkin (merchant in Monterey), American migrants I the Sacramento River Valley didn't assimilate into Mexican society. White settlers in CA wanted to emulate the Americans in Texas by colonizing the country, then seeking annexation. (Emulate means to imitate) CA is ready for statehood because of the gold rush
Why did Van Buren avoid consideration of the state annexation request by Texas? MASSIVE THEME and topic that politicians constantly tried to avoid.
While the Texans voted for the US annexation of Texas, President Van Burn refused to bring the issue to Congress. He feared that annexation would spark war with Mexico and that the question of slavery would pit the North against the South, ultimately causing the dissolution of the Union.
