unit 11
WHAT HAPPENED?
Between 1840 and 1860 almost 1.7 million men, women, and children left Ireland for America. By 1860, Irish-born immigrants comprised over 4 percent of the U.S, population. Most Irish immigrants settled in the fast-growing port cities along the Northeast coast. They were too poor to move west and buy land. By 1860, Irish made up over one-third of the population of Boston and New York City.
WHAT CAUSED THE IRISH IMMIGRATION?
Desperate living conditions in Ireland made mass immigration inevitable. Most rural Irish were impoverished (very poor) tenant farmers who subsisted (barely survived) on a diet that depended upon the potato. Beginning in 1845 a blight destroyed three successive potato crops. A million people died from starvation and disease while another 1.7 million immigrated to the United States.
THE EXPANSIONIST SPIRIT
During the 1820s many Americans thought the boundaries of the United States would not go beyond the Rocky Mountains. However, the quest for land, opportunity, and adventure excited a new generation eager to explore and settle the western frontier. By 1860, over 4 million people lived west of the Mississippi River. John L. 0' Sullivan, the editor of the Democratic Review, gave the nation's expansionist spirit a name when he coined (invented) the term MANIFEST DESTINY. O'Sullivan declared that America's right to expansion lay in "our manifest destiny to occupy and to possess the whole of the Continent which Province has given us." O'Sullivan and other proponents (supporters) of Manifest Destiny believed that expansion was necessary to extend democratic institutions and the blessings of American agriculture and commerce to sparsely populated regions, America had a God-given destiny to extend its civilization across the continent and create a country that would serve as a shining example to the rest of the world.
TEXAS AND OREGON
Following the election, Congress approved a resolution annexing Texas as the nation's 28th state. President Tyler signed the resolution three days before Polk took office. Acquiring Oregon proved to be more difficult than annexing Texas, Both the United States and Great Britain claimed the territory, The Democrat's campaign slogan "Fifty-four forty or fight" meant that the United States would go to war with Britain in order to obtain the entire Oregon territory, Despite his belligerent (warlike) campaign slogan, Polk proposed a compromise that would divide Oregon at the 49th parallel line. One reason that the British government decided to compromise on the Oregon Country border was their belief that the territory was not worth fighting over. The British accepted Polk's proposal thus averting a war with the United States
KEY FACTS ABOUT IMMIGRATION IN ANTEBELLUM AMERICA
Immigration to America slowed dramatically during the four decades between the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. The French Revolution and the prolonged war between Britain and France reduced immigration from Europe to a trickle. The first great wave of nineteenth century immigration took place between 1820 and 1860. During this period, almost 5 million people immigrated to America. While many immigrants came from England and Scandinavia, over two-thirds of the total came from Ireland and Germany. Immigrants coming to the united States before 1860 helped to fuel economic expansion. The overwhelming majority of the antebellum immigrants chose to settle in urban areas of the North and on Midwestern farms. Most immigrants avoided the South because they did not want to compete for jobs with slave laborers. Whether they were properties or landless, immigrants were often enticed to leave their homelands by letters from family or friends in the U.S., bragging about easy opportunities for wealth.
THE GERMAN IMMIGRATION
Just over 1.5 million Germans immigrated to America between 1830 and 1860. Unlike the Irish, the Germans typically settled in rural areas of the Midwest rather than in East coast cities. They tended to be better educated than mainstream Americans. They supported public schools, the arts, and music. They championed freedom and fought to end slavery.The Germans were a very diversified group that included exiled political refugees and displaced farmers. They came to escape economic hardships and autocratic government. Although the majority of Germans were Protestants, about one third were Catholics and a significant number were Jewish. Because the Germans were such a heterogeneous (varied) group, they were difficult to stereotype. As a result, the Germans experienced less prejudice than did the Irish.
THE CONQUEST OF MEXICO
Led by General Zachary Taylor, American forces won a series of victories in northeastern Mexico. Taylor became a national hero when he defeated a much larger Mexican army at the Battle of Buena Vista. Led by Colonel Stephen W. Kearny, American forces captured Santa Fe, New Mexico and then helped secure California. Led by General Winfield Scott, American forces landed at Vera Cruz and then battled their way to Mexico City. Scott entered and took control of the Mexican capital on September 14, 1847.
OPPOSITION TO THE MEXICAN WAR
New England abolitionists denounced the Mexican War as an unjust conflict designed to give more power to the supporters of slavery and therefore extend slavery into new territories. Henry David Thoreau refused to pay his state poll tax as a gesture of opposition. He then wrote a classic essay "Civil Disobedience" urging passive resistance to laws that require a citizen "to be an agent of injustice." Thoreau's essay later influenced both Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King's philosophy of non-violent protest. Whig leaders also opposed the war with Mexico. Abraham Lincoln, then an obscure Whig congressman from Illinois, challenged Polk to identify the exact spot on American soil where American blood had been shed. Like other Whigs, Lincoln believed that Polk used the skirmish as a pretext (excuse) for declaring war so that he could claim new territories.
THE ANNEXATION ISSUE
Sam Houston, the hero of San Jacinto, was elected President of the newly founded Republic of Texas in October 1836. Houston and most Texans wanted to join the United States. Many Americans opposed admitting Texas into the Union. The Texas constitution allowed slavery. Northern antislavery Whigs opposed admitting another slave state into the Union. Other opponents of annexation warned that this action might provoke a war with Mexico. President Jackson resisted admitting Texas into the Union. He feared that a prolonged debate over the admission of a slave state would ignite a divisive campaign issue that could cost the Democrats the presidential election. As a result, Jackson postponed annexation and Texas remained an independent "Lone Star Republic."
