HISTORY OF THE USA

NATIVE SOCIETIES
13000 BC = First humans
When Europeans arrived = 4-6 M people
Variety of cultures. Not one group
5000 BC= Corn domesticated
Societies:
- Southwest= irrigation, “puebloans”
-Great basin= dry climate, hunters
-Northwest= fishing
-Southeast= farms
COLONISATION
1490 learnings:
1. How to transplant crops and livestock
2. Native people could be conquered and exploited
3. Plantation slavery developed = constant supply of labour
Columbian exchange
- Trading/ transplanting animal, plants, people across Atlantic
- To Europe: sugar, potatoes, tomato, coffee
- To America: diseases, cattle, wheat
Essential Commodities
Sugar, horses and tobacco
English colonisation
15th- 16th century because:
- Catholics vs Protestants (Henry VIII, Elizabeth…) Confrontation and upheaval
- Problems in Ireland
-Economic depression
In the end some emigrated to America because
- Freedom of religion
- Adventure + profit
- Escape from European population
Stages of colonisation:
1. Gold
2. Trade
3. Tillage (cultivació)
To finance the journey: Joint-stock
companies (resources of small
investors combined)
-East-India company
-Virginia company
1585-Roanoke Island (1st colony,
failure = mystery, people
disappeared)
1607= Virginia, Jamestown
(settlement)
They wanted local power
Other colonies ruled by absolutism
English didn’t care, the other
monarchies imposed a tight control

4 areas:
- Tobacco colonies
- New England colonies
- Middle colonies
- Southern colonies

Jamestown, Virginia 1607

-Virginia company went there to find gold
-John Smith
Deaths (starvations-illnesses)
Raided food supplies of Algonquins
Pocahontas legend
1610 supply ships from GB
New commander = John de la Warr = Anglo-powhatan
wars
Rolfe (Pocahontas)= cultivated and sold tobacco
1619 Enslaved African people diseases
Chesapeake bay’s condition bad indentured
servants

Tobacco colonies = Virginia, Maryland (religious

freedom) ,
New England colonies
Massachusetts
1620= pilgrims arrive at Plymouth rock
1621= Mayflower compact signed.
Thanksgiving or the National Day of Mourning
1630 = Great migration. John Winthrop.
Puritan America
City upon a hill (role model)
God = providence, justification for all their acts
Northern colonies
Healthier, colder
Farming, fishing, trading
Wealthier= no need for slaves
Fairly egalitarian
Literacy
Congregational church
1640 vote to property-owning adult male church members
Hierarchal society
1635 Rhode Island
1637 Connecticut
1691 New Hampshire
Middle colonies
1664 New York
New Jersey
1680 Pennsylvania
Southern colonies
1663 North and South Carolina
1732 Georgia (middle btw Sp settlements)
Clashes with Natives. They had to accommodate to the spread of white settlements.
Traded but resisted incorporation
MERCANTILISM
15-18TH century = trade surpluses contributed to economy = European imperialism.
