Making of America

• When Britain lost the War of Independence they handed over 230 million acres of Indian lands to the USA
• Expansion of the USA


  1. From 1791, Washington put 80% of his government budget into fighting the Indians

  2. In 1794 the Indians were defeated at the Battle of Fallen Timbers and agreed to the Treaty of Greenville

  3. Jefferson encouraged the rich to buy this land in 640 acre lumps, causing anger amongst the poor farmers

  4. The US created new states in the Northwest Territory (Indiana) and the Southwest Territory (Mississippi)

  5. The USA expanded further by buying land from the French and creating trade routes into the West
• Louisiana Purchase


  In 1803, Jefferson bought the 530 million acre territory of Louisiana from the French for just $15 million, which doubled the size of the USA
• The USA had always traded across the Atlantic before, but now wanted to trade across the Pacific too
• Exploration of the West


  1804 - Explorers Lewis and Clark explored the new land, which helped an explosion in the beaver fur trade
• Causes of divisions between North and South


  • Economic
  • Religious and moral
  • Political
• Cotton Kingdom


  The new southern states became the centre of cotton production and trade, with the port of New Orleans at the centre shipping slaves in and cotton out of the country
• Cotton Gin


  Invented in 1793, it cleaned cotton 50x faster meaning the slaves had to pick even more
• Abolitionist


  Northern Christians who formed societies to end slavery for moral reasons
• Northerners didn't like that slave owners could vote on behalf of their slaves, as a state's voting power depended on their population
• For every 100 slaves a slave owner got 60 extra votes for himself, giving an unfair advantage
• Missouri Compromise


  Agreed in 1820 that new states created in the future would be added in pairs, one slave and one free, to relieve political tensions
• Fears about slavery grew due to violent slave revolts in the South e.g. Charles Deslondes
• Opposition to slavery grew in the North due to more and more abolitionists believing slaves should be free
• The USA grew more dependent on slavery, with 42% of all exports being cotton
• Andrew Jackson, a Southerner, became president in 1829 and used his position to strengthen slavery, which angered the North even more
• Indian Removal


  Andrew Jackson used the 1830 Indian Removal Act to move eastern Native American tribes out of their lands and west
• Native American tribes


  • Creeks and Cherokees 'Americanised' by developing alphabets, newspapers and US-style governments
  • The Seminole fought 3 wars against the USA but were finally defeated, with their population reduced to just 200
  • The Creek gave up part of their land in Alabama in an attempt to stay, but 15,000 were forcibly moved west
  • The Cherokee successfully took the state of Georgia to court, but the US government still forced them West, with 5000 dying on the 'Trail of Tears' in 1838
• Manifest Destiny


  The belief that the USA was destined to expand across the continent
• Westward migration


  1. White Americans from the eastern states were pushed away by economic decline in 1837 and pulled to the west by the availability of rich farming land, the 1841 Pre-emption Act, and the belief in Manifest Destiny

  2. The 2,000-mile journey was difficult for migrants, battling against extreme weather, geographical barriers, indigenous Americans defending their lands and disease

  3. The 1851 Fort Laramie Treaty aimed to create safe route for migrants through indigenous American land in exchange for compensation for damage to their hunting grounds
• Mormons


  A religious group who were unpopular due to their beliefs - polygamy, shared ownership of land, opposition to slavery - and were forced into the West, where they created their own settlement in Salt Lake City, Utah
• Development of the Mormon settlement

  1. Through good leadership, digging of irrigation ditches and communal approach to resources, their community succeeded

  2. Utah was eventually made a state, which enabled the government to force Mormons to follow the law
• Gold Rushes


  1. The Gold Rushes of 1849 and 1859 brought even more white Americans onto the plains

  2. 50,000 people flocked to California in 1849, with rumours of men making $1,000/day (average wage $2-3/day)

  3. Merchants made lots of money by selling the required equipment to dig for gold, such as Levi Strauss who sold his hardwearing denim trousers to miners

  4. The gold rush led to permanent settlement in the west – California became a state in 1850

  5. The Pike's Peak gold rush of 1858-9 drew people across the plains and to settlement just east of the Rocky Mountains – 100,000 in total
• Permanent settlement was the main consequence of the gold rushes, with Kansas becoming a state in 1861 and new cities such as Denver encroaching in Native American hunting grounds
• All slave owners depended on slavery continuing, as it supported a huge industry of trade and shipping worth $1.3 billion by 1850
• The Clay Compromise was a victory for slave holders as it forced the North to return runaway slaves
• The Kansas-Nebraska Act broke the Missouri Compromise and allowed both states to join the Union as Free states, leading to violence in 'Bleeding Kansas' as both sides tried to take control
• Secession


  The southern states argued it was their duty to protect the rights of individual states to control their own affairs, and a small group suggested the southern states cut away from the union and form their own country where slavery was encouraged and supported
• Start of the Civil War


  1. Lincoln's victory brought the issue of states' rights to a head and southerners saw this as a sign that the north would end slavery and their whole way of life

  2. In November 1860 state government of South Carolina voted 169 to 0 to secede the union, a further 6 states seceded to join the Confederacy of States

  3. The confederacy elected a new government, led by Jefferson Davis. Lincoln declared this illegal, and left Union troops in forts across the South. Fort Sumter was attached, triggering war
• African Americans experienced improvements as a result of the Civil War
• Emancipation of slaves


  1. In July 1862 Congress ordered the Union Army to free slaves on any land they captured

  2. The Emancipation Proclamation on 1st January 1863 said all slaves would be freed
• Secede


  Cut away from the union and form their own country
• Lincoln's victory


  Brought the issue of states' rights to a head and southerners saw this as a sign that the north would end slavery and their whole way of life
• Secession of southern states


  1. South Carolina voted 169 to 0 to secede

  2. A further 6 states seceded to join the Confederacy of States
• Confederacy


  New government led by Jefferson Davis
• Lincoln declared secession illegal


  Left Union troops in forts across the South
• Fort Sumter was attacked


  Triggering war
• African Americans experienced improvements as a result of the war
• Emancipation Proclamation


  1. Issued on 1st January 1863

  2. Said all slaves would be freed
• The first black regiment of ex-slaves was formed in South Carolina in autumn 1862