Chapter 13: Immigration, Expansion, and Sectional Conflict, 1840-1848 APUSH - Cornwell I. Expansion: a. Expanded territory by 50% i. Occupation ii. Conquest iii. Negotiation b. Rise in immigration (Ireland and German states) c. Expansion and immigration linked in several ways: i. Penny press inflamed a passion for expansion among urban, often immigrant masses ii. Democratic immigrant vote helped elect James K. Polk, an ardent expansionist, as president iii. Influential Democratic politicians saw acquisition of more land = to: 1. Return to republic of farmers 2. Relieving the growing class of ethnic conflicts in nation’s industrializing cities d. High price for expansionism i. Sharpened sectional strife ii. Split the Democratic Party II. Newcomers and Natives: 4.2 million from 1840-1860 a. Expectations and realities i. Hoped to improve economic condition ii. Irish settled in NE cities iii. Germans/Scandinavians - Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Missouri = mostly farmers

iv. St. Louis, New York, Chicago, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Detroit, San Francisco = 50% Irish/German

b. Germans i. Diverse = different social classes and religion ii. Bound by common language iii. Criticized for being clannish c. Irish i. 1815-1844 - 1 million ii. Catholic, poor, seeking greater econ. Opportunity iii. 1845-1855 - 2 million iv. Catholic, fleeing potato famine v. Urban work force at bottom vi. Competitive with blacks vii. Most Irish hostile to abolition

d. Anti-Catholicism, Nativism, Labor Protest i. Anti- Catholic and Immigrant ii. Know-Nothing (American) party of the 1850s iii. Labor advocated land reform, formed unions and waged strikes iv. deeply split along ethnic and religious lines kept progress to a minimum

e. Labor Protest and Immigrant Politics i. Most Irish and Germans supported Democratic Party ii. More sympathetic to common man than Whigs iii. Resented Whig connections to temperance movement and nativism III. The West and Beyond a. The Far West i. 1820s-1840s Texas and SW regions of US belonged to Mexico ii. Oregon Territory = jointly occupied US/Brit. b. Far Western Trade i. Trappers and traders ii. Blazed trails iii. Introduced eastern manufactured goods in exchange for beaver pelts and Mexican silver iv. Encampments and trading posts v. Spurred interest of pioneer farmers with tales of favorable climate and fertile soil c. Mexican Government in the Far West i. Northern Mexico sparsely populated ii. Poorly protected from Indian raids, etc. iii. Small Mexican population welcomed US pioneers and traders because of needed supplies d. American Settlement of Texas i. Mexican government gave generous land grants to Americans in Texas ii. By 1830 2x Americans as Mexicans in Texas iii. Mexican government response = end American immigration and prohibit slavery in Texas. iv. Antagonized settlers but did not stop the flood of immigrants v. 1836 - 30,000 whites and 5,000 slaves

vi. 1834 - Santa Anna (Mexican dictator) tightened hold on Texas = Texans rebelled e. The Texas Revolution i. 1836 - Santa Anna led army into Texas to suppress uprising ii. Mexicans defeated Americans at the Alamo and Goliad iii. Sam Houston led Americans to victory at San Jacinto iv. Took Santa Anna prisoner, forced him to sign treaty granting Texas independence. f. American Settlements in California, New Mexico and Oregon i. Mexicans welcomed Americans to California ii. Most Am. settled in the Sacramento Valley iii. 1830s - American missionaries entered Willamette Valley of Oregon iv. Missionary reports of climate & resources aroused interest back east g. The Overland Trail i. 1840s - despite dangers, 140,000 Americans left for Oregon or California

IV. The Politics of Expansion a. Start of 1840s, western expansion not an issue b. Whig ascendancy i. 1840 - William Henry Harrison won presidency (Whig) ii. Clay’s American system: 1. New national bank 2. Protective tariffs 3. Federal aid for internal improvements iii. Harrison died after one month in office iv. Vice-president John Tyler - (states’ rights Virginian) vetoed all economic measures c. Tyler and the Annexation of Texas i. Tyler at odds with party turned to foreign policy ii. Appointed John C. Calhoun as Sec of State to negotiate treaty for annexation of Texas iii. Part of treaty was to protect and expand slavery iv. Senate rejected treaty d. Election of 1844 i. Whig nominee - Henry Clay = opposed annexation of Texas ii. Democrats - James K. Polk (expansionist) = admit Texas immediately iii. Polk won close election e. Manifest Destiny

i. Expansionists repeated John L O’Sullivan’s claim to manifest destiny = to spread experiment with liberty and self-government from coast to coast

ii. Cal. Ore. harbors place for trade with Asia iii. Acquisition of fertile soil ensured American survival as republic of farmers

iv. Would combat social stratification and class strife that accompanied industrialization and urbanization

v. Strong appeal to struggling immigrants f. Polk and Oregon i. Polk called for Am. ownership of Oregon and Texas ii. Br. and Am signed treaty in 1846 along 49th parallel iii. 54º 40’ or fight g. Origins of the Mexican War i. Feb 1845 - Congress joint resolution to annex Texas ii. Polk supported southern boundary of Texas at Rio Grande River. iii. Texas accepted annexation July 4, 1845 iv. Polk wanted California and New Mexico v. Offered to buy them vi. Mexico refused & Polk ordered Zachary Taylor into disputed territory hoping to provoke war. vii. War would give US a chance to seize Cal and NM. viii. Polk told Congress, Mexico the aggressor ix. Most supported him

h. Mexican War i. Feb. 1847, Taylor defeated Santa Anna at Buena Vista

ii. Kearny took New Mexico iii. Cal fell to naval and land assaults (Kearny and John C. Fremont) iv. Winfield Scott conquered Mexico City in Sept. 1847 v. Mexico surrendered vi. Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo 1. Accepted Rio Grande boundary 2. Ceded nearly all of SW US in return for $15 million

3. US government would pay claims of US citizens against Mexico i. Mexican War in the Popular Mind i. Widely reported in penny press ii. Romanticized the war, softened opposition, whipped up nationalism iii. Zachary Taylor a popular hero j. Intensifying Sectional Divisions i. Sectional conflict grew in spite of success ii. Polk admin (mostly southerners) vetoed tariffs and federal aid for internal improvements iii. Arguments began over slavery in Mexican Cession k. Wilmot Proviso i. 1846 - appropriations bill to bar slavery in the new territory from Mexico. ii. Passed the house, not the Senate. iii. Southerners led by Calhoun said forbidding slavery in any territory = unconstitutional l. Election of 1848 i. Whigs = Zachary Taylor ii. Democrats = Lewis Cass - proposed sectional and squatter sovereignty iii. Free-Soil party formed from: = M. Van Buren 1. Barnburner Democrats 2. Antislavery “conscience” Whigs 3. Liberty party abolitionists iv. Taylor won v. Good showing of Free-soilers in North = popular appeal of keeping slavery out of territories m. California Gold Rush i. Gold discovered near Sacramento ii. Cal population surged iii. Weak military government ineffective at controlling the violence and disorder in gold fields iv. Californians demanded a civilian state government v. Brought slavery to the forefront Conclusion i. Americans considered expansion their manifest destiny ii. 1840s tensions grew between native born and recent immigrants iii. Tensions grew between north and south iv. Slavery in Mexican Cession split Democratic Party v. Slavery widened split in N and S Whigs vi. Gave birth to Free-Soil party