Exporting more than importing
Triangle trade in North Atlantic
1651 Navigation Acts
- Cause of the revolution
- Limitation on colonial trade. Only with GB
- Consequences: anti-British sentiment bcs they couldn’t grow richer
- Eventually changed to generate colonial revenue
17th cent = ENLIGHTENMENT
Scientific revolution. Science vs religion
18th century intellectual cultural movement. “Reason”
-influence of philosophers like Locke, social contract
-press
-questioned beliefs/knowledge
In America:
-Intention to give Enlightenment ideals a practical useful form
-Improve human society (nature) applying and improving reason
-centres of learning
-reformed curricula in universities/colleges
FRANKLIN
-“SELF-MADE MAN” He did plenty of things
-Spokes person between America and France
-“Founding father” in the declaration of independence
-US ambassador
THE COLONIES 1730s
 1ST Great awakening
-Protestant revivalism = renewed religion devotion
-More inclusive (women allowed to be church members)
-J. Edwards
 Consumer revolution
-Reaping benefits of what they have sowed
-They can now spend money, consume, buy
ROAD TO INDEPENDENCE
Antagonism England vs their possession
Tension, but not among all colonies
-not considered 1 UNITY
1750s changes:
- Seven years war (1754-1763)
Global war
England vs France competing for supreme power in Europe
They wanted: territory, to trade with America and power
Spain and Natives Americans also participated in America. Sp= sugar islands Natives
=revenge and stop them from intruding)
Claims over Ohio river valley
Washington overpowered by French and Natives (in Fr territory) 1754 and 1755
Fort Necessity, eventually surrendered
Acadians to New Orleans (Cajun)
1756 England officially declares war on FR
Colonies start winning because William Pitt sent them money
1760 Fr is forced out of America
1763 Treaty of Paris
-England is the supreme power
- England gets Spanish possessions
-Royal Proclamation: Border between west of Appalachian Mountains
Confidence boosted for colonies
CONSEQUENCES
New balance of power: Fr out
Native Americans: Fr is no longer an excuse to make the two powers fight
Settlers: no longer French threat
1763 Pontiac’s war
Royal proclamation ignored
TAXATION (there was a war debt and GB though Americans had to pay because they
had benefited more from the war)
Shift of allegiance (to America)
Because of taxation American leaders unite to fight these measures (independence not a
project yet)
Royal Proclamation
-Native uprisings (difficulty in governing land)
- It was intended to prevent clashes btw Natives and colonials
Taxation
-war debt: responsibility for America (Greenville)
-smuggle with Fr
- Navigation Acts reenacted
Representation
Parliament represented all the English BUT some of them could not vote for the P
(Americans)
America used to being “ignored”, they could do as they pleased
They foresaw dangers of a powerful government (oppression)
-Fear of losing freedom
-“no taxation without representation”
FIRST MEASURES
NAVIGATION ACTS
-Sugar act: 1764: to increase the revenues and stop smuggling
Petitions to suspend this act sent but ignored
- Stamp act: tax stamps on printed materials
-Colonialists not consulted or ignored
-TRIGGER for the revolution (they wanted representation)
- They oppressed their freedom
-Protests , resistance
- The most affected were the most politically active (judges, students, attorneys…)
Stamp act congress 1765 Measures of resistance discussed
Riots (Patrick Henry)
Not in want of independence yet
“give me liberty or give me death”
Ordinary people also participated
“Sons of liberty” Organisation created to fight for rights and abolish taxation
“Daughters of liberty” Women boycott of tea, homespun, America less dependent to GB
1766 repealed
Declaration act
Br can legislate and tax the colonies in all cases
When it was enforced: opposition
Townshend acts 1767
new taxes on goods like paper, tea… (items imported from Br)
They paid the salaries of the royal officers in the colonies
They would only pay taxes if they had voted for the assemblies:
Boycott and opposition (sometimes violent)
Committee of correspondence
Postal system to communicate with townspeople- Thay had to know about:
- Constitutional rights
- The English were threating these rights
- They had to fight
It showed for the first time an interest in working together
BOSTON MASSACRE
Townshend Acts condemned = non-importation agreement of Br goods
Response= Naval and military officials to Boston
1770 repealed except for the tea tax
