Making Of America - Unit 1: America’s Expansion, 1789-1838

Question 1

White Northerners Ideology for America

Answer 1

America should be:
• land give to us by God - our Manifest Destiny is to expand and fill it
• a land where hard-working American citizens can own their land and improve their lives
• a land which helps buisness owners to make money and reduces unfair competition (slavery)
• a land where power is held by ordinary citizens not powerful slave holders
• a land which can be improved and modernised

Question 2

Southern Slave Holders ideology for America

Answer 2

America should be…
• a land where slave holders can make make money and expand their plantations
• a land where slaves are seen as property and not people
• a land with traditional values
• a land where power is held by white landowners

Question 3

Plains Indians Ideology for America

Answer 3

America should be…
• a land where Plains tribes can wander and hunt freely using grass, water and buffalo
• a sacred and spiritual place for Plains tribe religions
• a land where Plains tribes are respected and treated as equals with whites

Question 4

Black Americans/Abolitionists Ideology for America

Answer 4

America should be…
• a place where all people are citizens if they were born in the USA
• a land where all people are free and equal
• a place where black Americans have the opportunity to own land, earn money, become educated, raise a family etc

Question 5

Traditional theories about expansion

Answer 5

• Americans aimed to bring freedom and religion to new territories
• pioneers made the land productive and useful
• the story of expansion highlights progress and opportunity

Question 6

Recent historical view points on expansion

Answer 6

• expansion caused the forced removal of indigenous people
• enslaved labour supported economic growth for expansion
• expansion brought tension, pain and suffering to many groups

Question 7

The Declaration of Independence

Answer 7

• 4th July 1776
• ‘Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness’
• what colonists were fighting for
• ‘all men are created equal’ - only white colonists

Question 8

When was the War of Independence?

Answer 8

• 19th April 1775 - September 1783

Question 9

By 1788, the Founding Fathers agreed on these features

Answer 9

• Congress
• Supreme Court
• states
• people
• territories
• President
• constitution

Question 10

What was the congress?

Answer 10

• passed laws to create the first federal court system
• group of people chosen by the states to make rules for the whole country

Question 11

Supreme Court

Answer 11

• set up by the Congress
• most important court in the country

Question 12

States

Answer 12

• need 60,000 free adult males
• can make some of their own rules
• eg Virginia and New York
There were 13 original states

Question 13

Territories

Answer 13

• areas that were not yet states
• run by Congress
• needed 5,000 people
• eg North West territory

Question 14

First President

Answer 14

• George Washington (1789)

Question 15

Constitution

Answer 15

• set of rules that explain how the country should run
• make sure all states follow the same rules - eg President being elected every four years

Question 16

George Washington (1789)

Answer 16

• owned enslaved people 20 years prior
• held land in Virginia with plantations

Question 17

Battle of Fallen Timbers

Answer 17

1794
Led to Treaty of Greenville
• between Native Americans affiliated with the Northwestern Confederacy and British allies, against US for control of the Northwest territory
• in Ohio

Question 18

Battle of Fallen Timbers

Answer 18

1794
Led to Treaty of Greenville
• between Native Americans affiliated with the Northwestern Confederacy and British allies, against US for control of the Northwest territory
• in Ohio

Question 19

Cotton Kingdoms

Answer 19

• six states
• New Orleans = port = docking city
• climate in South was suitable for plantations, eg for sugar and cotton

Question 20

British hand over Native American lands (1783)

Answer 20

• British had agreed to not expand their colonies into Native American land (NW of the original 13 colonies). However, after their defeat in the War of independence, the British gave 230 million acres of NA land to the USA
• Native American tribes feel betrayed by the British and angry about being placed under US rule

Question 21

Creation of the Northwest and Southwest Territory

Answer 21

• lands north of the Ohio river were designated as the North West territory. Jefferson (before he became the third president) helped set up territories and divided them into sections of 640 acres
• increased white settler expansion into these territories led to resistance and conflict with Native American tribes

Question 22

Frontiersmen Move to Southwest Territory (pre 1775-1790s)

Answer 22

• before 1775 frontiersmen settled on Native American land west of Virginia and the Carolinas; this was NA held land
• once frontiersmen had set up farms, they demanded govt support against NA attacks (the govt gave them no help)
• settlers’ illegal occupation of NA land let to resentment from tribes

Question 23

Washington’s military campaign (1791)

Answer 23

• Washington allocated 80% of his budget to a campaign against Indians in the Northwest territory.
• Washington was worried that NA might attack and have the support of the British
• increased anger of NA in the NW territory as they are being targeted
• forceful approach form the USA - violent clashes

Question 24

Treaty of Greenville

Answer 24

• allowed the USA to take vast areas of the Northwest territory
• tribes in the NW will lose their homes, so they will be angry
• forced into unfavourable agreements

Question 25

State formation (1803-1837) and expansion south west (post 1819)

Answer 25

Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan were formed from Indigenous lands (in the Northwestern area)
States like Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama were added
• as the USA spread, the NA who had occupied this land moved further west into regions which were often inhabited by other tribes. This deepened the resentment towards the US government and increased inter-tribal tensions

