AMERICAN EXPANSIONISM IN THE WEST
Wars with Mexico
Westward expansion
TEXAS
West Florida taken
by force from Spain;
East Florida was
acquired by
compulsory purchase
(1819)
Gadsden Purchase
(1853): US
purchased territory
from Mexico to
have control over
the railroad route
US wanted the
annexation of
California ‘cause
of the railway
Mexican government
gave permission to
Roman Catholic
American farmers to
settle in Texas (1823)
T. Jefferson bought
Louisiana from
France (1803)
Treaty with Britain
to mark a frontier
with US & Canada
(1818)
CALIFORNIA
Oregon
could be
occupied
Dictatorial measures:
he abolished all
constitutional
privileges for Texan
Americans.
They declared
their
independence
(1836)
Problem for US:
according to
Monroe Doctrine
they can’t interfere,
but Texas asked to
become a state of
the Union
Revolution in
Mexico with
General Sta. Ana
as president
(1832)
Battle of S. Jacinto:
Sta. Ana was
defeated &
captured. He
recognized Texas as
part of America (Rio
Grande as frontier)
End of
the war
Texas
republic was
annexed in
1845.
Confrontation
between Americans
& Mexicans.
US declared war
on Mexico
The US soon won
Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo (1848) was
signed, by which
Mexico gave the US the
Southern Border States.
Affected industry, agriculture & western migration
Influence in creating a firm economy & organize the territory politically
Improvements in
transportation
facilities = western
prosperity
Invention of the refrigerated train made
Chicago the leading meat processing &
meat packing capital of the US
Development
of the cities
Economic interests thanks to
the 5 railway lines that
traversed the Appalachian
Mountain barrier, linking the
Midwest & East
Pacific Railroad Act (1862): construction of a transcontinental railroad
by 2 corporations: the Central Pacific & Union Pacific Railroads
1st Transcontinental
railroad completed
(1869)
THE
RAILROAD
Great Railroad Strike (1877): workers
asked better working conditions & against
the cut in their salaries
Northern
Pacific
1883
3 other transcontinental lines that
reached the Pacific
Southern
Pacific
The Santa Fe
SUPPRESSION OF NATIVE AMERICANS
Confine to
reservations:
CAUSES
Advance of
gold mine in
California
The
railroad
Election in 1828
of A. Jackson
Transfer of East Indian
tribes to the western
territories (lands less
desirable for American
settlers)
Doing it by force if
it was necessary
Many died
because they
offered
resistance
Indian
Removal Act
(1830)
Culminated in
1838 in a forced
march known as
the Trail of Tears
The lands being offered
(Oklahoma) were virtually a
dessert, so many refused &
others rebelled
Settler moved
even further west
Nomadic
Tribes of
the Great
Plains
New chapter in
the Indian
question begin
Formidable
guerrilla
cavalry tactics
Frontiersmen killed millions of buffaloes
on the Great Plains
supplied the
Indians with
food, clothing
1861-1887 constant
& other needs
warfare on the Plains
Battle of Little
Bighorn (1876)
Indians defeated
General A.
Savage army campaign =
Custer
Sioux confined into
reservation (1877)
Dawes Severalty
Act (1887): each
Indian family
1924: A law was
provided with 160
passed to grant
acres of land
citizenship to all
(often unfertile)
Indians
Before 1800 a million
Indians lived north of
the Rio Grande
By 1820 European
colonists &
American-born
settlers co-existed
with Indians
Great powers of
Europe and late US
made strategic
alliances with Indian
leaders for military
purposes
Some of these tribes
–Cherokeesassimilated many
European customs:
adopting
Christianity, farming
their land & creating
their own writing
systems.
Gilded Age (from the end of
Civil War to World War I)
ECONOMIC EXPANSION &
INDUSTRIAL GROWTH
Economic
revolution
Industrial
revolution
US was the
industrial
power leader
Railway
Network
More than 1/3 of the
world’s industrial
production came from US
Rised business
activities
Favoured the
formation of
national market
Trusts appeared:
Standard Oil Trust
(Rockefeller)
Transportation
links between
different parts
of the US
Technological
revolution
demand for
iron
1st gasoline-driven
automobiles (1890)
steel
Immigrants from
Europe
New
middleclass
Nation quickly
urbanized
Nation’s
factories & mills
quadrupled
their production
Spread
settlements
Expasion of
heavy industries
coal
Population
doubled
petroleum refining
steel manufacturing
electrical power
Industrial growth
transformed
AMERICAN
SOCIETY
Americans increased their
standard of living
Old
industries
expanded &
new ones
emerged
bluecollar
working
class
Cities became noisy, with traffic, air
pollution & health problems
New technologies &
products (from
candles to kerosene
lamps & then electric
light bulbs)
Important
inventions:
telephone,
telegraph &
mimeograph
Trolleys, cable cars,
subways & skyscrapers
were built at the end of
19th century
WORKERS & UNIONS
Labour
unions
2 sources of
workers
Unsafe working conditions (diseases &
accidents) & subsistence wage
Immigrants
from different
parts of the
world seeking
for jobs
Protected worker’s
interests & asked for
better working conditions
“The Knights of
Labour” (1869).
They met in
secret to avoid
to be fired.
Great increase in membership
after the railroad strike in 1877
“American Federation
of Labor” became in
1904 the nation’s
dominant labour
organization
Main objective: get higher wages
& less working hours
Some states
passed
Laws forbidding
the employment
of children
under 14
Migrants from
rural areas
(Young people
looked for
better
opportunities)
1st decades of the 20th
century: Parliamentary
Acts concerning
employment were passed
Laws to improve
safety conditions
at work
Reduced the
women
workweek to
54 hours
Established 8 h/day
for children under 16
in factories & stores
After Civil War,
immigrants arrived from
southern & eastern
Europe
Contributed
to the
industrial
growth
They were Catholics, Greek Orthodox & Jewish
Most of them came
through New York
(largest port of entry)
during the late 1800s
Statue of Liberty (1886) inscription: traditional, liberal immigration policy &
positive attitudes regarding immigrants
IMMIGRATION
Between 1849-1882
large flow of Chinese
immigrants attracted by
Gold in California
Helped to
change
American
society
Financial panic in 1893
began
USA = land of
hope, liberty
&
opportunities
Great increase in
trans-Atlantic trade
(low prices tickets for
passengers)
Chinese Exclusion Act
(1882): excluded
Chinese labourers for
a period of 10 years.
After gold rush they worked in railway construction & farms
Literacy tests were
imposed to immigrants
Economic depression (1918):
Popular pressure against
immigration (competition for jobs)
Publicity campaigns mounted by railway companies & land
companies to encourage people to go to the USA
Causes of big flow of
immigration