Clash btw civilians and soldiers. Bostonians irritated
“Incident on King street”
Crowd started throwing snowballs at the officers. The soldiers fired against them. 5
people died, 8 wounded
Martyrs
= distrust towards George III and Parliament and Trigger for revolution
BOSTON TEA PARTY
3 years of “calm”
But hostility towards Br
Tea Act 1773 Monopoly on tea sales in America for East India Company
designated seller
tax money used to pay British governors
Americans not consulted
Contraband tea drunk
Resistance
Pounds of tea shipped to America
Sons of liberty = anti-tea resolution
1773 Sons of liberty disguised as Natives boarded the ships and dumped all the tea
“Destruction of the tea”
Punishment = control = Coercive Acts (1774) series of acts which were regarded as
intolerable by Americans
FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS 1774
Meeting of delegates from all colonies except for Georgia
-They supported Boston
- They unified to face the problem
Results:
-boycott
-criticized presence of British troops
-call to repeal the Intolerable acts and legislation since 1763 , refused to pay
-agreed to meet again if they were ignored
- they prepared to resist
-they didn’t want independence but solutions
THE WAR
Troops sent to the colonies to scare them
Millitia readied
1775 Expedition to destroy a military store at Concord
Patriots had an intelligence network:
Paul Revere and his warning = myth (Midnight Ride). The regulars are coming
Confrontation
Lexington militia: Many Americans killed/ wounded
Concord: Br outnumbered = influential moment
2nd Continental congress
13 colonies gathered
To organise war and raise money
Functions of a government
Continental Army
Commander = Washington
Thomas Paine “ common sense”:
-Independence and New Republic
-Authority derived from Consent
-It defended the Collective good for the people
-Encouraged the undecided
-Colonies were sisters because they had the same enemy, Br was a “bad mother”, laws
rule, right to decide
Conservative republicans feared it would change country’s stability
4th July 1776
Document that declared they wanted to be independent (declaration of Independence)
Jefferson
Welcomed by everyone
Patriotism – republicanism
Goals:
-More colonies involved in the war
- Help from France
-Let the world know they wanted to be independent
-Colonies would be States
- Egalitarian conditions
1777 articles of confederation (like a constitution)
Colonies unified = country
American Revolution
More Br (br troops+ American loyalists+ Native Americans)
American millitia poorly trained BUT
BR was miles away (they fought at home)
Great leaders
Help from France
Believed in a just cause (they were not forced to fight, they wanted to). In the
continental army = desertions and bad conditions
South= fear of slave uprisings
Civil war: patriots vs loyalists
After declaration = loyalists punished (hanged, imprisoned, fled…)
Native Americans:
They were told not to meddle
They had to choose side
Some neutral but many had to keep their lands and access to trade
African Americans
Loyalists and Patriots
They wanted to be free
Majority enslaved, but some escaped or freed afterwards
Free black people also fought
Revolution
Bunker hill battle 1775 Br won but many casualties (Pyrrhic victory) boost of
confidence
Losses for the continental army
Battle of Saratoga 1777
Fr, Sp, Netherlands helped the Americans (turning point)
1778 France joined, Br had captured major cities in South
Not enough manpower to retain military control
1781: Br vs Am, Fr, Sp
Support for war lost in GB (expensive)
Thanks to the Fr general Cornwallis had to surrender
Peace negotiations
-1783 Treaty of Paris
2 = colonies
independent and the
border is now on the
Mississippi river

Why did they win?

1 Fight at home
2. Not welcomed in GB
3. Intervention of Fr Sp Netherlands (sea power and troops)
4 Different military strategies
Why so long?
1. Br incompetence
2. Am had more reasons to fight
3. Continental army would dissolve often
Consequences
Major War
Triumph American and French
New liberalising program
1. New institutions
2. New egalitarian ideals
3. Redistribution of land
4. Churches stripped of privileges
5. 1763 Proclamation law overthrown
6. Anti-slavery movement (1804 abolition in North)
7. Discrimination against freed black people
BUT small steps. Why?
Slavery was a delicate topic. It could break country’s unity
Beginning of movements supporting women’s rights
Unresolved problems:
 Place of US in the international system unsatisfactory. (who are the enemies?)
