Westward Expansion1783 – 1853

Overview for “Ordeal by Fire”

(Causes of the Civil War)

1783-1853: Continental U.S. Obtained

The Two (or three) Biggest Acquisitions:

Louisiana Purchase (1803) and Mexican Cession (1848) Texas Annexed in 1845

Other Acquisitions

• 1783: Treaty of Paris grants U.S. territory westward to Mississippi River

• 1803: Louisiana Purchase

• 1810-1820: From Spain we obtain . . . – Florida – Parts of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana

• 1820s and 1840s: From Great Britain border with p.d. Canada is fixed (affecting Maine, Minnesota, and Dakotas)

Other Acquisitions (cont’d)

• 1845: Annexation of Texas

• 1846: Treaty establishes p.d. Washington and Oregon as U.S. Territory

• 1848: Mexican Cession

• 1853: Gadsden Purchase brings in southern portions of Arizona and New Mexico

Persistent Theme #1: Expansion Accomplished through

Diplomacy

• Most American acquisition of land came through negotiated treaties, not through warfare (or threat thereof)

• Often land was purchased: for example, from France, from Spain, from Mexico

• Notable exception: Mexican War (1848)• Another exception: failed conquest of Canada in War of 1812• One of the most pressing issues facing Articles of

Confederation Congress

Persistent Theme #2: America’s Population Expands

Westward Relentlessly

• Issue of expansion a cause for rebellion (remember, Quebec Act)

• Facts speaking to the rapidity. By 1840 . . . – All land east of Miss. River occupied and

organized – Nine states west of Appalachians admitted– Majority of population lived west of original 13

states

Persistent Theme #3: West’s Economic Value

Often Overestimated

• Fur trade the original draw to the West (French, then British, then Americans)

• By mid-19th century: “Great American Desert”

• Mechanization and Homestead boom – trying to farm the marginally farmable

• 100th degree longitude heuristic

Persistent Theme #4: Federal Government Guides Exploration

and Development of West• Organization and territory-statehood process

determined early (1780s)– Precedent: federal gov’t and cheap(?) sale of land

• Several government-financed, quasi-military expeditions– Lewis and Clark (1803-06)– Zebulon Pike (1806-07)– Stephen Long (1819-20)– John C. Fremont (1843-44)

• Transcontinental railroad: first difficulties federal government encounters in development of West

Figuring Out What’s Out

There

Persistent Theme #5:Policies toward Native Americans Narrow Scope of Indians’ Domain

• Treaties and military conflict squeezes Indians from original 13 states, old northwest, and old southwest

• Lands west of Miss. R. intended to be Indians’ domain, but . . .

• Settlement pressures force government to renegotiate: Indians forced to cede claims in p.d. KS and NB in 1854 (civilized tribes)

• Nomadic tribes on Great Plains and further west pose a dilemma for middle decades of 19th century

By 1835

The Westward Expansion Dilemma for the Mid Nineteenth Century

• Relentless Surge of Settlers continues

• Slavery’s destiny and west linked in American consciousness and in politics

• South frightened by expansion westward