Making of America Flashcards
1
Q
Why did the USA grow so rapidly?
A
- The US government arranged the Louisiana Purchase (530 million acres of land bought from France for $15 million) in 1803
- Slaveholders wanted to expand their plantation businesses, especially in the warm south where there was fertile, arable land. The invention of Eli Whitney’s cotton gin in 1793 helped to separate the short staple cotton faster for more profit
The British had received lots of support from Indian tribes and the USA faced problems of Indian attacks in the west. In 1791, Washington put 80% of the government budget into a huge campaign against the Northwestern Confederacy. In 1794, the Northwestern Confederacy was defeated at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. The government split this land up and sold 640 acres of land at a time to aspiring farmers
2
Q
How did cotton plantations and slavery expand?
A
- Slaves brought over from Africa to work on cotton plantations as cheap labour
- Sudden international demand for cotton clothing
- The invention of Eli Whitney’s cotton gin in 1793 meant that the cotton could be separated quickly, speeding up the cleaning of cotton by around 50 times
Banks loaned thousands of dollars to the new plantation owners and developed the pushing system where they forced enslaved people to work more quickly
3
Q
Why did slavery become an issue for America?
A
- The Louisiana Purchase meant that new states would be created. The Northern states were worried that the slave states would outnumber the free states which is why the Missouri Compromise of 1820 was created. This said that Missouri was allowed to use slavery and any new states south of this state would be allowed to use it but for every slave state there had to be a new free state
The white slave owners had feared that slaves would revolt like Charles Deslondes who led a revolt. Armed forces put down the revolt and killed Deslondes and the other rebels
4
Q
Plains Indians culture
A
- The Apache were based almost entirely on buffalo. They were one of the first tribes to get hold of horses from the Spanish
- The Cheyenne started to base their way of life on the buffalo which they traded for guns and alcohol
The Lakota Sioux were based on the Northern Plains, farming in the winter and hunting buffalo in the summer. The uses of horses and guns meant they could roam further in search of buffalo all year. As eastern tribes were moved westwards, they moved to the Black Hills. They were nomads using buffalo for food, shelter and clothes. Their religion was based on spirits linked to the buffalo
5
Q
Why did many white settlers move to the west?
A
- In 1837, there was a big downturn in the economy with banks collapsing
- The migrants hoped to build better lives on the rich farming land of the Far West. Early explorers and traders had spread the word that the climate and land for the region were perfect for farming
- In 1841, the ‘Pre-emption Act’ was passed by the US government. This applied to Oregon and meant that a farmer who build a house and cleared trees would be given the first opportunity to buy the surrounding land. This made it difficult for speculators to buy.
- In 1845, journalists and politicians in the East began to suggest it was the ‘Manifest Destiny’ of white Americans to settle in the whole of north America.
By 1840, mountain men and explorers had mapped the routes and trails which would allow settlers to make the 2000-mile journey more safely.
6
Q
How did white settlers move to the west?
A
- The families wanting to move west had to embark on a 2000-mile trail which took about 8 months. They had to save around $1000 to move to the west
- The journey was very difficult with the Great Plains being baking hot.
There was often attacks by Indian bandits and disease spread quickly such as cholera
7
Q
Mormon settlement of Utah
A
- When Joseph Young was murdered, Brigham Young became the new leader of the Mormons. He believed that Mormons should move west to setup their own community
- 10,000 people followed Young to the Great Salt Lake and created Salt Lake City.
- The Church decided how much land each family got according to their needs. Irrigated channels brought water from distant mountain streams to the farmland of Salt Lake. Utah was a territory so it followed US laws
- The Mormons believed in polygamy and were against slavery
8
Q
What was the result of the California gold rush?
A
- In 1848, gold was found in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Thousands of men had rushed to California to make a fortune. Over 50,000 men travelled to California in 1848 alone. Traders made lots of money by selling basic supplies for 5 to 10 times their normal prices
- By 1852, all of the surface gold in California was gone. Large companies began to employ hundreds of men to dig out quartz which was used to get the gold from within.
- The California gold rush led to California becoming a state in 1850 with San Francisco quickly expanding and becoming a major city.