 Spain was now an obstacle: Louisiana, West Florida, western rivers and could
stir Natives against Americans
1786-87 Frontier war (Sp, USA, GB)
USA forbidden to trade with west Indies
Economic cold war
Internally = crisis = debt, trade at standstill
Western land question
Land reorganised to be sold and get out of crisis
1785 Land Ordinance: growth of west and revenue stream
1787 Northwest ordinance:
- Political organisation of new lands
- Ruled by governors and judges elected by congress
- 5000 male adults habitants = self-governing territory
- 60000 free inhabitants = state
- It would help pay off debt
- Slavery forbidden
- It would regulate all acquisitions
THE CONSTITUTION
Congress wasn’t effective
Unity weakened
1787 Convention of all states (Maddieson and Hamilton)
Articles of confederation = redrafted
Permanent framework for the government of the American question
Philadelphia, Washington president of convention
First Great Compromise
Larger states = Representation by population(proportional) in House of representatives
(435 representing people)
Smaller states = equal representation (2 per state)
To prevent corruption
Slavery: division: disenfranchised people count as people? North = no South= yes, they
wanted more representation
Solution: they count 3/5
Constitution drafted BUT it had to be ratified by 13 states
Federalists (in favour) vs anti-Federalists (against, feared abuse of power)
“The federalist papers” defended constitution
Solution: agreement on writing it vague
1790 all states had signed it
Washington elected president 1789
CONSTITUTION
Nationalistic document =states and states identity secondary to the nation and nation
identity
Regionalism too = power should be left for regional governments as well
Democracy
Separation of power
BILL OF RIGHTS
First 10 amendments of the constitution
Too vague (A.Fed, they wanted more rights and freedoms)
It limited central power
Ex: freedom of speech, right to bear arms…
GEORGE WASHINGTON
Had to deal with
Foreign policy = proclamation of neutrality (Napoleonic wars…)
Economic policy = first bank in the US
Balance of power btw states and central power (the latter had to be stronger)
“Farewell address” = to avoid political parties and long-term alliances.
ISOLATIONISM
John Adams
2nd president
2 parties = Federalists – Democratic-republicans
Washington D.C = new capital created to prevent jealousy from other cities
19th century
Romanticism (literature) US starts finding its voice
Gothic (emotions, imagination, supernatural, psyche of main characters…)
Individualism (Edgar Allan Poe, Washington Irving, Frederick Douglas (former slave
people)
Nathaniel Hawthorne : The scarlet letter
The election of 1800
2 visions of America:
Federalists (today Republicans)
 Central power should have more power than states
 North , manufacturing sector
 Pro-british (trading)
 Not unified. 2 leaders. Hamilton and Adams frequently on disagreement

Anti-federalists (today Democrats)

 Plantation (agrarian culture)
 Values of the yeoman farmer ( really loved family, honest, independent)
 Pro French
 More organised and effective
Transition of power bitter and controversial
-Jefferson vs Adams almost tied = Jefferson won
Peaceful transition = viability of democracy
Jefferson
-republican supporter (revolution in Fr)
- declaration of Independence
-enslaved 600 people but said it was wrong
-American myth because he was interested in freedom… but at the same time he was a
slaver. “benevolent enslaver”
He had to deal with:
- Piracy in the North of Africa (Napoleonic wars)
- British imprisonment
- Louissiana Purchase
Napoleonic wars
Embargo Act 1807
British kidnapped and forced American sailors to serve
Prohibition to sail from America= economic deeply damaged
The Louisiana purchase
Jefferson’s legacy
It doubled the size of the US (impact on economy and environment)
Controversial. Why?
French, Spanish, France…
Napoleon wanted to sell it bc:
-he wanted money
-colonies were a burden (revolts…), he just wanted Europe
- fighting wars and insurrection of enslaved people in Haiti (black army won against
Napoleon)
1803 US acquired
BUT Constitution said nothing about buying new lands
Federalists opposed= they believed the new territory would be used to create slave
states. If they entered the union there would be more states in favour of states.
