American National Expansion and Reform 1815 - 1880 presented by Arthur Hall

Development In these 65 years from 1815 – 1880 America grew from the world‘s smallest republic to the world‘s largest democracy

Reform 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

Expansion Its geographic expansion stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific It took in: Texas Oregon California And finally the south-west of the continent

Population The settlers found many opportunities but they displaced the Indians and the Mexicans

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

Slaves

Optimistic 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 social reform and religious revival

The 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 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 Oregon

John Sutter started the Gold Rush

The 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