Louisiana Purchase and Westward Expansion

Louisiana Purchase and Westward Expansion

·  The Strict Constructionist, Thomas Jefferson, modified his views and purchased the land from Napoleon and the French

·  The Louisiana Territory included full control of the Mississippi River, the port of New Orleans and the Great Plains

·  The Louisiana Territory greatly benefitted Americans and so, Jefferson purchased the land even though it was not written in the Constitution that a President could buy land

·  Jefferson modified or changed his position on strictly adhering to the Constitution to buy the land – since a President could make a treaty, according to the Constitution, he considered purchasing the land similar to making a treaty and thus, purchased it

·  Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark - with help from Sacagawea - to explore the region and make maps

·  The Louisiana Purchase and the maps of Lewis and Clark - with help from Sacagawea - encouraged westward expansion

·  The country began to expand west onto this new territory and then even further west

·  Yes, the Louisiana Purchase encouraged westward expansion

·  Yes, the Louisiana Purchase had great geographic significance for the United States because it focused the United States on westward expansion

Controversies over Slavery in New Territories

·  As the United States acquired more land between 1803 and 1850, controversy over these territories focused on the expansion of slavery

·  As new territories entered the Union, a question arose: Would these new states be free states or slave states?

·  Fear arose in free states that if more new states entered the Union as slave states then slave states would control Congress

·  Conversely, slaveholders feared that if more new states entered as free states, abolitionists would control Congress

·  To control Congress is to influence law

·  Compromises were tried but ultimately, as Gandhi once said, “Noncooperation with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with good.”

·  Abolitionists could not compromise with slaveholders

Manifest Destiny

·  It is the belief that God wanted the United States to stretch from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific coast

·  This belief did not take into account the Native American Indians who populated many of the lands stretching to the Pacific

·  A belief in Manifest Destiny led to war, treaties, and purchases

·  From New York to California; from sea to shining sea – the United States was to expand

·  It was the belief that God intended the nation to stretch from Atlantic to Pacific

·  Yes, Manifest Destiny was used to justify an American desire to expand the United States to the Pacific Ocean

Purpose of Protective Tariffs

·  A tariff is a tax on an imported good

·  A tariff raises the price of foreign goods

·  Tariffs encouraged Americans to buy domestic goods or goods made in the USA

·  Yes, at times, the United States Government has passed protective tariffs to help the nation’s manufacturers

·  Northerners generally favored tariffs as new industries were developing in the North

·  Southerners generally disliked tariffs as tariffs reduced British profits and therefore British purchase of Southern cotton

·  Tariffs divided the nation

Monroe Doctrine

·  The Monroe Doctrine was a U.S. Policy that stated that the Americas were closed to future European colonization

·  The Americas were off limits to Europe

·  The Monroe Doctrine was issued by U.S. President James Monroe after Latin American nations gained independence from Spain

·  The President wanted to make it clear to Europeans that now that Spain and Portugal had lost their empires in Central and South America that they should never consider conquering the region again

·  Yes, a major reason for the issuance of the Monroe Doctrine (1823) was to prevent further European colonization in the Caribbean region

Andrew Jackson and Spoils System

·  When Andrew Jackson was elected President, property requirements for voting had been eliminated – now, all white men whether rich or poor could vote – at this time, women could not vote and most African Americans could not vote due to slavery and prejudice – most states even in the North did not allow African Americans to vote before the Civil War

·  When Andrew Jackson was elected President, he was known as the President of the “Common Man” – for he stated that he supported the interests of ordinary men and not rich men

·  Andrew Jackson also rewarded supporters with government jobs

·  It is called the Spoils System – to reward supporters with government jobs – and it was created to bring more Americans into government

·  Today, the Spoils System is not used – today, a civil service system that requires a candidate for government service to pass an examination

·  Yes, during the presidency of Andrew Jackson, the spoils system resulted in elected officials rewarding their supporters with government jobs

·  There is an expression that to the victor goes the spoils or to the winner go the good things and as such, the winner could give government jobs to his supporters

Industrial Revolution

·  During the early 1800s, an abundance of natural resources contributed the most to the start of the Industrial Revolution in the United States

·  During the Industrial Revolution, machines replaced hand-made goods

·  Yes, machines in factories were used to manufacture goods

·  Production increased as a result of industrialization and thus prices for goods fell

·  Urbanization also increased as more people moved to cities to work in factories

·  Conditions in early factories were difficult as workers worked long hours for low wages in unsafe working conditions and the work was very boring and monotonous

·  But of course, machines to make goods need natural resources – to make a shirt, cotton is needed and the U.S. had a lot of natural resources

·  The many natural resources of the United States encouraged industrialization in the nation

Population Data from Census and Electoral College

·  The census records U.S. population in every state every ten years

·  Data from the census determines the number of representatives each state receives in the House of Representatives

·  Representation in the House of Representatives is based on each state’s population

·  In addition, data from the census is used to determine the number of electors each states receives in the Electoral College

·  A state’s electors is based on the state’s number of representatives and its two senators

·  Yes, population data from the census of 2000 was used to determine the number of electoral college votes from each state

Erie Canal

·  An immediate effect of the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825 was that farmers could more easily ship grain to eastern markets

·  The Erie Canal connects the Hudson River to the Lake Erie, one of the Great Lakes

·  It connects New York City to the Great Lakes as New York City is on the Hudson River