“good for the nation” so Jefferson went ahead
He wanted access to New Orleans (it controlled the mouth of Mississippi river,
navigation was vital for the habitants beyond the Appalachians)
Lewis and Clarke expedition
Jefferson needing funding to sent people to expeditions
He wanted to see what was beyond the Mississippi river
Justification: it would be great to have more territory to prevent concentration of people
in one place
Aim: exploring and mapping
Help from Sacagawea (translator and guide), forced
The war of 1812
Economic boom bs of population and profitable exports
In Europe = Napoleonic wars. USA = neutral, still traded with Europe
Br = restrictions on trade so they wouldn’t help France =affront (free trade)
Br impressment (sailors kidnapped to fight)
Am= isolationism
2 visions = pro-British and pro-French
Embargo Act )no ship would sail from America, no exports no imports
Economic war (smuggling, bankruptcy…)
Native alliance with Britain (Tecumseh)
- They wanted to stop American expansion = Native confederacy
Because of this = war (federalists opposed, they wanted to keep maritime trade)
Madison
The war
2nd American rev
Matter of honour (sailors impressment)
Army = small and disorganised, poorly equipped
They won some battles
Tecumseh killed = end of Native alliance
End of British-native alliance (natives on their own)
1814 Napoleon abdicated (no more fight, sailors released, no more reason to fight)
Battle of Blancesburg = failure but National anthem
British wanted access to the Mississippi river
Battle of New Orleans (after peace negotiations) Andrew Jackson, Americans “won”
No winner
Unpopular in New England
Treaty of Ghent = end of war, same boundaries, prisoners released, same relations with
Br
So what was the point? There wasn’t any but it was convenient
It increased nationalism, sense of unity
America started to show its rising power
Federalist party dissolved
End of first party system
No more relation Natives-British
“era of good feelings”
Monroe doctrine =statement countries were not to colonise America
Andrew Jackson destroyed many indigenous lives
War of 1812: consequences for Natives
Devastating for the Natives
End of the war: Tecumseh died, no more unity among tribes + US victory in battle of
New Orlans
Br abandoned its Native Americans allies = + defeats, lands taken
-1814: Battle of Horseshoe Bend
Andrew Jackson = Creeks had to fight each other
He wanted to settle in their lands
He destroyed their military capabilities
Treaty of Fort Jackson: Creels had to give them their land and NEVER make alliances
with Sp or GB
Americans forgot Native people were part of America’s history. Americans= white
Andrew Jackson= 7th president, responsible for Natives’ removal from their lands, their
destruction and relocation, hero in battle of New Orleans
James Monroe = the Monroe doctrine
-Policy of isolationsism (1823). Crucial moment
Napoleonics war ended BUT movements of independence on South America (Spain had
to focus on them)
USA wanted to trade with new independent countries
Monroe made a public statement: no interference, no colonisation
Separation: New world (USA) vs Old world (Europe)
Expression of the desire of becoming powerful
USA wanted to avoid any kind of conflict nor lose territories
Slavery
Essential in the colonies (17th cent). Namely South
There was trade of enslaved people
Called “Peculiar institution”
White people were also enslaved but they were weak and quickly died so basically
enslaved people were black people
Some former enslaved people became enslavers, some were freed as indentured servants
Equiano bought his own freedom
1660s = laws that dealt directly with slaves. Ex>: if a slave had a child with the owner,
the child would also be a slave
Also, slaves had children among them
Thus= + enslaved population
Colonies at first didn’t oppose slavery (they were used to exploiting those from lower
classes)
Slavery benefited them because it increased productivity
New laws to control enslaved people
Slave trade
20 M Africans bought
Before= prisoners or lowest classes
Major economic enterprise = traders = rich and labour supply to the colonies
Treatment
Brutal measures (whipping, branding…) Sometimes to assert their dominance
Sexual abuse (women, men, children)
Separation of families
Poor white people = overseers, watchmen
Religion used for control
Resistance
