Westward Expansion and the Path to Civil War

Westward Expansion and the Civil War

The early days of American history began with the original 13 colonies on the East Coast followed by the American Revolution, then the birth of a new country, the United States of America, in 1776. However, during the mid-1800s, the country began expanding westward.

​In this lesson you will explore key events in the expansion of the U.S. to get a sense of how this era unfolded.

The United States began to spread during the 19th century, starting in 1803 with the Louisiana Purchase and ending in 1890 when the U.S. government formally announced that the country's frontier had been settled.

When did "Westward Expansion" take place?

Match

Use the information on the 1st two slides to help you match the information below.

• 1700s

• 1800s

• 1900s

• 2000s

• 19th Century

18th Century

19th Century

20th Century

21st Century

The US spread west in the __ century

• 18th Century

• 19th Century

• 20th Century

• 21st Century

• The US spread west in the __ century

The size of the United States instantly doubled when then-president Thomas Jefferson completed the Louisiana Purchase by buying a massive territory west of the Mississippi River from the French for $15 million in 1803.

The Louisiana Purchase

​This transaction included the land that now makes up the states of Louisiana, Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and South Dakota, along with the majority of the land in Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, and Wyoming.

Dropdown

The land in the ​

Select answer

was bought from the country of ​

Select answer

for $​

Select answer

million in the early 19th century. The land acquired by the ​

Select answer

in this purchase now makes up​

Select answer

different states.

In 1805, President Thomas Jefferson sent explorers Meriwether Lewis and Willam Clark, commonly known as Lewis & Clark, to explore the area west of the Mississippi River. They began in St. Louis and eventually made their way to Oregon and the Pacific Ocean, crafting detailed maps along the way.

The Lewis & Clark Expedition

​In 1806, they returned to where their journey started and reported the findings of their expedition to the public. The tales that they brought back with them encouraged many Americans to explore and settle in these newly aquired territories in the West.

Match

Match the following information to the questions that they answer about Lewis in Clarke's journey to the West.

• Explorers hired by Thomas Jefferson to explore the western US

• They went all the way to Oregon, a distance of almost 2,000 miles

• St. Louis, Missouri

• Explore and settle the western US

Who were Lewis and Clarke?

How far did they travel on their journey

Where did there journey begin?

What did their trip cause people to do?

• Who were Lewis and Clarke?

• How far did they travel on their journey

• Where did there journey begin?

• What did their trip cause people to do?

The Missouri Compromise was a federal legislation of that tried to balance the desires of northern states to prevent the expansion of slavery in the U.S. with those of southern states that wanted expand the use of slavery.

​The Missouri Compromise

​The Missouri Compromise

​The compromise...

• ​admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state

• declared a policy of prohibiting slavery in the remaining Louisiana Purchase lands north of the 36° parallel.

​The 16th United States Congress passed the legislation on March 3, 1820, and President James Monroe signed it on March 6, 1820.

Match

Match the following information about the Missouri Compromise to the questions below.

• It added Maine as a free state and Missouri as a slave state. It also said no slave states could be made above the 36 degrees latitude

• This law was designed to appease both slave owning states and free states by keeping the balance between free states and slave states.

• 1820

What did the M.C. do?

What was the purpose of the M.C.?

In what year was this law created?

• What did the M.C. do?

• What was the purpose of the M.C.?

• In what year was this law created?

In 1843, close to 1,000 people joined together to traverse the Oregon Trail via a wagon train, a feat that required going over the treacherous Rocky Mountains. They began in Independence, Missouri and made it all the way to Oregon Country, which still belonged to England.

1843: The Great Migration via the Oregon Trail

​Their approximately 2,000-mile journey was a success, a fact that surprised many people who did not think the group would be able to safely navigate the long journey. They settled the area and were followed by thousands more over the next few years.

Match

Match the following

• Over 1,000

• Crossing the Rocky Mountains

• What was the impact of the Oregon Trail?

How many people went to Oregon in 1843?

What were the main challenges faced on the Oregon Trail?

Who controlled this territory?

• How many people went to Oregon in 1843?

• What were the main challenges faced on the Oregon Trail?

• Who controlled this territory?

The red line on this map shows how far north and east the boundary of Mexico stretched in 1821 when it won its independence from Spain.

​Land Ceded By Mexico

​However, between 1836 and 1853, Mexico lost the land that now makes up all or part of ten present-day U.S. states (green areas).

Dropdown

The lands that we now know as T​

Select answer

, New Mexico, Arizona, N​

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, California, U​

Select answer

and even some of C​

Select answer

once belonged to M​

Select answer

.

