Key Concept 5.1 - The United States became more connected with the world, pursued an expansionist foreign policy in the Western Hemisphere, and emerged as the destination for many migrants from other countries.
- Why did the United States expand westward?
- How did the United States react immigrants and natives?
Why did the United States expand westward?
There were many drives to expanding westward. Some were based on access to natural resources such as the California Gold Rush or Comstock Lode, settlements built around silver mines. An American continuity up to this point was the idea of the "Safety valve," which said that no matter what, the West offered economic opportunities. This created the idea that people, if not success in the East, could move over the the West and have more economic oportunity.
Another reason for expansion westward is for religious freedom. In the eastern states, Protestant Christians were mostly the only ones excepted, and for the Mormons, this was a perfect chance to expand Westward into Utah to create a Mormon community.
A big ideology that justified expansion Westward was Manifest Destiny. This was an ideology of American cultural superiority, and that Americans were meant to spread their culture.
During this time, America had gained a lot of land. After the Mexican-American War, which was caused by border disputes, America gained the Mexican Cession from the Treaty of Guadelupe-Hidalgo. They had also gained land diplomatically, such as negotiating the Oregon Territory and the Gadsden Purchase. They had also annexed Texas.
These big land acquisitions had caused some questions. Would these states be entered in as slave or free states? What should the United States deal with the Mexicans already living there? What about the natives? The question of slavery had caused deep divisions, as seen with the emergence of a completely new free-soil party to oppose expansion of slavery. This can be seen with the Wilmot Proviso, which sought to ban slavery in the Mexican Cession. Regarding Mexicans, they allowed them to move back to Mexican territory or to become a U.S. citizen. Natives continued to be pushed out of the land, as they have been in the past.
With new land comes initiatives to populate this land. One massive effort to do this was the Homestead Act, which was passed during the Civil War. They had also created government subsidies for the construction of a transcontinental railroad. These were meant to populate the West with good chances of economic development.
Besides land-based expansion, there were also initiatives into the Pacific and Asia. The United States had started traveling to China for trade in tea and, influenced by the Manifest Destiny, had looked to spread Christianity into China. Another attempt to penetrate into Asian trade was the opening of Japan by Matthew Perry to create a way to trade with Japan. Both of these Asian countries in the past have been reluctant to re-open trade with Europeans, and the Americans came and sought to negotiate for a re-opening.
How did the United States react to immigrants and natives?
Immigrants during this time generally came from three countries, Ireland, Germany, and China. The Irish were mostly catholic and settled into the urban, factory settings of the cities. This created large clusters of the Irish, especially during the Potato Famine, in Northeastern cities. The Germans had immigrated and settled into the Western frontier, working as small scale farmers. Children of these immigrants had attended schools. The Chinese on the other hand, settled on the very west, especially in California during the 1849 gold rush. They worked in mines, farms, and railroads, especially going into the next time period. They tried to hang onto their cultures through the creation of China towns.
With immigrants came a wave of America's sense of national cultural superiority. This developed into what is called nativism, a long-term trend in American history. In this time period, this embodied itself in the Know-Nothing party, a political party that was anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant, especially in the context of mass Irish immigration. They tried to limit the power of immigrants in politics.
Concerning natives, America continued to be a North American bully. They had pursued the natives in multiple battles, such as the Sand Creek Massacre. Here, they negotiated a reservation for the natives, however, a group of American military forces shot and killed many natives in transition, many of which were women and children. Another pursuit of natives was seen in Little Bighorn, also known as Custer's last stand. Here, Americans, led by Custer, had pursued the natives but were eventually taken down. This death of Custer had created a stronger American despise of natives and strengthened the American trend against natives.