Question 26

Jefferson’s vision of the Yeoman farmer

Answer 26

• Thomas Jefferson, as President (1801-09), believed that the ideal democratic American was a ‘Yeoman farmer’ who owned his own piece of land and could provide for himself
• however land was sold in 640 acre lots for $640, which most farmers couldn’t afford
• most farming families barley made $100 a year, therefore most farmers can’t afford to own their own land/provide for themselves - resentful to land speculators
• excluded from Jefferson’s image

Question 27

Squattors

Answer 27

• thousands of white Americans were inspired by the promise that they could own their own piece of land. In the NW territory, many became ‘squatters’, hoping that they would raise the money by the time the bailiffs came knocking

Squatting and eviction created tensions between :
the government
settlers and squatters
wealthy (land speculators)

Question 28

Speculators and land ownership

Answer 28

Land speculator has bought large sections of land cheaply from the government (often in bulk) and sold it onto small farmers, who could not afford to buy the full 640 acres, for a profit. The government even offered a 10% discount for those who bought land in cash. In Wisconsin 68 speculators bought half 1,000,000 acres.

This caused a lot of anger for farmers because they’re excluded from Jeffersons promises and can’t afford by their own land. They felt exploited by policies favouring the wealthy .

Question 29

Louisiana Purchase (1803)

Answer 29

• Jefferson was keen for the US to become a major player in the world economy. To do this, he needed to open new land routes across the continent. Jefferson, in negotiations for the port of New Orleans, was given the offer to buy 530,000,000 acres from France for $15 million.
• steal!!!
• all because Napoleon needed money to fund European wars
• this enormous purchase of land at a tiny price, meant that expansion fuelled tension over who controlled and benefited from new lands

Question 30

Lewis and Clark expedition (1804-1806)

Answer 30

Jefferson sent Merriweather Lewis and William Clark to explore the newly purchased Louisiana territory in May 1804. They followed the Missouri River into the Rocky Mountains and made their way overland through unclaimed territory to the Pacific Coast, mapping routes West. They interacted with Native tribes and mostly got on well, eg the Shoshone woman called Sacagawea acted as their guide
• while trade opportunities increased, misunderstandings with tribes did occur - for example, with the Sioux leader, Black Buffalo, which nearly led to a small war.

Question 31

Impact of routes created by Lewis and Clark

Answer 31

• routes created by Lewis and Clark, led to an explosion in the fur trade. Maps created by Lewis and Clark allowed traders to hunt beaver furs, for sale to Europe. This encourage other traders to head Westward into new land, especially the Rocky Mountains.
• the trade with Native Americans grew rapidly and had remarkably few problems until around 1840

Question 32

What were the economic divisions over slavery?

Answer 32

• the nature of the climate and land in the southern territories, meant that crops like tobacco, rice and cotton could be grown
• northern businessmen felt the south had an unfair advantage in trade as slaves could not strike, wages were not paid and therefore profits were higher.
• slaves were considered the property of their owners who owned the land. by 1838 they were over 2 million slaves living in southern states.

Question 33

What were the religious divisions over slavery?

Answer 33

1790 saw a religious rivalry and there was more interest in ideas like God had created all equal and free
• religious groups in the south preached that God had made black people to serve white people. slavery was dividing peoples understanding of Christianity.

Question 34

What were the social divisions over slavery?

Answer 34

• there was worry that changing the constitution might lead to the south rebelling against the new country and separating
• slavery have been a real problem when the constitution was drawn up in 1787 (inalienable rights, all men are free and equal etc)
• enslaved people could not vote. White Americans had all the power - if enslaved people were classed in the population, the South would gain power and influence.

Question 35

How many enslaved people were in the south in 1838?

Answer 35

2 million

Question 36

Why did slavery expand?

Answer 36

• The children of slaves automatically became slaves themselves
• by 1938, the USA was producing over 1 million bales (220,000 tons) of cotton a year to meet demands from the north and overseas
• new cotton-growing lands became available in the south after 1790 (Louisiana purchase)
• in 1793, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin
• many presidents were from the slaveholding south, and therefore did not try and stop the growth of slavery
• slaveholders in the Old south decided to open new plantations in the deep South
• banks were willing to loan money to plantation owners on the promise that they would be paid back with interest when the harvest came in
• the Louisiana purchase in 1803, led to the rapid expansion of plantations and slavery, forming the cotton kingdom by 1819. States like Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi were created, with cotton making up to 42% of all US exports by 1820.
• New Orleans, which tripled in size between 1803 and 1819, became a central hub for the cotton trade. The city saw the growth of the domestic slave trade, where enslaved people were bought and sold in auction houses, contributing to the expansion of slavery on plantations across the region

Question 37

What was the cotton gin?

Answer 37

• invented by Eli Whitney in 1793
• engine which acts as a sieve, separates the seed from the cotton plant
• x50 quicker
• slowest part of the process was now picking the cotton, so demand for people grew as they wanted get as much cotton as possible in the machine
• therefore slavery boomed

Question 38

Why was opposition to slavery unsuccessful? - slave rebellions split opinion

Answer 38

• enslaved people revolted against white plantation owners
• 1811 – in Louisiana led by Charles Deslondes - rebels killed white men, but local forces ended the revolt two days later
• heads were put on spikes to be looked at, fear grew
• CD was brutally killed with 25 others
• North - believed it proved slavery didn’t work, wondered what would happen if 2 million were freed