American National American National Expansion and ReformExpansion and Reform

1815 - 18801815 - 1880

presented by presented by

Arthur HallArthur Hall

DevelopmentDevelopment

• In these 65 years

• from 1815 – 1880

• America grew from the world‘s smallest republic to the world‘s

largest democracy

ReformReform• It extended suffrage (the vote)

first to all adult white males• It saw the birth of four political parties:

– Democratic– Republican– American – Free Soil

• The first two survived; the last two died

ExpansionExpansion

• Its geographic expansion stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific

• It took in:– Texas– Oregon– California – And finally the south-west of the continent

PopulationPopulation

• The settlers found many opportunities

but they displaced

• the Indians

and

• the Mexicans

Slavery Slavery • Had been present since the early 17th century• Since the new constitution it had started to die out• Slaves worked in tobacco, hemp, corn and livestock

fields as well as in cotton• Some slaves earned enough to buy their freedom• Everyone‘s hours were very long including slaves• Slave families in their ‘cabins‘ were important institutions

with a vibrant but limited social life• During this period African-American slavery got a new

lease of life leading to increased conflict between north (against) and south (for) after 1850

SlavesSlaves

Optimistic ReformOptimistic Reform• Reform arose in the following areas:

– Temperance– Public school system– Treatment of prisoners– Treatment of the insane– Treatment of the poor– The abolition of slavery– Equal rights for women

• It was a period of It was a period of

social reform and religious revivalsocial reform and religious revival

The Overland TrailsThe Overland Trails

• The most famous and most important was the Oregon Trail west to today‘s areas of Oregon and Washington

• This took place between 1843 and 1860

• From east of the Mississippi news came from missionaries about the new area in the 1830s and 1840s

Overland Oregon TrailOverland Oregon Trail

• Emigrant settlers set out to reach Oregon

• This rush turned to a stampede in 1848 due to the discovery of gold in California

• The journey exhausted both people and animals

• The owners enlisted people to drive teams of oxen, stand guard and do camp duties in exchange for transporting them, their clothes and their tools

California; South-West of OregonCalifornia; South-West of Oregon

John Sutter started the Gold RushJohn Sutter started the Gold Rush

The Oregon PioneersThe Oregon Pioneers

• “They traveled in crude ox-drawn wagons, they rode on horseback, and they plodded along on foot, mile after weary mile across prairie, mountains, and desert. They forded raging rivers, crept along the faces of treacherous cliffs, and faced hostile Indians. Danger dogged them every stop of the way, and one out of ten would perish along the way. But still they continued on their long journey. It was the greatest mass migration of people in the history of the United States, if not the entire world; the trip west over the Oregon Trail.“

Thanks for your attention – any questions?

Yes, yes I know it was pure