W. W. Norton & Company | Inventing America, 2 ed.

Chapter 14: National Expansion, Sectional Division

Topics for Research

Introduction

The expansion of the United States westward may have appeared a natural phenomenon – a "manifest destiny." However, movement west depended upon government support, especially protection afforded by the military. Large-scale expansion also relied upon new communications and transportation capabilities – the telegraph, steamboat, and the railroad -- not to mention the cooperation or capitulation of Native Americans already present on the land. The issue of slavery further complicated matters, since any new state or territory had to be designated a free or slave state. Politicians on both sides had agreed to a "gag rule," that tabled any questions dealing with slavery, and this meant that decisions involving annexation were postponed as well. Ironically, the goal of creating one country from the Atlantic to the Pacific spawned divisiveness and sectionalism.

Despite all these obstacles and the fact that Oregon was under British control and the Southwest under Mexican rule, American settlers gambled their futures and ventured to these territories. Arguing "54-40 or fight," Americans in Oregon pressured the United States to claim the entire territory. Similarly, a larger number of settlers in Texas, having fought off Mexico’s Santa Ana and gained Texas’ independence in 1836, voted for annexation to the United States. The 1844 election brought the issue of expansion to a head, with James Polk, an advocate of Texas annexation and the acquisition of Oregon, winning a narrow victory. His opponent, Whig candidate Henry Clay, had avoided the issue, calling instead for "union, peace, and patience." In the end, Polk added more territory to the United States than any president before him. Risking war with England by demanding the entirety of Oregon, he ultimately compromised with a split at the 49th parallel. His offer to buy California and New Mexico spurned, Polk took the country to war with Mexico. Although Polk wrote, "There is no probability that any territory will ever be acquired from Mexico in which slavery would exist," other politicians were not so certain. Even before America’s advanced artillery and leadership won the war, the question of the slave status of the newly acquired territories dominated political debate. The Wilmot Proviso, an amendment to an appropriations bill that disallowed slavery in any of the new territories, led to a vote along sectional -- not party -- lines, and although it failed, the controversy carried on. In the end, "manifest destiny" required integrating groups of vastly different people. Though in 1850, politicians reached a compromise allowing California into the Union as a free state, that state’s almost immediate decision to pass discriminatory laws against "foreigners" foretold the greater difficulties to come.