Texas' Independence

Starting around the year 1820, citizens from the United States began moving and settling on lands owned by Mexico in the areas that we know today as Texas. Over time Americans began to outnumber the Mexican citizens and between the years 1835 and 1836 the citizens of Texas fought a war for independence with Mexico.

Texas officially became a state in 1845. In 1844, the Republic of Texas entered into a treaty of annexation with the United States, laying the groundwork for statehood. In 1845, Congress passed a resolution in favor of annexing Texas, which was approved by voters in the then-republic, now state.

Texas Statehood

Match

Match the following information about Texas settlement and statehood

• Mexico

• When did Americans start moving to Mexico?

• The people of Texas fought a war for independence with Mexico

• When did the US annex Texas?

• When did Mexico become a US state?

What country did Texas 1st belong to?

1820

How did Texas gain its independence?

1844

1845

• What country did Texas 1st belong to?

• 1820

• How did Texas gain its independence?

• 1844

• 1845

The Mormon Religion, also known as the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints, was started by a man named Joseph Smith in Western New York state.

The Mormons Religion

Smith said the Book of Mormon, the religious book of the Mormons, was translated into English from writings he found on golden plates in a "Egyptian style" language; they were translated with the assistance of the two different assistants and "seer stones" that allowed them to translate the ancient language. Smith claimed that an angel first showed him the location of the plates in 1823; they were buried in a hill in western NY.

By 1839 the Mormon religion had grown to include over 70,000 members with many members settling in the state of Illinois. However, in Illinois the group faced both violence and religious persecution. Due to this, the Mormons left their settlement in Illinois and headed west in search of a new homeland in 1847. Under the leadership of Brigham Young. They traversed more than 1,300 miles west through the wilderness, crossing the Rocky Mountains and stopping in what is now Utah. By the end of the year, around 2,000 Mormons had settled in the area.

The Mormons Settle Utah

Match

Match the following information about the Mormon religion and their settlement in the West

• Joseph Smith

• Illinois

• Because they faced violence and persecution in Illinois

• Utah

• They explain that Jesus visited the natives of the Americas after his resurrection

Who created the Mormon religion?

After leaving NY where did they settle?

Why did the Mormons leave Illinois?

Where did they go after Illinois?

What did the gold tablets say?

• Who created the Mormon religion?

• After leaving NY where did they settle?

• Why did the Mormons leave Illinois?

• Where did they go after Illinois?

• What did the gold tablets say?

After gold was discovered in Northern California in 1848, thousands of people began to find their way to the west coast in search of riches.

The California Gold Rush Begins

​Prior to the gold rush, fewer than 1,000 people lived in California. So many people flocked to the area that there were around 100,000 people there by the time 1849 drew to a close. The gold rush continued, peaking in 1852 then declining until it ended around the year 1857.

California officially became a state in 1850, just two years after being ceded to the United States by Mexico via the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Unlike other states in the west, California was granted statehood without first having been a territory. Additionally, California was added as a "free state" which offset the balance between Free and Slave states.

California Statehood

Match

Match the following information about California settlement and statehood

• How many people lived in California before gold was discovered?

• 1848

• How many people moved to CA from 1848-1849?

• Mexico

• When did California become a state?

Less than 1,000

When was gold discovered in California?

Over 100,000

Who did the US annex California from?

1850

• Less than 1,000

• When was gold discovered in California?

• Over 100,000

• Who did the US annex California from?

• 1850

Since the new states of Kansas and Nebraska were north of 36° line of latitude, they should have been admitted as free states according to the Missouri Compromise of 1820.

Kansas Nebraska Act

​The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed by the U.S. Congress on May 30, 1854. It allowed people in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery within their borders. The Act served to repeal the Missouri Compromise of 1820 which prohibited slavery north of Missouri's border, latitude 36°.

Match

Match the following information about the Kansas-Nebraska Act

• It said that slavery would not be allowed in states north of Missouri's border

• Are Kansas and Nebraska north of Missouri's southern border (36 degrees latitude)?

• Should Kansas and Nebraska have been allowed to be slave states according to the Missouri Compromise?

• What did Congress decide about slavery in these states?

What did the Missouri Compromise do?

Yes

No

The people of each could vote on it

• What did the Missouri Compromise do?

• Yes

• No

• The people of each could vote on it

Dred Scott had sued in federal court. He claimed he was free because he had lived in free territory. He lost his case in a ruling that has been condemned by many as the Supreme Court's worst decision. In this case the Supreme Court decided that all slaves (whether they had been freed or were still in slavery) were not citizens of the United States. Because they were not citizens they could not sue in a Federal court.