For indigenous peoples, some Native Americans worked at the diggings and exploited by white miners as cheap labour. Many indigenous people were murdered by miners and a law in the 1850s was introduced where any indigenous person who could not proved he had a job could be arrested and sold to white settlers as slave labour. Mining also killed fish and wildlife, seriously harming the Native American lands
9
Q
What were the causes of the Civil War?
A
- The northern states believed slavery was unfair competition for business and factory owners because they didn’t need to be paid. The Southern states sought to preserve slavery as they believed it was natural
- Abolitionists such as William Lloyd Garrison who founded The Liberator spread abolitionist views. Harriet Beecher-Stowe published Uncle Tom’s Cabin which explained the horrors of slavery to the white audience and became a best seller
- The southern states were losing political power each year as the northern states’ population was growing
- With the recent expansion of America after the Mexican War, southern states wanted the new territory to be slave states. Congress said that slavery should be banned in the new territory which angered the southern states. This resulted in the creation of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 where states were allowed to decide if they wanted to be slave or free states
The election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 who was seen as a threat to slavery was the ultimate trigger for the civil war
10
Q
What was the result of the Pike’s Peak gold rush?
A
- In 1858, gold was discovered at Pike’s Peak in the Kansas Territory. more than 100,000 people had made the journey to Kansas by 1859 by railroad.
- Towns tried to increase the wealth of their town by encouraging people to come and settle in them. This led to a battle of maps in which towns lied about the easiest routes to the mines
The impact of this gold rush led to the development of farming in the area as farms sold food to the miners. It also led to the population of Kansas to grow and become a state in 1861. This further disrupted the Indian way of life, ignoring the treaty of Fort Laramie
11
Q
What was the African-American experience of the war?
A
- Phase 1: ‘Limited War’ (1861-1862) - Many Black American lives were not affected by the war. They still were either enslaved or didn’t get equal access to housing, lived in poorer housing and were segregated in schools and society. Some enslaved black Americans worked for the confederate to build defences and moves supplies. Black Americans in the north were not allowed to fight. A law in July 1862 said that enslaved people could be held legally as a ‘contraband of war’ so they couldn’t be sent back to their captors
- Phase 2: ‘Total war’ (1862-1865): On 22 September 1862, Lincoln warned the Confederacy that if it did not surrender before the year was out, he would free every enslaved person permanently. Since no surrender came, on the 1 January 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation was issued which made every slave free. 70% of northern black men joined the Union army which played a major role in the war. However, a new law in July 1863 said that all men between 20 and 45 had to join the army which created outrage as white northerners disliked having to fight to ‘free black Americans’
12
Q
What happened in the reconstruction after the war?
A
- Lincoln was assassinated less than a week after the war had ended, putting Andrew Johnson in charge. He allowed the Confederate states to re-join the Union, pardoned most Confederate soldiers and gave back all the land back to the old plantation owners. This allowed the southern states to introduce the ‘Black Codes’ which had virtually the same effect as enslaving black Americans
- Members of the Republican party had started radical reconstruction where they created the Freedman’s Bureau which gave land out to ex-slaves. Congress approved the 14th Amendment to the Constitution in July 1868 which said that all persons born in the IS were to be seen as citizens. Black men were also given the right to vote for the first time as well as shutting down ex-confederate governments and people who fought the Union weren’t allowed to vote. The military were sent to the south to protect the rights of black Americans
However, after 1870, many of these radical changes were reversed with the Freedman’s Bureau shut down, states could decide voting rights and the US government withdrew soldiers in the South
13
Q
Why did white settlers want to move the Indians from the east?
A
- When the white Americans moved westwards, it was without the native Americans in mind. Slave owners were constantly challenged by indigenous peoples groups who lived on the land that the plantation owners moved onto
- However, the ‘Five Civilised Tribes’ - The Cherokee, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws and Seminoles had adapted to live their lives to fit into the USA by opening schools, churches, adopting the same economy and government etc.
- By 1830, Andrew Jackson was unimpressed by the ‘civilisation’ of the Indian tribes and persuaded Congress to pass the Indian Removal Act. this declared that it will move all Indians from the east to land set aside for them west of Mississippi
Some Seminoles refused to move and led to to The Second Seminole War which lasted from 1835 to 1842. Some escaped African Americans had joined forces with the Seminoles to fight against the whites. The Creeks took revenge by stealing food and committing arson and murder. In 1838, US troops arrived to forcibly remove The Creeks from the west