·  The Erie Canal allowed farmers in the Midwest to sell the goods to Eastern Markets

·  Back in the day, canals and rivers were the “highways” of transportation for farmers and merchants

·  Before railroads, there were rivers and with some human ingenuity, there were canals too

·  The Erie Canal is also a great song - listen to the Pete Seeger version of the song

Marbury v. Madison

·  The significance of the Supreme Court case Marbury v. Madison is that the decision established the power of judicial review

·  It was an important Supreme Court case

·  The case was presided over by Chief Justice John Marshall

·  The case established the principle of judicial review

·  Judicial Review is the concept that the Supreme Court has the power to declare a law unconstitutional

·  As a result of the case, Chief Justice John Marshall increased the power of the Supreme Court because the court had the power to declare a law of Congress unconstitutional or a law of a state government unconstitutional

·  Yes, Chief Justice John Marshall strengthened the power of the federal government because a branch of the federal government – the Supreme Court – had the power to declare a law unconstitutional

·  It is interesting to note that Judicial Review is not in the Constitution

·  Judicial Review is considered part of the Unwritten Constitution

Great Plains

·  The Great Plains and grain crops is a region of the United States is correctly paired with an industry that is dominant in that region

·  The Great Plains was a region that was added to the U.S.A. by the Louisiana Purchase

·  The region of the Great Plains is good for farming and herding

·  The Great Plains is known as the “breadbasket” of the nation because it is a region that is good for farming grains – grains like wheat that are used to make bread

·  The original inhabitants of the region were the Plains Indians

·  The Plains Indians depended on the buffalo

·  With westward expansion and the needless slaughtering of the buffalo by settlers, the way of life of the Plains Indians was destroyed

·  Listen to Buffy Sainte-Marie’s “Now that the buffalo’s gone”

The Monroe Doctrine as a U.S. Policy

·  The Monroe Doctrine was a United States foreign policy action that resulted from the close geographic relationship between the United States and Latin America

·  The Monroe Doctrine stated that the Americas were closed to future conquest and colonization by Europe

·  As countries in Latin America – specifically Central America and South America – had gained independence in the early 1800s, the United States did not want the region to be ever conquered again

·  As Latin America is a neighbor to the United States, if France conquered Mexico, that conquest put the United States in danger

·  What would prevent France from adding more land to an empire in the Americas? – Why would France not attack the U.S.?

·  If your neighbor’s house is on fire, you are in danger

·  The United States has always kept an eye on Latin America to ensure its own security – the Monroe Doctrine was written with this concern for independence and security

Geography of the South

·  The American South has fertile land

·  The American South has a long growing season

·  It is a region that is good for farming

·  These geographic factors led to the development of plantations and slavery in the American South

·  Yes, because of fertile land and a long growing season, plantations in the thirteen colonies developed in the South

Importance of Port of New Orleans

·  Acquiring New Orleans as part of the Louisiana Purchase was considered important to the development of the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys because the city served as a port for American agricultural goods

·  The port of New Orleans was acquired by the United States as a result of the Louisiana Purchase

·  The port of New Orleans connects the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico

·  The port of New Orleans is good for trade

·  The port of New Orleans benefited farmers in the Ohio River Valley because it allowed farmers to trade their goods far and wide

Virginia House of Burgesses

·  In the Colonial Era, developments such as the New England town meetings and the establishment of the Virginia House of Burgesses represented steps in the growth of representative democracy

·  The Virginia House of Burgesses was a representative body in colonial Virginia

·  Colonial landowners could vote and elect representatives in the House of Burgesses

·  The House of Burgesses was an example of self-government and representative government even in colonial days

·  Thus, even before the American Revolution, the colonists had a history of self-government

Mercantilism

·  Mercantilism is the idea that colonies exist for the benefit of the mother country

·  According to mercantilism, colonies can only trade with the mother country

·  Colonies can only export raw materials or natural resources

·  Colonies can only import the mother country’s finished goods

·  Colonies must export their gold and silver to the mother country

·  The British system of mercantilism was opposed by many American colonists because it placed restrictions on trading

·  The colonists hated that they could only trade with Great Britain – without competing buyers, the colonists could only get what Britain was willing to pay for their goods

John Peter Zenger Trial

·  Court decisions in the trial of John Peter Zenger (1735) and the case of New York Times Co. v. United States (1971) strengthened freedom of the press

·  It is said that the case of John Peter Zenger was not just the cause of a printer but the cause of liberty

·  John Peter Zenger printed a colonial newspaper

·  An article in the newspaper was critical of the colonial governor of New York

·  Zenger was arrested and went to trial

·  But what was printed was factual

·  Thus, he was found “Not Guilty”

·  The John Peter Zenger Trial was a victory for freedom of the press

·  In the case of New York Times Co. v. United States, in what became known as the “Pentagon Papers Case,” the Nixon Administration attempted to prevent the New York Times and Washington Post from publishing materials belonging to a classified Defense Department study regarding the history of United States activities in Vietnam

·  The President argued that prior restraint was necessary to protect national security

·  Justices Black and Douglas argued that the vague word “security” should not be used “to abrogate the fundamental law embodied in the First Amendment.”

·  Justice Brennan reasoned that since publication would not cause an inevitable, direct, and immediate event imperiling the safety of American forces, prior restraint was unjustified

·  In other words, the newspaper could print the information

·  These cases were victories for the principle of freedom of the press