
Which of the following statements are
true about the American System
promoted by Henry Clay?
I. it pushed for a strong Second Bank
of the United States
II. it encouraged tariff revenues to
build roads and canals
III. it had a goal of national economic
development
IV. it had strong support from
Southern leaders
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
I and II only
I and III only
I, II, and III only
I, II, and IV only
all of the statements are true
The Erie Canal's success inspired
other internal improvement programs

Which of the following statements are
true about the American System
promoted by Henry Clay?
I. it pushed for a strong Second Bank
of the United States
II. it encouraged tariff revenues to
build roads and canals
III. it had a goal of national economic
development
IV. it had strong support from
Southern leaders
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
I and II only
I and III only
I, II, and III only
I, II, and IV only
all of the statements are true
Explanation: Clay's American
System sought to promote
economic development
throughout the U.S. with a
network of roads and canals
funded by tariffs, which would
in turn aid American
manufacturers. Southerners,
who relied on rivers to carry
their major crop of cotton to
their market ports and who
generally did not benefit from
tariffs because of their lack of a
manufacturing base, opposed
Clay's plans.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What images come to mind when you think of
the American West?
How is the American West different from the
American East?
What allures many people to migrate west?
If you were a poor 19th century farmer living in
North Alabama and you had an opportunity to
follow a wagon train west to California… would
you risk everything to make the journey? Why
or why not?
What dangers/challenges do you think were
common during western migration in the 1800's?
Unit 8, Notes 3


387,000 white settlers lived west of the Appalachian
Mountains in 1800…2.4 million lived west of the
Appalachians in 1820
Manifest Destiny: idea that God had given the continent
to Americans and wanted them to settle western land

It was the "manifest destiny of Americans to overspread the
continent allotted by Providence."
 ----John Louis O'Sullivan

Reasons for western settlement




Purpose: Manifest Destiny
Hope: opportunities, potential for improvement
Land: gold, resources, farmland
Freedom: adventure, escape civilized society, religious
refuge
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

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squatters: people that settle on public land under
government regulation with the hopes of acquiring the
title to the land
Influx of squatters into the western part of the Mississippi
Territory led to the creation of the state of Mississippi in
1817 and the less populous eastern part became the
territory of Alabama
Two years later, the Alabama territory had also admitted
enough settlers to apply for statehood
Alabama became the 22nd state on December 14, 1819
Preemption Act of 1830: protected squatters by
guaranteeing them the right to claim land before it was
surveyed for up to 160 acres at $1.25 an acre
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
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
Western lands were more
difficult to farm because of the
hard, dry soil
Jethro Wood: invented an ironbladed plow in 1819 to replace
the wooden plows
John Deere: engineered a plow
with sharp-edged steel blades
that reduced the labor needed to
prep an acre for farming by half
Cyrus McCormick: invented a
mechanical reaper in 1834 that
allowed farmers to harvest far
more grain with less effort



Americans began settling farther west after the War of 1812 in the Oregon
Territory and the Mexican territory of California that offered land grants
to people willing to immigrate into the area
John Sutter received a 50,000 acre land grant in the Sacramento Valley that
became a trading post and cattle ranch
 By 1845, more than 200 Americans lived in California
 In 1848, gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill
 Forty-niners: large influx of western travelers that moved to California
in search of gold in 1849
 By 1849, more than 90,000 people arrived in California
Western trails: Mountain trailblazers, traders, and trappers like Kit Carson
and Jim Bridger traveled throughout the West forging trails and learning
from the Native Americans
 Examples of western trails…
 Oregon Trail
 California Trail
 Santa Fe Trail





Frontier towns became staging areas for wagon train journeys
Typical wagon train journey
 6 months (15 miles per day)
 Men: drove wagons, hunted game, cared for animals
 Women: cooked, cleaned the camp, cared for children
Overlanders: western travelers that used guidebooks and worn trails to find
their way west without the help of mountain men
 Donner Party: 87 overlanders traveled west in 1846 until winter snows
trapped them in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range; 41 died of
starvation and the remaining survivors resulted to cannibalism to
survive
Native American relations between 1840 and 1860:
 Indians killed 362 white emigrants during this period while emigrants
killed 426 Indians
 Many relations were peaceful and helpful
 Ft. Laramie Treaty: treaty signed between the U.S. and 8 Native
American groups to recognize specific geographic boundaries
Mormon Migration: after a mob murdered Joseph Smith (founder), Brigham
Young led the persecuted Mormons along the Mormon Trail to settle at the
Great Salt Lake in 1847
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P. 297 #s 3, 4, 5, 6