Unit 5: 1844-1877

Manifest Destiny: A concept coined by John O'Sullivan, it was the belief that the United States was divinely destined to expand across the North American continent, from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. This ideology justified territorial expansion through actions like the Mexican-American War, but its pursuit led to the displacement and violence against Native American populations, the expansion of slavery, and played a significant role in causing the Civil War. 

One of the most prominent examples of Manifest Destiny's reach was the California Gold Rush, which was the mast migration of people from the East into California after gold was found at Sutter's Fort.

Most "manifestally destined" presidents (aka the Presidents that supported it the most):

• Thomas Jefferson (with the Louisiana Purchase)

• John Tyler

• James K. Polk

Interestingly, this time collided with the creation of the Republic of Texas. The eventual state still belonged to Mexico in 1830, but the Americans that lived there vastly outnumbered them. These Americans were often Southern, and thus sympathetic to slavery. However, Texas had two requirements for the Americans living there (source: Heimler's History):

• Immigrants have to convert to Roman Catholicism

• Slavery was outlawed

This enraged American immigrants and emboldened them to revolt against the Mexican government after they barred any more immigrants from entering Texas. Due to the help of leaders like Sam Houston, Texas won and became the Republic of Texas. 

And then there was the Oregon Territory which was a key destination for settlers traveling the Oregon Trail. While originally shared with Great Britain, the Americans vastly outnumbered the Brits, and they were eventually given access to the land. People moved there to mine for gold.

The United States eventually annexed Texas, which led to the Mexican American War. Here are some of the causes of the war:

• The U.S. annexed Texas in 1845, which Mexico viewed as an act of aggression.

• A disagreement over the southern border of Texas led to a military standoff. The U.S. claimed the Rio Grande was the border, while Mexico insisted the boundary was farther north at the Nueces River.

• Manifest Destiny itself fueled U.S. expansionist policies and President James K. Polk's goals to acquire California and other territories.

• Internal political instability in Mexico made it difficult for the government to negotiate effectively and maintain control of its territory, which also contributed to the outbreak of war.

Under the leadership of General Winfield Scott, America won the war by conquering Mexico City. The war officially ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which had several provisions, including:

• Mexico ceded its northern territories, which made up more than half of its land, to the U.S. The new U.S. boundary with Mexico was set along the Rio Grande.

• The United States paid Mexico $15 million for the land and assumed $3.25 million in debts owed by Mexico to U.S. citizens.

This new territory led to the Wilmot Proviso which was a proposed amendment to a bill during the Mexican-American War that aimed to ban slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico. It passed in the House but failed in the Senate.

There were many compromises made over slavery before the Civil War outbreak. They included:

• Missouri Compromise (1820): This admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state to maintain the balance of power between free and slave states. Prohibited slavery in the northern part of the Louisiana Purchase territory. 

• Compromise of 1850:  Five separate bills that admitted California as a free state .Allowed the territories of Utah and New Mexico to decide whether to allow slavery via "popular sovereignty." Included a stricter Fugitive Slave Act that required citizens to assist in capturing and returning runaway slaves. 

• Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854): Repealed the Missouri Compromise line. Applied the principle of "popular sovereignty," allowing settlers in Kansas and Nebraska to vote to decide on the issue of slavery. This led to violence and conflict, famously known as "Bleeding Kansas," as pro- and anti-slavery forces rushed to the territories. 

However, it was too late for the nation to be fixed. Civil War was inevitable, but it was ultimately caused by:

• Slavery

• State's Rights issues

• Economic differences in the North and South

• Lincoln's election

• John Brown's raid - abolitionist attempt to start a slave uprising by seizing the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia

Advantages between North and South in the Civil War (source: Heimler's History):

South:

• Fighting a defensive war

• Better military leaders 

North:

• Four times the population of the South

• Navy had control of the rivers and oceans in the war

• Controlled banks, manufacturing, and railroads

• Experienced and established government

Key battles:

Fort Sumter (April 1861): The first shots of the war were fired here when Confederate forces attacked the Union fort, leading to the start of the conflict.

First Battle of Bull Run (July 1861): The first major land battle, which resulted in a Confederate victory and showed the war would not be short.

Battle of Shiloh (April 1862): A major Union victory, though a very costly one, in the Western Theater.

Battle of Antietam (September 1862): The bloodiest single-day battle in American history, it was a strategic Union victory that halted Lee's invasion of the North and gave Lincoln the political capital to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. 

Battle of Gettysburg (July 1863): Lee's second invasion of the North was stopped in Pennsylvania. The Union victory was a major turning point, and the Confederacy was on the defensive thereafter.

Siege of Vicksburg (May-July 1863): Occurred simultaneously with Gettysburg. Grant's victory gave the Union control of the entire Mississippi River, splitting the Confederacy in two.

Atlanta Campaign and Sherman's March to the Sea (1864): A series of battles culminating in the capture of Atlanta, which boosted Northern morale and helped secure Lincoln's re-election. Sherman's subsequent march of "total war" demonstrated the Union's ability to strike deep into the Confederacy.

Battle of Appomattox Court House (April 1865): The site where Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, effectively ending the major fighting of the war. 

During the war, the Union had the Anaconda Plan, which was a military strategy that assisted their victory. Its main components were blockading Southern ports, controlling the Mississippi River to cut the Confederacy in half, and ultimately strangling the South economically and militarily by cutting off its resources and isolating it from foreign support. 

Emancipation Proclamation: a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, that declared enslaved people in Confederate states in rebellion to be free.

The war ultimately ended with Lee's surrender at Appomattox Courthouse. 

The period after the Civil War was called Reconstruction and it was the attempt to bring the Southern states back into the United States as they comply with US rules. There were two plans to make this happen:

• Abraham Lincoln's 10% Plan: Required 10% of the 1860 electorate to pledge loyalty to the Union.

• Andrew Johnson's Plan: Followed Lincoln's approach, but lacked sympathy for freed slaves, allowing for the passage of Black Codes.

Congress also passed several pieces of legislation to help reintegrate states and help freed slaves:

• Civil Rights Act of 1866: Protected Black citizenship and ensured equal protection under the law, overriding Johnson's veto.

• Reconstruction Acts of 1867: Divided the South into military districts and required states to ratify the 14th Amendment and grant universal male suffrage to be readmitted.

• 13th Amendment: Abolished slavery in the United States.

• 14th Amendment: Granted citizenship (and its perks) to all men.

• 15th Amendment: Extended suffrage to all men.