Dredd Scott v. Sanford (1857)

​Many people were angry at the decision, and slavery became the issue the American Civil War was fought over a few years later.

Match

Match the following information about Dred Scott and the Supreme Court's decison in his case.

• Fighting for his freedom
• Freedom and equal rights

• His owner had taken him to a territory where slavery was not allowed

• Anyone who had been a slave did not have the rights of a citizen, so could not take his case to court.

• 1857

What is Dred Scott famous for?

What did Dred Scott sue for?

Why did Scott believe he should be free?

What did the S.C. decide in his case?

When did the SC make this decision?

• What is Dred Scott famous for?
• What did Dred Scott sue for?
• Why did Scott believe he should be free?

• What did the S.C. decide in his case?

• When did the SC make this decision?

Oregon Country officially became a state in 1859, after being ceded to the United States by England in 1846 via the Oregon Treaty.

Oregon Statehood

​Oregon was able to quickly become a state due to the success of the Oregon Trail in attracting and carrying settlers to the area.

Match

Match the following information about Oregon and the Oregon Trail

• A series of trails / dirt roads that people followed when traveling west to Oregon

• How long was the journey on the Oregon Trail?

• False

• What country controlled Oregon before the US?

• 1859

What was the Oregon Trail?

2,000 miles

The Oregon Trail was an easy journey.

England

When did Oregon become a state?

• What was the Oregon Trail?

• 2,000 miles

• The Oregon Trail was an easy journey.

• England

• When did Oregon become a state?

The United States presidential election of 1860 was held on Tuesday, November 6, 1860. The election of President Abraham Lincoln served as a trigger for the outbreak of the American Civil War.

​The Election of 1860

​The United States had been divided during the 1850s on questions surrounding the expansion of slavery and the rights of slave owners. In 1860, these issues broke the Democratic Party into three factions. Each group felt they could best defeat the Republican Party candidate.

Match

Match the following information about the election of 1860

• What was the main issue that divided the nation during the 1860 presidential election?

• Slavery should not be allowed in newly created states

• The voters in the newly created states should decide if slavery is allowed

• Abraham Lincoln

• South Carolina left the United States. The states of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, Georgia and Louisiana left shortly after.

Slavery

What did Lincoln say about slavery?

What did Douglas say about slavery?

Who won the election of 1860?

What happened after the election of 1860

• Slavery

• What did Lincoln say about slavery?

• What did Douglas say about slavery?

• Who won the election of 1860?

• What happened after the election of 1860

The election of the first U.S. president who was a vocal opponent of slavery came as a shock to Southerners. The feeling in the south was that "no matter what Lincoln says about protecting our rights, he’s not going to do that" because he was elected by people who are "out to get us".

​The South Secedes from the Union

​The South Secedes from the Union

​Less than six weeks after the election, the first secession convention met in Charleston South Carolina. About 60 percent of the 169 delegates were slave owners, and they voted unanimously to leave the Union. Local residents celebrated with bonfires, parades and the ringing of church bells.

​Five more states—Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana—soon followed.

Match

Match the following information about the secession of the Southern States

• What did southerners believe about slavery?

• Why did many people in the Southern States believe about Abraham Lincoln?

• When the Confederates (states that seceded) attacked the United States military fort, Fort Sumter.

• Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina and Tennessee all left the United States

• What was the first battle of the Civil War?

It was their right to own slaves

He would not protect their rights

What event started the U.S. Civil War?

What happened after Fort Sumter?

Battle of Fort Sumter

• It was their right to own slaves

• He would not protect their rights

• What event started the U.S. Civil War?

• What happened after Fort Sumter?

• Battle of Fort Sumter

The United States continued to grow even while fighting a war with itself. With the passing of the Homestead Act of 1862, people were eligible to claim up to 160 acres of land in the west. After residing on the land for five years and making improvements, the land would be given to those who settled it. Many people rushed west to claim their land and establish a homestead.

The Homestead Act

The Homestead Act

​Approximately 500 million acres were assigned to those who made claims under this law between 1862 and 1904. About 80 million of those acres went to homesteaders; the rest went to business interests such as cattle ranches, timber, railroads, miners, and speculators.

Match

Match the following information about the Homestead Act

• True or False: The U.S. stopped expanding during the Civil War

• It allowed people to settle and claim land in the western U.S.

• Live on the land for 5 years and make improvements to the land (build on it)

• 1862

• How many million acres of land were given away through the Homestead Act

False

What did the Homestead Act do?

What did people have to do to get land?

When was the Homestead Act created?

500 Million

• False

• What did the Homestead Act do?

• What did people have to do to get land?

• When was the Homestead Act created?

• 500 Million