THE TEXAS REVOLUTION
Texas belonged first to Spain and then, after 1821, to Mexico. The Mexican government opened Texas to settlers from the United States. The Anglo-Americans received generous land grants at low prices. In exchange they agreed to become Roman Catholics and citizens of Mexico. By 1830, there were about 30,000 people in Texas, ninety percent of whom were Anglo-Americans. Friction soon developed between the Mexican government and the Anglo-American settlers. Few converted to Catholicism or applied to become Mexican citizens. The rapid growth of the Anglo-American population of Texas alarmed Mexican officials. In 1830, the Mexican government announced that slaves could no longer be brought into any part of Mexico and that Americans could no longer settle in Texas. Faced with these restrictions, the Texans rebelled and declared their independence on March 2, 1836. The Texas Revolution lasted less than two months. After suffering defeats at the Alamo and Goliad, Texan forces led by Sam Houston destroyed the Mexican army at the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836.
THE WAR'S CONSEQUENCES
The Mexican War gave combat experience to a group of junior officers that included Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant. The Mexican War transformed America into a continental nation that spanned from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The Mexican War added vast new territories thus igniting an increasingly bitter dispute about the extension of slavery. The Mexican War marked a key step in the road to disunion. Mexicans have never forgotten that the U.S. tore away about half of their country. The war resulted in a negative turning point in U.S. relations with Latin America.
POLK'S ELECTION
The annexation of Texas and territorial expansion emerged as the key issues in the 1844 presidential campaign. The Whig Party nominee Henry Clay refused to support the annexation of Texas. In contrast, the Democrat candidate James K. Polk ran on a platform demanding the annexation of Texas and asserting America's right to all of Oregon. Polk won a narrow electoral victory. As an ardent expansionist he used manifest destiny as an argument to justify annexing Texas, claiming Oregon, purchasing California, and displacing Native American tribes. The election of 1844 was notable because it was fought over the issue of expansionism.
WHY SHOULD YOU REMEMBER THE IRISH IMMIGRATION?
The flood of Irish immigrants transformed Boston, New York City, and Philadelphia into densely populated centers that experienced high rates of poverty and crime. Most Irish immigrants were forced to work in the lowest paying and most demanding unskilled jobs. Irish women found work as domestic servants while the men built roads, canals, and railroad beds. The percentage of Irish workers employed in the Lowell mills jumped from 8 percent in 1845 to 50 percent in 1860. The Irish played a key role in the growth of the Catholic Church in the United States. The number of Catholic churches in America increased from 700 in 1840 to over 2,500 in 1860. The wave of Irish immigration aroused intense anti-Catholic prejudice. Many native-born Protestants stereotyped the Irish as an ignorant and clannish people who would never assimilate into American life. Prejudiced employers posted "No Irish Need Apply" signs, while Protestant leaders complained that Irish-sponsored parochial schools would undermine support for public education. Irish voters supported the Democrats as the party of the "common man." Irish bosses soon played a key role in the formation of big city political machines.
NATIVISM AND THE KNOW-NOTHING PARTY
The great wave of Irish and German immigration sparked a NATIVIST or anti-foreign reaction among native-born Protestants. The Irish were seen as wage-dressing competitors. Therefore, native workers hated the Irish. Nativist leaders argued that Catholics posed a danger to America's republican institutions. They pointed to a statement by Pope Pius IX denouncing republican institutions because they relied upon the sovereignty of the people instead of the sovereignty of God. Nativists also argued that immigrants would work for low wages and therefore take jobs away from native workers. During the early 1850s, nativists formed the American Party. The party began as a secret society, complete with special passwords and elaborate handshakes. When members were asked about their party, they were instructed to reply: "I know nothing!" As a result, the American Party was soon popularly called the Know-Nothing Party. The Know-Nothing Party directed its hostility toward Catholic immigrants from Ireland and Germany. The party's platform demanded that immigrants and Catholics be excluded from public office claiming that they would corrupt the political process. Know-Nothing candidates enjoyed initial success. The party captured over 40 congressional seats in the 1854 election. Its 1856 presidential candidate Millard Fillmore won 21 percent of the popular vote and 8 electoral votes. The Know-Nothing's success proved to be fleeting. The anti-Catholic fervor subsided as immigration declined and the country shifted its focus to the great national debate over the future of slavery.
THE TREATY OF GUADALUPE HIDALGO
Under the terms of this treaty Mexico lost about one-third of its territory. It ceded New Mexico and California to the United States and accepted the Rio Grande as the Texas border. It is important to remember that New Mexico actually included present-day Arizona, Nevada, and Utah, as well as parts of Colorado and Wyoming. The United States acquired more than 500,000 miles of new territory. In return the U.S. agreed to pay Mexico $15 million for the cession of northern Mexico and to pay all the claims American citizens had against the Mexican government. The largest single addition to American territory was the Mexican Cession.
THE OUTBREAK OF WAR
While Polk avoided a war with Great Britain, the explosive Texas question remained to be settled with Mexico, Outraged by the annexation of Texas, Mexico broke off diplomatic relations with the United States. Polk exacerbated (worsened) tensions by supporting Texas' claim to the Rio Grande River as its southwestern boundary, The Mexican government denied this claim insisting that Texas went no farther than the Nueces River, On April 25, 1846 a large Mexican force crossed the Rio Grande and attacked a small American reconnaissance party, In the ensuing fight eleven Americans were killed and the rest wounded or captured, Polk promptly demanded that Congress declare war on Mexico, declaring that "Mexico has ... shed American blood upon American soil." Congress agreed and approved a declaration of war on May 13, 1846. In 1846, the United States went to war with Mexico for all of the following reasons: the ideology of Manifest Destiny the deaths of American soldiers at the hands of Mexicans Polk's desire to acquire California