Run away (underground railroads= routes whereby they could escape northwards)
Unity, family solidarity btw slaves
Rebellions= slow work
Help from poor white people (because they hated owners)
Music, art, religion to remind them of their humanity
Equiano: terrible conditions of slaves in the ships
Igbo landing: Africans drowned to avoid slavery 1803
Abolitionism: Equiano, Mary Prince
1808 slave trade is abolished (still, people kept trading with slaves)
Slavery would be legal until 1865
Relevance to the present
Social and economic inferiority towards black people: police force, massive
incarceration, discrimination, institutional and cultural racism
Cultural racism instilled in people
Native Americans
Rivalries of Europe affected the Natives
When peace, imperial success based on influence on Natives
They were used when there was war
They were dependent on European goods
Europeans manipulated them
Social bigotry (no respect for their way of life)
Theft, diseases, enslavement, genocide
When Louisiana purchase, the territories they wanted to occupy was already occupied
(by Natives)
Conflicts: views of legality
USA= buying land meant it was theirs
Natives= land was no one’s
Treachery: contracts with vague or complex language
Basically, USA had land lust
White program for depriving them of their lands
1. Early colonisation
2. Indian removal act 1830
3. Indian allotment Act
Andrew Jackson
Southeast= mainly natives
To deal with them = civilize
1. Christianity
2. Speak and write English
3. Adopt European practices
Options:
 1. Unite
2. Assimilate
3. Migrate
5 civilised tribes:
Cherokees
Chickasaw
Choctaw
Creeks
Seminole
USA interested in Southeast to grow cotton
Cherokee nation vs Georgia= supreme court case (to stop them from passing laws that
deprived them from their lands, failed, they were part of Georgia so they had to obey)
1832 Worcester : same as in 1831 but they succeeded (Cherokees were sovereign)
But Southern states wanted to have indigenous states
Andrew Jackson:
-Campaigns against Native Americans (vs Creeks and Vs Seminola)
1830 Indian removal Act (trail of tears)
Power to exchange Native land in the east of Mississippi for lands in the west
West = Indian colonisation zone (Now Oklahoma)
Journey on foot (no food, no help, no supplies)= deaths
“Trails of tear and death”
60000 people relocated
They were told they’d keep the new territory. It wasn’t the case.
1887 Indian allotment act
Dawes Act
Tribal lands portioned and given to individual families under the promise of being
citizens
Goal: they had to assimilate into American culture, so they destroyed theirs
The Western frontier
In 20 years, USA became a huge territory
Time of exploration and settlement = frontier
Louisiana purchase encouraged westward exploration and promoted agriculture
-Border between the known and the unknown
- Public lands offered at sale
-Natives evicted
Myth of the frontier: romanticization of frontier and wild West
The land of opportunities, exploration, liminality (division between civilization and
wilderness), their land (they had right of going there, “discovering it”
Frontiersmen= seen as heroes (Daniel Boone, James Fenimore Cooper, Davy Crockett)
1800-1860
Age of transformation
-Spread across the continent
- N= industrialist, trade
S= plantations, agriculture, subsistence farms
W= Mix of both: agricultural processing and manufacturing
Transportation:
Faster, cheaper and favoured geographical mobility
N= canals , steam ships and railroads built
S= rural area. Investment= slavery
Communication
Easier, faster = telegraph, it bridged the continent
Texas revolution
“Peninsulares” and “Criollos”: monopolised lands and lived off labour and skills of
Natives and people of mixed heritage.
Colonies in: California, Texas and New Mexico
1821: Mexico independent
US wanted to trade with Mexico
Province of Texas created (Austin: attractive for roaming cattle and cotton)
Son of Austin: Mexican government allowed settlement of Americans in Texas.
Conditions
1. Obey Mex. Government
2. Speak Spanish
3. Accept Catholic religion
Inevitably Texas became American de facto (culture, customs…)
1829: Mex abolished slavery and tension with Texas because they didn’t like them
feeling American
Americans: didn’t want to be told what to do (like BR)
Compromise= slaves = indentured servants
1835 Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana seized the power.
