Westward Expansion

What is Manifest Destiny?

• The idea that the US is destined by God to expand west toward the Pacific Ocean

• The idea that Americans needed to have a stronger sense of Nationalism

What was the response of white southerners to the writings of abolitionists in the 1830s and 40s?

• They responded by putting forth arguments in defense of slavery, their way of life, and their honor

• They responded by sending angry letters to the abolitionists

In what ways did the demands of the on the labor of slave women contradict the idealized role of domestic caretaker for southern men?

• Slave owners treated slave women in the same idealized way they treated white women

• Slaveholders put them out into the fields, where they frequently performed work traditionally thought of as male jobs

What role did slavery play in creating a common identity among different social and economic classes of white people?

• Slavery perpetuated the idea that all white people should come together as a Master Race, not dependent on their social class

• Slavery did not create a common identity

Who were the yeomen farmers?

• Small, white landowners

• White men who didn't own land

How did cotton production affect the planter elite's stance on slavery?

• The growth of cotton led to many more wealthy slave owners, who advocated for the continuation of slavery

• The growth of cotton led to more southerners being against slavery

Who held most the power in the Antebellum south?

• Wealthy southern planters

• Wealthy immigrants from the North

Why did the Irish immigrate to America in the late 1840s?

• Because of the Irish potato famine

• Because so many Americans were Catholic

What new industries emerged to cater to this new Middle Class in the North?

• Such as railroads and steam ships

• Such as ready made clothing, fashionable hats, cook stoves, ice boxes, etc

Who made up the new middle class in Northern Society?

• Groups such as farmers, and other day laborers

• Groups such as merchants, artisans, factory managers, bankers, brokers, schoolteachers