-Centralised the power
-Cancelled foreign trade
Texas no longer autonomous (threat to cultural and economic connection with US)
1835 provisional government 1836 Declared independence
1836: Battle of the Alamo: Mex troops killed 200 Am and Tejanos. War cry
(mythicised)
Texans joined forces and defeated Santa Anna, he was captured and forced to recognise
independence
REPUBLIC OF TEXAS
Sam Houston
Wanted to become part of US (they wanted protection from Mex)
Manifest destiny: God had given them that continent, Texas was part of it, so their
manifest destiny was to own Texas as well (1845). New city upon a hill. They are
superior, an example, so God wanted them to expand
Polk (eleventh president) wanted New Mexico and California
Santa Fe refused = war
Trigger: Border in S of Texas
Mexico:
-internal conflicts
- Ill-eqipped, badly led troops
America conquered most of the country
1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo = end of the war
Border was in Rio Grande River
California, New Mexico and Utah + parts of Arizona, Wyoming, Montana, Colorado =
US
Mormon territory: first American religion
Traditional family life and status (reconstruction of Jesus Christ’s church)
Persecuted:
-didn’t enslave people
-polygamy
- if they were a lot, they could have power over Politics
Smith (leader) murdered, Young brought them to Utah, admitted in 1896
1845-1852
Irish Famine, a lot of immigration
Oregon trail = most used
California trail
1849 gold discovered in California = California Gold rush, more and more westwards
How was expansion seen?
Democrats = great, less urbanisation and industry
Whigs: great, more trade
National pride
Desire to have lands so the others wouldn’t take them (manifest destiny)
Idealists_ possibility to extend freedom, democracy…
Divinely ordained, inevitable
Superiority of white race
Br vs Am = border of Oregon, conflict
Oregon Treaty 1846
Tension slavery anti-slave states vs slave states = eventually civil-war
SLAVERY QUESTION
-Compromises in convention 1787
No “slave ban” until 1808
Enslaved people = 3/5
Fugitives Act
1808 Foreign slave trade banned
Slavery divided country
Economy of South depended on slavery
Cotton gin= process speeded
Cotton became a cash crop (US world leader)
Cotton boosted the Industrial Rev in the North
More demand of enslaved people
Domestic “slave trade” = too many slaves in tobacco plantations so enslavers freed or
sold them
Forced migration from N to S
S= inequality of wealth
Power at the top
No social mobility
White settlers united by racism
The Missouri compromise
1819: Missouri wants to become a state
Same latitude as slave Ohio and Illinois
If it was admitted as a state = slavery pushed northwest
More slave states = more power for them in Politics, 2 Senators more
11 and 11 = compromise (1820)
Ok= Missouri slave state BUT Maine will separate from Massachusetts and it will
become a free state
N of Missouri’s border = slavery banned forever
ROAD TO CIVIL WAR
2 very different economies = Industrial and Agriciltural
Manufacturing vs plantation
Trade vs cotton
S = slavery
Social mobility vs poor white farmers
Middle class = aristocratic system
Expansion to allow small farmers to have farms vs expansion to continue producing
cash crops
ABOLITIONISM
At 1st religious
Anti-slavers organisations:
American colonization society = enslaved people sent back to Africa (Liberia) BUT
they wanted to stay in America (didn’t feel African, too much time there)
Damaging to the people who already lived in Liberia
Measures not taken well
S = Wanted to keep with slavery
Abolitionists= it was unfair, because their land was America
Harriet Tubman, Soujourner Truth, Frederick Douglas
Compromise of 1850
New states = anti or pro slavery
N and Abolitionists = anti-slavery
S= pro-slavery they threatened to leave the United States if slavery was abolished
California = statehood?
S = wanted the Missouri compromise line to extend to California
Compromise:
California= free state
Stronger fugitive law will be passed (if an enslaved person escaped = they would have
to be returned)
This contributed to the creation of a brutal police force. Patrollers chased, caught and
returned enslaved people = S (it still is like that)
N= it prevented workers from striking
Slavery in the West = popular sovereignty